身毒

Etymology
Transcription of the same (or its minor variants, such as ) as. It is the oldest of the Chinese names for India, and occurs in  in connection with the mission of to.

Using Middle Chinese reconstructions of the two characters in this word (ɕiɪn duok̚) gives the false impression that this is derived from the name of  – the name of the westernmost kingdom of India. Factors making this etymology unlikely include:
 * 1) Zhang Qian had no direct contact with India or with the Indians. He gathered the name from the people of  which was a pure Iranian zone then under the occupation of ;
 * 2) The choice of an alveolopalatal sibilant ɕ- for a clear dental sibilant s- in the original language; cf. known transcriptions of Sindhu: 新頭 新陶 辛頭 信度, all commencing with a dental sibilant; and
 * 3) The presence of a final -k in 身毒, as in.

The ancient Chinese writers have long suggested that shēn in this word had a different pronunciation. in his commentary to the  says:

The variant of Late Old Chinese that Zhang Qian had used showed the dialectal development of Old Chinese *n̥in > *χin ~ hin, explaining the choice of. This is perhaps comparable to the case of 天 in, also a dialectal Old Chinese variant pronunciation. Modern dictionaries variably designate the proper pronunciation of this word in modern Beijing Mandarin as Juāndú, Yuándú, Yuāndú, but rarely Shēndú as would be pronounced by an unknowledgeable native.

Proper noun

 * 1)  India

Etymology
From.

Proper noun

 * 1)  the Chinese term used to refer to India; India