俱舍論記 5.213

5.213

「文者謂字至壹伊等字」者，此別釋文，即以字釋文。梵云便膳那，唐言文，是能彰顯義。近顯名、句，遠顯於義。西國風俗，呼扇、鹽、酢等亦名便膳那，亦是能顯義。扇能顯風，鹽、酢等能顯食中味也。舊譯為味，譯者謬也。梵云惡剎羅，唐言字，是不流轉義。謂不隨方流轉改易。亦是能彰顯義，能彰名、句，遠顯義也。故今以字用釋其文，字即文異稱也。即哀、阿等字，是不相應行攝，非同此方墨書字也。又字無詮表，有詮表者即是名句。但是名、句所依，能顯彼二，體無詮表。

On "'Phoneme' refers to syllable, up to the phonemes e, i, and so forth": this separately explains phonemes (vyañjana), that is, using "syllable" (akṣara) to explain "phoneme." In Sanskrit it is called vyañjana, which in the language of the Tang is "phoneme" (wen), meaning that which reveals. Immediately, it reveals words (nāma) and phrases (pada); mediately, it reveals meaning (artha). According to the customs of the Western regions, fans, salt, vinegar, and so forth are also called vyañjana, which likewise means that which can reveal. A fan can reveal wind; salt, vinegar, and so forth can reveal the flavours in food. The old translation rendered it as "flavour" (味), which was the translator's error. In Sanskrit it is called akṣara, which in the language of the Tang is "syllable" (zi), meaning unalterable—that is, it does not alter or change according to region. It also means that which can reveal: it can reveal words and phrases, and mediately reveal meanings. Therefore, "syllable" is now used to explain "phoneme"; "syllable" is another name for "phoneme." That is, syllables such as a and ā are subsumed under formations not associated with the mind; they are not identical with the written ink characters of this land. Furthermore, a phoneme has no denotation; that which possesses denotation is a word or a phrase. It is merely the support for words and phrases, able to reveal the two, while its essence has no denotation.