Tuoba language

Tuoba
T'opa
Tabγač, Taγbač
Native toTuoba
RegionNorthern China and Mongolia
EthnicityTuoba
Era5th century
Serbi script[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
GlottologNone

Tuoba (Tabγač or Tabghach; also Taγbač or Taghbach; Chinese: 拓跋) is an extinct language spoken by the Tuoba people in northern China around the 5th century AD during the Northern Wei dynasty. It has variously been considered to be of (Para-)Mongolic or Turkic affiliations.[2][3][4]

Classification

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Alexander Vovin (2007) identifies the Tuoba language as a Mongolic language.[2]

On the other hand, Juha Janhunen proposed that the Tuoba might have spoken an Oghur Turkic language.[3] According to Peter Boodberg, the Tuoba language was essentially Turkic with Mongolic admixture.[4] Chen Sanping noted that the Tuoba language "had both" Turkic and Mongolic elements.[5][6]

Liu Xueyao stated that Tuoba may have had their own language, which should not be assumed to be identical with any other known languages.[7]

Andrew Shimunek (2017) classifies Tuoba (Taghbach) as a "Serbi" (i.e., para-Mongolic) language. Shimunek's Serbi branch also consists of the Tuyuhun and Khitan languages.[1]

Morphology

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Some functional suffixes are:[1]

  • *-A(y) ~ *ʁa(y) ‘verbal noun suffix’
  • *-Al ~ *-l ‘deverbal noun suffix’
  • **čɪ ~ **či ‘suffix denoting occupations’ <cognates with Turkic suffix "-či"
  • **-mɔr/-mʊr (萬) ‘deverbal noun suffix’ <cognates with Turkic suffix "-mur"[8]
  • **-n ‘plural suffix’

Lexicon

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Further information: Wiktionary:Appendix:Taghbach word list

Selected basic Taghbach words from Shimunek (2017) are listed below. Forms reconstructed using the comparative method are marked with one asterisk (*), while forms reconstructed according to the Chinese fanqie spellings and/or rhymes of the traditional Chinese philological tradition are marked with two asterisks (**) (originally marked as ✩ by Shimunek 2017).[1]

Taghbach (reconstructed form) Taghbach (original Chinese transcription) English meaning Original Chinese gloss
*agyɪl ~ *agɪl 屋引 house 房
*čʰɪrnɔ 叱奴 wolf 狼
**dɪʁa 地何 writing, book, document 書
**ɦatśir̃ 阿真 food 飲食
*ɦorbǝl 嗢盆 warmth 溫
*ɪrgɪn 俟懃 above, superior 尚
**kʰɪl- 乞 to speak -
**kʰɪr- 契 to kill someone 殺人
**kʰɪrʁayčɪn 契害真 assassins 殺人者
*ñaqañ 若干 dog 狗
*pary-al 拔列 bridge 梁
**pʰatala 破多羅 rice water 潘
*qɔw/*qəw 侯 pig, boar 亥
**tʰaʁ 托 dirt, soil, earth 土
*tʰʊʁnar 土難 mountain 山
**tʰʊʁay 吐奚 ancient 古
*uwl/*ʊwl 宥連 cloud 雲
*yirtʊqañ/*yirtʊqan 壹斗眷 bright 明
*žirpəŋ 是賁 raised earth, embankment 封
**žiʁlʊ 是樓 high, tall 高

References

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Citations

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Wiktionary has a word list at Appendix:Taghbach word list
  1. ^ a b c d Shimunek, Andrew (2017). Languages of Ancient Southern Mongolia and North China: a Historical-Comparative Study of the Serbi or Xianbei Branch of the Serbi-Mongolic Language Family, with an Analysis of Northeastern Frontier Chinese and Old Tibetan Phonology. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-10855-3. OCLC 993110372.
  2. ^ a b Vovin, Alexander. "Once Again on the Tabghach Language". Mongolian Studues XXIX (2007).
  3. ^ a b Juha Janhunen, (1996), Manchuria: An Ethnic History, p. 190
  4. ^ a b Holcombe, Charles (2001). The Genesis of East Asia: 221 B.C. - A.D. 907. p. 132.
  5. ^ Chen, Sanping (2005). "Turkic or Proto-Mongolian? A Note on the Tuoba Language". Central Asiatic Journal. 49 (2): 161–174. ISSN 0008-9192. JSTOR 41928391.
  6. ^ Holcombe 2001, p. 248
  7. ^ Liu Xueyao p. 83-86
  8. ^ "mUr". Nişanyan Sözlük.

Bibliography

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