# 我聞如是
## Chinese

| | | I; me | hear; news; celebratedhear; news; celebrated; sniff at | like this; so; such |
| trad. (我聞如是) | trad. (我聞如是) | 我 | 聞 | 如是 |
| simp. (我闻如是) | simp. (我闻如是) | 我 | 闻 | 如是 |
| anagram | anagram | 如是我聞／如是我闻 | 如是我聞／如是我闻 | 如是我聞／如是我闻 |

### Etymology

Calque of Sanskrit एवं मया श्रुतम् (evaṃ mayā śrutam). The syntax of this early translation directly reflects Chinese grammatical conventions as opposed to the much more commonly used 如是我聞／如是我闻 (rúshìwǒwén), which reflects the original Sanskrit syntax. The "I" in the translation generally refers to the Buddha's cousin Ānanda 阿難／阿难 (Ānán), renowned for having the best memory among the Buddha's disciples.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): wǒwénrúshì
    (Zhuyin): ㄨㄛˇ ㄨㄣˊ ㄖㄨˊ ㄕˋ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): ngo$^5$ man$^4$ jyu$^4$ si$^6$
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): ngó͘-bûn-jû-sī
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: wǒwénrúshì
*** Zhuyin: ㄨㄛˇ ㄨㄣˊ ㄖㄨˊ ㄕˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: wǒwúnrúshìh
*** Wade–Giles: wo$^3$-wên$^2$-ju$^2$-shih$^4$
*** Yale: wǒ-wén-rú-shr̀
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: woowenrushyh
*** Palladius: вовэньжуши (vovɛnʹžuši)
*** Sinological IPA : /wɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ wən³⁵ ʐu³⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: ngo$^5$ man$^4$ jyu$^4$ si$^6$
*** Yale: ngóh màhn yùh sih
*** Cantonese Pinyin: ngo$^5$ man$^4$ jy$^4$ si$^6$
*** Guangdong Romanization: ngo$^5$ men$^4$ yu$^4$ xi$^6$
*** Sinological IPA : /ŋɔː¹³ mɐn²¹ jyː²¹ siː²²/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ngó͘-bûn-jû-sī
*** Tâi-lô: ngóo-bûn-jû-sī
*** Phofsit Daibuun: ngofbunjusi
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /ŋɔ̃⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ bun²³⁻³³ zu²³⁻³³ si³³/
* Middle Chinese: ngaX mjun nyo dzyeX
Rime :
| Character | 我 | 聞 | 如 | 是 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 疑 (31) | 明 (4) | 日 (38) | 常 (25) |
| Final (韻) | 歌 (94) | 文 (59) | 魚 (22) | 支 (11) |
| Tone (調) | Rising (X) | Level (Ø) | Level (Ø) | Rising (X) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Closed | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | I | III | III | III |
| Fanqie | 五可切 | 無分切 | 人諸切 | 承紙切 |
| Baxter | ngaX | mjun | nyo | dzyeX |
| Reconstructions |||||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ŋɑ$^X$/ | /mɨun/ | /ȵɨʌ/ | /d͡ʑiᴇ$^X$/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ŋɑ$^X$/ | /miun/ | /ȵiɔ/ | /d͡ʑiɛ$^X$/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ŋɑ$^X$/ | /miuən/ | /ȵʑiɔ/ | /d͡ʑjɛ$^X$/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ŋa$^X$/ | /mun/ | /ȵɨə̆/ | /d͡ʑiə̆$^X$/ |
| Li Rong | /ŋɑ$^X$/ | /miuən/ | /ȵiɔ/ | /ʑie$^X$/ |
| Wang Li | /ŋɑ$^X$/ | /mĭuən/ | /ȵʑĭo/ | /ʑǐe$^X$/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /ŋɑ$^X$/ | /mi̯uən/ | /ȵʑi̯wo/ | /ʑie̯$^X$/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | ě | wén | rú | shì |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | ngo$^5$ | man$^4$ | jyu$^4$ | si$^6$ |

### Phrase

我聞如是
* (Buddhism, archaic) Thus have I heard... (a common opening of Buddhist texts)
       From: 佛說無量壽經
       Wǒwénrúshì: yīshí fó zhù Wángshèchéng Qídūjuéshān zhōng, yǔ dà bǐqiū zhòng wàn'èrqiān rén jù, yīqiè dàshèng shéntōng yǐ dá. [Pinyin]
       Thus have I heard: The Buddha was once residing at Gṛdhrakūṭa Peak in Rajagaha, with an assembly of twelve thousand bhikshus in total, all of whom were great sages who had attained spiritual powers.

### References

* ↑ Jiandao Shi, Jianxun Shi, Jiajuan Xiong, "Chinese language and Buddhism" in The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Applied Linguistics (2019).