Tuyuhun (), also known as ‘Azha from
Tibetan script
The Tibetan script is a segmental writing system (''abugida'') of Brahmic scripts, Indic origin used to write certain Tibetic languages, including Lhasa Tibetan, Tibetan, Dzongkha, Sikkimese language, Sikkimese, Ladakhi language, Ladakhi, Jire ...
, is an
extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers, especially if the language has no living descendants. In contrast, a dead language is one that is no longer the native language of any community, even if it is still in use, ...
once spoken by the
Tuyuhun of
northern China
Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climates ...
about 500 AD. The existence of the Tuyuhun, and consequently their language, is first attested in the ''
Book of Song'', compiled around 488 AD.
Classification
Alexander Vovin (2015) identifies the extinct Tuyuhun language as a
Para-Mongolic language, meaning that Tuyuhun is related to the
Mongolic languages
The Mongolic languages are a language family spoken by the Mongolic peoples in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia, mostly in Mongolia and surrounding areas and in Kalmykia and Buryatia. The best-known member of this language ...
as a
sister clade but is not directly descended from the
Proto-Mongolic language. The
Khitan language is also a
Para-Mongolic language. Tuyuhun had previously been identified by
Paul Pelliot
Paul Eugène Pelliot (28 May 187826 October 1945) was a French Sinologist and Orientalist best known for his explorations of Central Asia and his discovery of many important Chinese texts such as the Dunhuang manuscripts.
Early life and care ...
(1921) as a Mongolic language.
Vocabulary
Shimunek (2017) reconstructs some Tuyuhun words as:
* ‘second person singular pronoun (爾)’: *čʰɪ
��(northern
Early Middle Chinese **tśʰɨ); Vovin (2015) reconstructs *čʰo, a 2nd person singular pronoun, equivalent to Mongolic ''či''. The correspondence between /o/ and /i/ is attested between Mongolic and Khitan, cf. Western
Middle Mongol
Middle Mongol or Middle Mongolian, was a Mongolic koiné language spoken in the Mongol Empire. Originating from Genghis Khan's home region of Northeastern Mongolia, it diversified into several Mongolic languages after the collapse of the empire ...
ic ''taqiya'' vs. Khitan ''t
qo.a''.
[Vovin, Alexander. 2015]
Some notes on the Tuyuhun (吐谷渾) language: in the footsteps of Paul Pelliot
In ''Journal of Sino-Western Communications'', Volume 7, Issue 2 (December 2015).
* ‘river (川)’: *qɔl
��ལ་(
Old Tibetan
Old Tibetan refers to the period of Tibetan language reflected in documents from the adoption of writing by the Tibetan Empire in the mid-7th century to works of the early 11th century.
In 816 CE, during the reign of Sadnalegs, literary Tibeta ...
*kʰol) ~
��ལ་(
Old Tibetan
Old Tibetan refers to the period of Tibetan language reflected in documents from the adoption of writing by the Tibetan Empire in the mid-7th century to works of the early 11th century.
In 816 CE, during the reign of Sadnalegs, literary Tibeta ...
*kol)
* ‘militant (武)’: *bu
��(
Late Middle Chinese *mbu)
* ‘elder brother (兄)’: *aqañ
��干(northern
Early Middle Chinese **ɦakar̃)
* ‘father (父)’ or ‘great’: *maʁa/*amaʁa
��賀(northern
Early Middle Chinese *magɣa)
* ‘great’: *maʁa
��་ག(
Old Tibetan
Old Tibetan refers to the period of Tibetan language reflected in documents from the adoption of writing by the Tibetan Empire in the mid-7th century to works of the early 11th century.
In 816 CE, during the reign of Sadnalegs, literary Tibeta ...
*maga < Indic)
* ‘emperor, king’: *qʰaʁan
��་གན་(
Old Tibetan
Old Tibetan refers to the period of Tibetan language reflected in documents from the adoption of writing by the Tibetan Empire in the mid-7th century to works of the early 11th century.
In 816 CE, during the reign of Sadnalegs, literary Tibeta ...
*kʰagan) / **kʰaʁɣar̃
��寒~
��汗(northern
Early Middle Chinese **kʰaʁɣar̃)
* ‘wife (妻) of the khaghan (可汗)’: *qʰaʁʦʊn
��尊(northern
Early Middle Chinese **kʰagʦor̃)
Vovin (2015) also reconstructs several words using
Early Middle Chinese readings of transcribed Tuyuhun lexical items.
Morphology
Tuyuhun suffixes:
* *-čin/*-čiñ
��ན་(
Old Tibetan
Old Tibetan refers to the period of Tibetan language reflected in documents from the adoption of writing by the Tibetan Empire in the mid-7th century to works of the early 11th century.
In 816 CE, during the reign of Sadnalegs, literary Tibeta ...
*ʧin) ‘having X (possessive)’
* *-yin/*-yiñ
��(northern
Early Middle Chinese **yir̃) ‘genitive-attributive suffix’
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuyuhun Language
Agglutinative languages
Mongolic languages
Languages of China
Medieval languages
Extinct languages of Asia
Unclassified languages of Asia
Tuyuhun
Xianbei
Mongolic–Khitan languages