A Study of the Tangut Rhyme Dictionary “_??_??_??_??_ Wen-hai bao-yun”

Abstract

This volume is the first in-depth study of"_??_ Wen-hai baoyun" (manuscript), the unique Tangut rhyme dictionary, and contains a Tangut characters' database supplied by the authors. The purpose of this review is to demonstrate the contributions the book makes to the development of the Tangut phonology, and also to point out some of the problems.
The major contributions of the present volume are the following: (1) Prof. Shi Jin-bo has succeeded in establishing the relationship between two versions of"_??_ Wen-hai bao-yun"(manuscript and xylograph). In conclusion, the manuscript was a simplified version of the xylograph. (2) The data of _??_ shang-sheng Tangut characters, which have never been examined in detail, constitute the core of this volume. (3) Prof. Shi Jin-bo has identified the _??_ ru-sheng Tangut characters. This contribution will have a great influence on the Tangut phonology.
As for (1), I basically agree with him, except for his demonstration on the date of editing the original version, about which I pointed out some problems. On the basis of (2), I have illustrated the correlation between the _??_ pingsheng rhyme group No.82 and the _??_ shang-sheng rhyme group No. 74. I have also added some details to (3). And I discuss the relationship between"_??_ Wen-hai bao-yun", "_??_ Wen-hai bao-yun za-lei"and"_??_ Yin-tong", which was not treated adequately in this book. Lastly, I have pointed out some problems in the database: word for word translation and phonetic transcription by Chinese characters.