Gift” in Gāndhārī epigraphical sources. A comparative analysis of G. dana-, danamuha - and deyadhaṃma

Bibliographic Data

ID8130773
AuthorsAlessandro Giudice (0000-0001-6576-275X, University of Cagliari, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume89
Issue2
Pages1-26
Publication date2026-01-20
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0041-977X • E-ISSN: 1474-0699
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0041977x25101018
OpenAlexW7124855954
LanguageEN
References cited13

This article examines the lexicon for “gift” in the Gāndhārī epigraphical corpus, focusing on three key word-forms: G. dana-, danamuha - and deyadhaṃma -. These terms, which denote the meaning of “gift”, appear 36, 111 and 14 times respectively (both as single words and as compound constituents) in Gāndhārī inscriptions currently recorded in the CKI. Despite their frequent appearance, existing scholarship has primarily restricted itself to identifying their synonymous functions or analysing their grammatical construction in the case of the two compounds. No comprehensive study has yet catalogued all occurrences of these word-forms, traced their semantic development or examined the reasons behind their changing usage over time. This article addresses this gap by providing a complete inventory of the occurrences of these word-forms in the Gāndhārī epigraphical corpus and examining their use in non-Gāndhārī sources. It also presents a semantic analysis, exploring their synchronic and diachronic relationships within Gāndhārī inscriptions

Key (lock · Lexicon · Meaning (existential · Scholarship · Semantics (computer science · Subject (documents · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Language, Linguistics, Cultural Analysis · Linguistics and language evolution

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