The Cambridge University Press published (1945-1967) in six volumes Professor Bailey's transcriptions of Saka manuscripts found in Sin Kiang and Kansu (of the ancient kingdom of Khotan). They are central to any study of Old Iranian and the Iranian dialects; and they are also important for further understanding of the religious tradition in the sacred Avesta of the Zoroastrians, and for the history of the peoples of Central Asia generally. This 1979 dictionary represents the fulfilment of a plan formed in 1934 which required first the editing and transcription of the manuscripts, and then the slow elucidation of the whole corpus of texts. It contains a linguistic analysis and translation of all the Iranian words used in the texts. It is the necessary key to the understanding of the texts, to the mastery of the language itself, and to the linking of Khotan Saka into the Indo-European linguistic tradition.

本书以新发现的梵语、于阗语文献作为研究客体，运用广博的语言学知识以及对于佛教学、历史学的知识累积，不但释读出《贤劫经》、《提云般若》、《明咒护身符》、《对治十五鬼护身符》、《金光明最胜五经》等重要梵语、于阗语文献，对其文字特征、字义有重要发明，更有翔实的分析见识，论析了这些佛教古卷在于阗地区的流传情况，以及当时的社会风俗。从这些新发现出发，填补西方学者所不及之处。其研究成果处于国际相关领域的最前沿，展示了我国学者对于阗语、梵语原始写卷等研究所取得的原创性成果，对于我国新疆的历史社会、文化的研究是不可或缺的，对于填补佛教历史、丝路绿洲社会文化研究领域的空白具有重大价值。