98348
I have started learning Japanese some time ago, but I still can't understand
the sutras and chants that are used in Zen ceremonies, such as _Takkesa Ge_ ,
_Maka Hannya Haramita Shingyo_ , _Fu Eku_ , _Jin Ho San Shi_ etc. I understand
it may be in a more archaic form, so how well can Japanese speakers understand
these texts?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-01-28T15:00:51.910
98345
2023-01-28T22:29:23.480
55459
question
meaning spoken-language literature written-language
How inteligible is Japanese used in Buddhist texts?
These are the Sino-Japanese readings of Chinese characters, so the grammar
isn't even that of Japanese, but of Chinese. This can be seen by the fact that
the verb (行, 度) precedes the object (深般若波羅蜜多, 一切苦厄) in each clause:

> 観自在菩薩・行深般若波羅蜜多時、照見五蘊皆空、度一切苦厄。

Japanese has SOV (subject-object-verb) word order, in contrast to Chinese's
SVO.

As for whether the sutras are intelligible by ordinary native speakers, even
aside from the differences in syntax, my assumption would be "no" unless they
are familiar with the glosses. As an example, even though the Chinese
character 度 is also present in Japanese, note that in Japanese, it only has
the rare reading 度る with the [definition 推し量る "to
surmise"](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/kanji/%E5%BA%A6/#jn-154709), and
not the [specialised Buddhist sense of "to save from
purgatory"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%BA%A6#Etymology_1).
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-01-28T16:34:21.527
98348
2023-01-28T22:29:23.480
2023-01-28T22:29:23.480
816
816
98345
answer