Amitabha names in various languages
The proper (nominative) form of Amitabha's name in Sanskrit is Amitabha. This name is a compound of the Sanskrit words amita meaning "without bound, infinite" and abha meaning "light, splendor". Consequently the name is to be interpreted as "he who possesses light without bound, he whose light is infinite". Another name that is used is Amitayus (nominative form Amitayuḥ). This name is a compound of amita "infinite" and ayus "life", and so means "he whose life is boundless". In Chinese language Chinese Amitabha's name is given as 阿彌陀佛 Āmítuó Fó, where 阿彌陀 Āmítuó is the Chinese representation of the first three syllables of either Amitabha or Amitayus, and 佛 Fó is Chinese for Buddha (a very early borrowing of the first syllable of the Sanskrit word). The meaning of Amitabha's name is given in Chinese as 無�?光佛 Wuliangguang Fo ("infinite light Buddha"), and likewise the meaning of the name Amitayus is given as 無�?壽佛 Wuliangshou Fo ("infinite life Buddha"). These names are not, however, very commonly used. Vietnamese language Vietnamese, Korean language Korean, and Japanese language Japanese use the same Chinese characters for the name of Amitabha, but pronounce them slightly differently: * Vietnamese: A-di-đà Phật * Korean: Amit'a Bul * Japanese: Amida Butsu In Japanese, Amit�?bha is also called 阿弥陀如�?� Amida Nyorai, meaning "Amitabha the Tathagata Tathagata". In Tibetan language Tibetan, Amitabha is called 'od.dpag.med and, as Amitayus, tshe.dpag.med.
