Khitan language
Encyclopedia
The Khitan language is a now-extinct language once spoken by the Khitan people
(388–1243AD). Khitan is generally deemed to be genetically linked to the Mongolic languages
. It was written using two mutually exclusive writing systems known as the Khitan large script
and the Khitan small script
. The language was the official language of the Liao Dynasty
(907–1125) and Kara-Khitan Khanate
(1124–1218). Janhunen states "A better term for Khitan than Mongolic would be Para-Mongolic, implying that it was probably a language collateral to the ancestor of all the Mongolic languages." Presently the theory of the Mongolic, rather than Tungusic, affiliation of Khitan is more and more commonly accepted by both eastern and western scholars. See List of the Khitan rulers.
Seasons: heu.ur (spring=havar), ju.un (summer=zun), n.am.ur (autumn=namar), u.ul (winter=uvul).
Numerals: dz.ur.er (second=jir means two in Middle Mongolian), hu.ur.er (third=gurav means three in Mongolian), durer/duren (fourth=durvun), tau (five=tav), t.ad.o.ho (fifth=tavdahi), da.lo.er (seventh=dolo), is (nine=yesu), jau (hundred=jagun), ming (thousand=mingan). The Tungusic numerals of the Jurchen language
differ significantly: three=ilan, five=shunja, seven=nadan, nine=uyun, hundred=tangu.
Animals: te.qo.a (chicken=taqia), ni.qo (dog=noqai), s.au.a (falcon=showoo in Daur
, shuwuu means bird in Mongolian), em.a (goat=imaa), tau.li.a (rabbit=taulai; in Tungusic rabbit=gulmahun), mo.ri (horse=mori), uni (cow=uniye), mu.ho.o (snake=mogoi)
Directions: ud.ur (east=dorno), dzi.ge.n (left=jegun), bo.ra.ian (right=ba.ra.un), dau.ur.un (middle=dumda), xe.du.un (horizontal=kondelen), ja.cen.i (border=jaqa)
Time: suni (night=suni), n.on/n.on.de (for generations=onod, also "urug-in urugt"), ai (year=ai, uye), un.n/un.e (now, present=onoo)
Personal relations: c.i.is (blood=cisu), mo ku (female=em kun), deu (younger brother=de'u), n.ai.ci (friend=naiz), na.ha.an (uncle=nagacha), s.ia/s.en (good=sain), g.en.un (sadness, regret="genu-" means "to regret" in the letter of Arghun Khan), ku (person, man=kun, kumun)
Tribal administration: cau.ur (war=cagur, as in "tsa'urgalan dairakh"), g.ur (country=guren), nai/nai.d (heads, officials, "-d" is a plural suffix=noyan
, noyad for plural), t.em- (to bestow a title=temdeg), qa (khan
=qan), k.em (decree=kev refers to the law decreed by the tribal assembly, as in Yeke Kev or Great Law), us.gi (letter=useg), ui (matter=uil), qudug (blessed=qudug), xe.se.ge (part, section, province=keseg), ming.an (military unit of thousand=mingan),
Basic verbs: p.o (to become=bol-okh), p.o.ju (raise=bosgo-kh), on.a.an (fall PAST TENSE=unasan), x.ui.ri.ge.ei (to transfer=kurge-kh), u- (give=ug-ukh), sa- (to reside=sa'u-kh or suukh), ci.er (inscribe PAST TENSE=siileruun), a- (to be=a-kh, for example "savandaa akh aj l" in the Altan Tobchi
in which the root "a-" in both "akh" and "aj" "means "to be")
Natural objects: eu.ul (cloud=e'ul or egule), s.eu.ka (dew=siguder), sair (moon=sar; in Tungusic moon="biya"), nair (sun=nar), m.em/m.ng (silver=mongo)
The Liaoshi records in Chapter 53:
'Tao Saiyier' corresponds to Mongolian 'tawan sar' (fifth moon/month). The Turkic equivalent would be 'besh ay' while the Tungusic equivalent would be 'sunja biya'.
Khitan people
thumb|250px|Khitans [[Eagle hunting|using eagles to hunt]], painted during the Chinese [[Song Dynasty]].The Khitan people , or Khitai, Kitan, or Kidan, were a nomadic Mongolic people, originally located at Mongolia and Manchuria from the 4th century...
(388–1243AD). Khitan is generally deemed to be genetically linked to the Mongolic languages
Mongolic languages
The Mongolic languages are a group of languages spoken in East-Central Asia, mostly in Mongolia and surrounding areas plus in Kalmykia. The best-known member of this language family, Mongolian, is the primary language of most of the residents of Mongolia and the Mongolian residents of Inner...
. It was written using two mutually exclusive writing systems known as the Khitan large script
Khitan large script
The Khitan large script was one of two writing systems used for the now-extinct Khitan language. It was used during the 10th-12th centuries by the Khitan people, who had created the Liao Empire in north-eastern China. In addition to the large script, the Khitans simultaneously also used a...
and the Khitan small script
Khitan small script
The Khitan small script was one of two writing systems used for the now-extinct Khitan language. It was used during the 10th-12th century by the Khitan people, who had created the Liao Empire in north-eastern China. In addition to the small script, the Khitans simultaneously also used a...
. The language was the official language of the Liao Dynasty
Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...
(907–1125) and Kara-Khitan Khanate
Kara-Khitan Khanate
The Kara-Khitan Khanate, or Western Liao was a Khitan empire in Central Asia. The dynasty was founded by Yelü Dashi, who led the remnants of the Liao Dynasty to Central Asia after fleeing from the Jurchen conquest of their homeland in North and Northeast of modern day China...
(1124–1218). Janhunen states "A better term for Khitan than Mongolic would be Para-Mongolic, implying that it was probably a language collateral to the ancestor of all the Mongolic languages." Presently the theory of the Mongolic, rather than Tungusic, affiliation of Khitan is more and more commonly accepted by both eastern and western scholars. See List of the Khitan rulers.
Vocabulary
There are several closed systems of Khitan lexical items for which systematic information is available. The following is a list of words in these closed systems that are similar to Mongolic. Mongolian equivalents are given after the English translation:Seasons: heu.ur (spring=havar), ju.un (summer=zun), n.am.ur (autumn=namar), u.ul (winter=uvul).
Numerals: dz.ur.er (second=jir means two in Middle Mongolian), hu.ur.er (third=gurav means three in Mongolian), durer/duren (fourth=durvun), tau (five=tav), t.ad.o.ho (fifth=tavdahi), da.lo.er (seventh=dolo), is (nine=yesu), jau (hundred=jagun), ming (thousand=mingan). The Tungusic numerals of the Jurchen language
Jurchen language
Jurchen language is an extinct language. It was spoken by Jurchen people of eastern Manchuria, the creators of the Jin Empire in the northeastern China of the 12th–13th centuries. It is classified as a Southwestern Tungusic language.-Writing:...
differ significantly: three=ilan, five=shunja, seven=nadan, nine=uyun, hundred=tangu.
Animals: te.qo.a (chicken=taqia), ni.qo (dog=noqai), s.au.a (falcon=showoo in Daur
Daur language
The Daur or Dagur language is a Mongolic language primarily spoken by members of the Daur ethnic group.-Distribution:Daur is a Mongolic language consisting of four dialects: Amur Daur in the vicinity of Heihe, the Nonni Daur on the west side of the Nonni River from south of Qiqihaer up to the Morin...
, shuwuu means bird in Mongolian), em.a (goat=imaa), tau.li.a (rabbit=taulai; in Tungusic rabbit=gulmahun), mo.ri (horse=mori), uni (cow=uniye), mu.ho.o (snake=mogoi)
Directions: ud.ur (east=dorno), dzi.ge.n (left=jegun), bo.ra.ian (right=ba.ra.un), dau.ur.un (middle=dumda), xe.du.un (horizontal=kondelen), ja.cen.i (border=jaqa)
Time: suni (night=suni), n.on/n.on.de (for generations=onod, also "urug-in urugt"), ai (year=ai, uye), un.n/un.e (now, present=onoo)
Personal relations: c.i.is (blood=cisu), mo ku (female=em kun), deu (younger brother=de'u), n.ai.ci (friend=naiz), na.ha.an (uncle=nagacha), s.ia/s.en (good=sain), g.en.un (sadness, regret="genu-" means "to regret" in the letter of Arghun Khan), ku (person, man=kun, kumun)
Tribal administration: cau.ur (war=cagur, as in "tsa'urgalan dairakh"), g.ur (country=guren), nai/nai.d (heads, officials, "-d" is a plural suffix=noyan
Noyan
Noyan, noyon was a title of authority in the Mongol Empire and later periods...
, noyad for plural), t.em- (to bestow a title=temdeg), qa (khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
=qan), k.em (decree=kev refers to the law decreed by the tribal assembly, as in Yeke Kev or Great Law), us.gi (letter=useg), ui (matter=uil), qudug (blessed=qudug), xe.se.ge (part, section, province=keseg), ming.an (military unit of thousand=mingan),
Basic verbs: p.o (to become=bol-okh), p.o.ju (raise=bosgo-kh), on.a.an (fall PAST TENSE=unasan), x.ui.ri.ge.ei (to transfer=kurge-kh), u- (give=ug-ukh), sa- (to reside=sa'u-kh or suukh), ci.er (inscribe PAST TENSE=siileruun), a- (to be=a-kh, for example "savandaa akh aj l" in the Altan Tobchi
Altan Tobchi
The Altan Tobchi, or Golden Summary , is a 17th century Mongolian chronicle written by Guush Luvsandanzan. Its full title is "Herein is contained the Golden Summary of the Principles of Statecraft as established by the Ancient Khans". Mongolian scholars typically call the work the "Lu Altan Tovch"...
in which the root "a-" in both "akh" and "aj" "means "to be")
Natural objects: eu.ul (cloud=e'ul or egule), s.eu.ka (dew=siguder), sair (moon=sar; in Tungusic moon="biya"), nair (sun=nar), m.em/m.ng (silver=mongo)
The Liaoshi records in Chapter 53:
'Tao Saiyier' corresponds to Mongolian 'tawan sar' (fifth moon/month). The Turkic equivalent would be 'besh ay' while the Tungusic equivalent would be 'sunja biya'.
Further reading
- Franks, H. (1976): "Two Chinese-Khitan Macaronic Poems." In: Heissig, W.-Krueger, J. R.-Oinas, F. J.-Schütz, E. (eds): Tradata Altaica. Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz.
External links
- 契丹語語法 Khitan Language Grammar (Chinese Big5 code page) via Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...