Nam language

The rubric Nam language has been used to describe an undeciphered language preserved in Tibetan transcription in a number of Dunhuang manuscript fragment currently held at the British Library and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.

According to Ikeda, the research of F. W. Thomas, published in 1948, concluded that Nam "was one of the old Qiang spoken around the Nam mountain range near Koko nor in Qinghai province" and associated with a country called Nam tig mentioned in some historical records. However, Ikeda further states that Thomas' conclusions were widely criticised afterward.[1]

References

Chén Zōngxiáng 陳 宗祥 (1994)〈敦煌古藏文拼冩的“南語”手卷的名稱問題〉Dūnhuáng Gǔzàngwén pīnxiěde 'Nányǔ' shǒujuànde míngchēng wèntí [The identity of the Dūnhuáng 'Nam language' scroll transcribed in Old Tibetan.]《四川藏學研究》Sìchuān Zàngxué yánjiū 2. 中國藏學出版社 Zhōngguó Zàngxué chūbǎnshè, 164-180頁．（筆名爲寶羊與王建民合冩）

Chén Zōngxiáng 陳 宗祥 (1997). 〈敦煌古藏文拼冩的“南語”手卷的有關地名考釋〉Dūnhuáng Gǔzàngwén pīnxiěde 'Nányǔ' shǒujuànde yǒuguān dìmíng kǎoshì [Explanation of the places names in the Dūnhuáng 'Nam language' scroll transcribed in Old Tibetan]《四川藏學研究》Sìchuān Zàngxué yánjiū 4．四川民族出版社 Sìchuān mínzú chūbǎnshè. 684-698．

Ikeda Takumi. "Spotlights to the decipherment of the Nam language". The 41st International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. p. abstract. http://mercury.soas.ac.uk/wadict/icstll41/abstracts/Ikeda_conf_abtract.doc. Retrieved November 27, 2010. 

Lalou, Marcelle (1939). “Sur la langue « nam ».” Journal Asiatique 231: 453.

Thomas, Frederick William (1928). “The Nam Language.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 3: 630-634.

Thomas, Frederick William (1939). “The Nam Language.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2: 193-216.

Thomas, Frederick William (1948). Nam, an ancient language of the Sino-Tibetan borderland. London: Oxford University Press.

Wén Yòu 聞 宥 (1981)〈論所謂南語〉Lùn suǒwèi Nányǔ [On the 'Nam' language]《民族語文》Mínzú yǔwén 1: 16-25.