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Rouran language

Unclassified extinct language of 4th–6th-century Mongolia and Inner Mongolia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Rouran (Chinese: 柔然), also called Ruanruan, Ruan-ruan or Juan-juan (Chinese: 蠕蠕), is an unclassified extinct language of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, spoken in the Rouran Khaganate from the 4th to the 6th centuries AD, considered a likely early precursor to Mongolic.[1]

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Peter A. Boodberg claimed in 1935 that the Rouran language was Mongolic by analysing Chinese transcriptions of Rouran names.[2] Atwood (2013) notes that Rourans calqued the Sogdian word pūr "son" into their language as *kʻobun (Chinese transliteration: 去汾 MC *kʰɨʌH-bɨun > Mandarin qùfén); which, according to Atwood, is cognate with Middle Mongol kö'ün "son".[3] Alexander Vovin noted that Old Turkic had borrowed some words from an unknown language not part of the Altaic sprachbund that might have been Rouran,[4] arguing that if so, the language would be possibly a language isolate, though evidence was scant.[2] In 2019, with the emergence of new evidence through the analysis of the Brāhmī Bugut and Khüis Tolgoi, Vovin changed his view, suggesting Rouran was, in fact, a Mongolic language, close but not identical to Middle Mongolian.[1]

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Phonology

Features of Rouran included:[2]

  • no mid vowels
  • presence of initial l-
  • final consonantal cluster -nd unusual for any "Altaic" languages

Morphology

Rouran had the feminine gender suffix -tu-.[2]

Lexicon

Rouran vocabulary included:[2][1]

  • and – 'oath' < Old Turkic: 𐰦, romanized: ant 'oath'
  • aq – 'dung'
  • beg – 'elder'
  • bitig – 'inscription' < Old Turkic: 𐰋𐰃𐱅𐰏, romanized: bitig 'inscription, book'
  • bod – 'people' < Old Turkic: 𐰉𐰆𐰑, romanized: bod 'clan, tribe, kin'
  • drö – 'law'
  • küǰü – 'strength' < Old Turkic: 𐰚𐰇𐰲, romanized: küč 'strength, power'
  • küskü – 'rat'
  • laɣzïn – 'pig'
  • luu – 'dragon' < Middle Chinese luŋ – 'dragon'
  • ordu – 'camp'
  • qaɣan – 'emperor'
  • qaɣatun – 'empress'
  • qan – 'khan'
  • qatun – 'khan's wife'
  • tal- – 'to plunder'
  • törö – 'to be born'
  • türǖg – 'Turk'
  • ud – 'ox'
  • yund – 'horse' < Old Turkic: 𐰖𐰆𐰣𐱃, romanized: yunt - 'horse'[5]

References

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