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The 'Sūtra of the Causes and Effects of Actions' in Sogdian
English
77 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1970
2 people want to read
About the author
D.N. Mackenzie
7 books1 followerMACKENZIE, DAVID NEIL (b. 8 April 1926, London- d. 13 October 2001, Bangor, Wales), distinguished British scholar of Middle and Modern Iranian languages with an impressive record of publications.
Neil MacKenzie (he never used his given first name) was born in London in 1926 and attended a succession of schools in Southern England. In 1943, aged 17, he enlisted in the British Army. In 1945 and 1946 he served as a soldier on the North-West Frontier Province of British India, where he learned Pashto. Thus acquainted with Iranian languages, he acquired a Bachelor's degree in New Persian and a Master's degree in Old- and Middle Persian at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London. His PhD dissertation, Kurdish Dialect Studies (1957, published 1961–1962), established his reputation as an Iranist and linguist.
At SOAS, MacKenzie was appointed Lecturer in Kurdish in 1955, a position that was extended to include all Iranian languages in 1961. He was promoted to Reader in 1965, a post he held until 1975 when he received an appointment as Chair of Oriental Philology at the University of Göttingen in Germany.
MacKenzie retired from that position in 1994 and settled in Bangor, North Wales. Upon his return to Britain, MacKenzie was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy. David Neil MacKenzie died on 13 October 2001 in Bangor, aged 75. He was survived by three sons and one daughter.
Neil MacKenzie (he never used his given first name) was born in London in 1926 and attended a succession of schools in Southern England. In 1943, aged 17, he enlisted in the British Army. In 1945 and 1946 he served as a soldier on the North-West Frontier Province of British India, where he learned Pashto. Thus acquainted with Iranian languages, he acquired a Bachelor's degree in New Persian and a Master's degree in Old- and Middle Persian at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London. His PhD dissertation, Kurdish Dialect Studies (1957, published 1961–1962), established his reputation as an Iranist and linguist.
At SOAS, MacKenzie was appointed Lecturer in Kurdish in 1955, a position that was extended to include all Iranian languages in 1961. He was promoted to Reader in 1965, a post he held until 1975 when he received an appointment as Chair of Oriental Philology at the University of Göttingen in Germany.
MacKenzie retired from that position in 1994 and settled in Bangor, North Wales. Upon his return to Britain, MacKenzie was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy. David Neil MacKenzie died on 13 October 2001 in Bangor, aged 75. He was survived by three sons and one daughter.
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October 17, 2025
The Sutra of the Causes and Effects is that bit of Buddhist pseudoepigraphy along the lines of “do action X, get reborn as Y”. Its Sogdian translation, made from the Chinese, was edited by Gautiot and Benveniste early in the history of Sogdian studies, but in 1970 MacKenzie made this new edition and translation which has stood for the subsequent decades. By accompanying the text with a full glossary and with notes that describe issues of the translation from Chinese, MacKenzie in fact made a book that is an ideal next stop for any student who has already finished Skjærvø’s textbook of Manichaean Sogdian. Cover up the facing page, and one is pretty much able to work through the Sogdian without having to consult the translation.
The text is presented in transliteration throughout. What immediately confronts the student is heavy use of Aramaic heterograms, set in capital letters in the transliteration:
Fortunately, the number of such heterograms is small and one quickly memorizes them. Nor does it take long to get used to another feature of this Buddhist Sogdian text compared to the Manichaean corpus: the writing of the unvoiced fricatives x and f with the symbols for the voiced fricatives γ and β.
Five stars for MacKenzie’s helpful work. The text itself is actually not much fun, though. It is highly repetitive, and moreover the translation from the Chinese heavily conforms to that language’s syntax, so alien to a Middle Iranian language like Sogdian. It is readily understandable why the Manichaean Sogdian corpus is regarded as the variety where all the decent literature is, while the Buddhist and Christian corpus are so much translationese.
The text is presented in transliteration throughout. What immediately confronts the student is heavy use of Aramaic heterograms, set in capital letters in the transliteration:
βyrt rty ZK wβyw βwt kwr ’t krn ’t k’δn ’PZY kwzz ’PZY wy’pn’ ’PZY prw wyspw ’stkpyš’y L’ ’spt’k βwt ZKZY ZKw δrm L’ pcγrβ’t wnty ’PZY γwnγ mrtγm’k ZKZY γwr’k ’t nym’n βwt rty ’wy β’rp’y cntr pr’n’k ’’z’t.
Fortunately, the number of such heterograms is small and one quickly memorizes them. Nor does it take long to get used to another feature of this Buddhist Sogdian text compared to the Manichaean corpus: the writing of the unvoiced fricatives x and f with the symbols for the voiced fricatives γ and β.
Five stars for MacKenzie’s helpful work. The text itself is actually not much fun, though. It is highly repetitive, and moreover the translation from the Chinese heavily conforms to that language’s syntax, so alien to a Middle Iranian language like Sogdian. It is readily understandable why the Manichaean Sogdian corpus is regarded as the variety where all the decent literature is, while the Buddhist and Christian corpus are so much translationese.
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