The Khitan language (also known as Liao and Kitan (ISO 639-3); Chinese: 契丹語) is a now-extinct language once spoken by the Khitan people (AD 388 – 1243). Khitan is genetically linked to the Mongolic languages.[3] 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."[4] Presently the theory of the Mongolic, rather than Tungusic, affiliation of Khitan is more and more commonly accepted by both eastern and western scholars.[5] The Khitans had two scripts of their own and many Mongolic words are found in their half-deciphered writings that are usually found with a parallel Chinese text (for example, nair = sun, sair = moon, tau = five, jau = hundred, m.r = horse, im.a = goat, n.q = dog, m.ng = silver, ju.un = summer, n.am.ur = autumn, u.ul = winter, heu.ur = spring, tau.l.a = rabbit, t.q.a = hen and m.g.o = snake).[6] There is no doubt regarding the Khitan being an early Mongolic language.[7]
Records
The History of Liao (Liao Shi) contains a volume on Khitan language words transcribed in Chinese characters in a volume titled "Glossary of National Language" (國語解). It is found in Chapter 116 - 遼史/卷116.
The Qing dynasty Qianlong Emperor erroneously identified the Khitan people and their language with the Solons, leading him to use the Solon language to "correct" Chinese character transcriptions of Khitan names in the History of Liao in his "Imperial Liao Jin Yuan Three Histories National Language Explanation" (欽定遼金元三史國語解) project.
The Liao dynasty referred to the Khitan language with the term Guoyu 國語 which meant "National language", which was also used by other non-Han dynasties in China to refer to their languages, like the Manchu language during the Qing dynasty, the Mongolian language during the Yuan dynasty, the Jurchen language during the Jin dynasty (1115–1234), and the Xianbei language during the Northern Wei.
Vocabulary
There are several closed systems of Khitan lexical items for which systematic information is available.[8] 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
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation |
|---|
| heu.ur | spring | qabur | havar |
| ju.un | summer | jun | zun |
| n.am.ur | autumn | namur | namar |
| u.ul | winter | ebül | övöl |
|
Numerals
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation |
|---|
| dz.ur.er | second | *jir 'two' | hoyor |
| hu.ur.er | third | gurba 'three' | gurav, gurvan |
| durer/duren | fourth | dörben | döröv, dörvön |
| tau | five | tabun | tav, tavan |
| t.ad.o.ho | fifth | tabu-daki | tav dahi |
| da.lo.er | seventh | dololga 'seven' | doloo |
| is | nine | yesü | yüs, yüsön |
| jau | hundred | jagun | zuu, zuun |
| ming | thousand | minggan | myanga, myangan |
|
Compared with Khitan, The Tungusic numerals of the Jurchen language differ significantly: three=ilan, five=shunja, seven=nadan, nine=uyun, hundred=tangu.
Animals
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation |
|---|
| te.qo.a | chicken | taqiya | tahia |
| ni.qo | dog | noqai | nohoi |
| s.au.a | falcon | sibuga | shuvuu |
| em.a | goat | imaga | yamaa |
| tau.li.a | rabbit | taulai (Tungusic: rabbit=gulmahun, tuksaki) | tuulai |
| mo.ri | horse | mori | mori |
| uni | cow | üniye | ünee |
| mu.ho.o | snake | mogoi | mogoi |
|
Directions
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation |
|---|
| ud.ur | east | doruna | dorno |
| dzi.ge.n | left | jegün | züün |
| bo.ra.ian | right | baragun | baruun |
| dau.ur.un | middle | dumda | dund |
| xe.du.un | horizontal | köndelen | höndölön |
| ja.cen.i | border | jaqa | zasan, zaag |
|
Time
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation |
|---|
| suni | night | söni | shönö |
| un.n/un.e | now,present | önö | önöö |
|
Personal relations
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation |
|---|
| c.i.is | blood | cisu | tsus |
| mo ku | female | eme | em |
| deu | younger brother | degü | düü |
| n.ai.ci | friend | nayija | naiz |
| na.ha.an | uncle | nagaca | nagats |
| s.ia/s.en | good | sayin | sain |
| g.en.un | sadness, regret | genü='to regret' in the letter of Arghun Khan) | genen, gem |
| ku | person | kümün | hün, hümün |
|
Tribal administration
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script |
|---|
| cau.ur | war | cagur, as in "tsa'urgalan dairakh" |
| nai/nai.d | heads, officials | "-d" is a plural suffix=noyan, noyad for plural |
| t.em- | to bestow a title | temdeg 'sign' |
| k.em | decree | kem kemjiye 'law/norm' |
| us.gi | letter | üseg |
| ui | matter | üile |
| qudug | blessed | qutug |
| xe.se.ge | part, section, province | keseg |
| ming.an | military unit of thousand | minggan |
|
Basic verbs
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script |
|---|
| p.o | become | bol- |
| p.o.ju | raise(intr.) | bos- |
| on.a.an | fall | una- |
| x.ui.ri.ge.ei | transfer | kür-ge- |
| u- | give | ög- |
| sa- | to reside | sagu- |
| a- | be | a- 'live', as in "aj ahui" |
|
Natural objects
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation |
|---|
| eu.ul | cloud | egüle | üül |
| s.eu.ka | dew | sigüderi | shüüder |
| sair | moon | sara (Tungusic: moon=biya) | sar |
| nair | sun | nara | nar |
| m.em/m.ng | silver | mönggö | möng |
|
The Liaoshi records in Chapter 53:
國語謂是日為「討賽咿兒」。「討」五；「賽咿兒」，月也。
In the national (Khitan) language this day (5th day of the 5th lunar month) is called 'Tao Saiyier'. 'Tao' means five; 'Saiyier' means moon.
'Tao Saiyier' corresponds to Mongolian 'tavan sar' (fifth moon/month). The Turkic equivalent would be 'beshinchi ay' while the Tungusic equivalent would be 'sunja biya'.
See also
References
- ↑ Linguist List entry for Kitan
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Kitan". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ Janhunen, Juha (2003): Para-Mongolic. In: Juha Janhunen (ed.): The Mongolic languages. London: Routledge: 391-402.
- ↑ Janhunen 1996, pp. 145-146
- ↑ Cf. Franke. In Sinor ed., 1990, p. 407, and note. 6; Liu, Fengzhu 1992, p. 1; Janhunen 1996, p. 143.
- ↑ Frederick W. Mote, Imperial China 900–1800, p.405
- ↑ Herbert Franke, John King Fairbank, Denis Crispin Twitchett, Roderick MacFarquhar, Denis Twitchett, Albert Feuerwerker. The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 3: Sui and T'ang China, 589–906. Part 1, p.364
- ↑ Kane, Daniel The Kitan language and script 2009, Leiden, The Netherlands
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.
- Kane, Daniel (1989). The Sino-Jurchen Vocabulary of the Bureau of Interpreters. Uralic and Altaic Series, Vol. 153. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies. ISBN 978-0-933070-23-3.
- Qinge'ertai (Chinggeltei); Yu Baolin; Chen Naixiong; Liu Fengzhu; Xin Fuli (1985). Qidan xiao zi yanjiu [A Study of the Khitan Small Script]. Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Chubanshe. OCLC 16717597.
- Jacques, Guillaume (2010). "Review of Kane 2009, The Khitan Language and Script". Diachronica 27 (1): 157–165. doi:10.1075/dia.27.1.05jac.
External links
