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Tuoba language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Turkic or (Para-)Mongolic affiliation.[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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