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Khitan language

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Khitan or Kitan ( in large script or in small, Khitai;[2] Chinese: 契丹語, Qìdānyǔ), also known as Liao, is an extinct language once spoken in Northeast Asia by the Khitan people (4th to 13th century CE). It was the official language of the Liao Empire (907–1125) and the Qara Khitai (1124–1218). Owing to a narrow corpus of known words and a partially undeciphered script, the language has yet to be completely reconstructed.[3]

Khitan
Kitan

Native toNortheastern China, southeastern Mongolia, eastern Siberia
RegionNorthern
Extinctliterary form in 1244 with the death of Yelü Chucai, last person known who could speak and write Khitan
Khitan large script and Khitan small script
Official status
Official language in
Liao dynasty, Qara Khitai
Language codes
ISO 639-3zkt
zkt
Glottologkita1247

Classification

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Khitan appears to have been related to the Mongolic languages;[4] Juha Janhunen states: "Today, however, the conception is gaining support that Khitan was a language in some respects radically different from the historically known Mongolic languages. If this view proves to be correct, Khitan is, indeed, best classified as a Para-Mongolic language."[1]

Alexander Vovin (2017) argues that Khitan has several Koreanic loanwords.[5] Since both the Korean Goryeo dynasty and the Khitan Liao dynasty claimed to be successors of Goguryeo, it is possible that the Koreanic words in Khitan were borrowed from the language of Goguryeo.[5]

Script

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Khitan was written using two mutually exclusive writing systems known as the Khitan large script and the Khitan small script.[1] The small script, which was a syllabary, was used until the Jurchen-speaking Jin dynasty (1115–1234) replaced it with the Jurchen script in 1191.[6] The large script was logographic like Chinese.

Records

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Prior to the 19th century, only one Khitan text, the Langjun inscription, was known to scholarship in China; however, the inscription was thought by Ming and Qing scholars to be written in the Jurchen script.[3]

The History of Liao contains a volume of Khitan words transcribed in Chinese characters titled "Glossary of National Language" (國語解). It is found in Chapter 116.[7][8][9][10]

The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty 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, "National language"), which was also used by other non-Han Chinese dynasties in China to refer to their languages like Manchu of the Qing, Classical Mongolian during the Yuan dynasty, Jurchen during the Jin, and Xianbei during the Northern Wei. Even today, Mandarin is referred to in Taiwan as Guoyu.

Vocabulary

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There are several closed systems of Khitan lexical items for which systematic information is available.[3] The following is a list of words in these closed systems that are similar to Mongolic. Mongolian and Daur equivalents are given after the English translation:

Seasons

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Khitan Translation Mongolian script[11] modern Mongolian pronunciation Daur
heu.ur spring qabur havar haor
ju.un summer ǰun zun najir
n.am.ur autumn namur namar namar
u.ul winter ebül övöl uwul

Numerals

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Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daur
*omc one onča 'unique' onts (unique) enqu
j.ur.er second ǰirin 'two' jirin (two), jiremsen (double/pregnant) jieeq
hu.ur.er third ɣurba 'three' gurav, gurvan, guramsan (triple) guarab
durer/duren fourth dörben döröv, dörvön durub
tau five tabun tav, tavan taawu
t.ad.o.ho fifth tabu-daki tav dahi taawudar
*nil six ǰirɣuɣan zurgaa (innovation "jir'gur" or 2x3) jirwoo
da.lo.er seventh doluɣ-a 'seven' doloo doloo
n.ie.em eight naima 'eight' naim naim
*is nine yisü yüs, yüsön is
par (p.ar) ten arban arav harbin
jau hundred ǰaɣun zuu, zuun jao
ming thousand mingɣan myanga, myangan mianga

Animals

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Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daur
te.qo.a chicken taqiy-a tahia kakraa
ni.qo dog noqai nohoi nowu
s.au.a bird sibaɣu shuvuu degii
em.a goat imaɣ-a yamaa imaa
tau.li.a rabbit taulai tuulai tauli
mo.ri horse mori mori mori
uni cow üniy-e ünee unie
mu.ho.o snake moɣoi mogoi mowo

Directions

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Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daur
ud.ur east dorun-a dorno garkui
dzi.ge.n left ǰegün züün solwoi
bo.ra.ian right baraɣun baruun baran
dau.ur.un middle dumda dund duand
xe.du.un horizontal köndelen höndölön
ja.cen.i border ǰaqa zasan, zaag jag

Time

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Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daur
suni night söni shönö suni
un.n/un.e now, present önö önöö nee

Personal relations

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Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daur
c.i.is blood čisu tsus qos
mo ku female em-e em emwun
deu younger sibling degüü düü deu
n.ai.ci friend nayiǰa naiz guq
na.ha.an uncle naɣača nagats naoq
s.ia/s.en good sayin sain sain
g.en.un sadness, regret genü='to regret' in the letter of Arghun Khan) genen, gem gemxbei
ku person kümün hün, hümün huu

Tribal administration

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Khitan Translation Mongolian script Daur
cau.ur war čagur, as in "tsa'urgalan dairakh" quagur
nai/nai.d heads, officials "-d" is a plural suffix=noyan, noyad for plural noyin
t.em- to bestow a title temdeg 'sign' temgeet
k.em decree kem kemjiye 'law/norm' hes
us.gi letter üseg jiexgen
ui matter üyile urgil
qudug blessed qutuɣ hireebei
xe.se.ge part, section, province keseg meyen
ming.an military unit of thousand minggan miangan

Basic verbs

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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

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Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daur
eu.ul cloud egüle üül eulen
s.eu.ka dew sigüderi shüüder suider
sair moon sara sar saruul
nair sun nara nar nar
m.em/m.ng silver mönggö möng mungu

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/month.

'Tao Saiyier' corresponds to Mongolian 'tavan sar' (fifth moon/month).

References

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  1. ^ a b c Janhunen 2006, p. 393.
  2. ^ "Khitan". Omniglot. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  3. ^ a b c Kane, Daniel B. (2009). The Kitan language and script. Handbook of oriental studies/Handbuch der Orientalistik, section eight, central Asia. Leiden Boston: Brill. pp. Prefix-1. ISBN 978-90-04-16829-9.
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b Vovin 2017, p. 207.
  6. ^ Janhunen 2006, p. 395.
  7. ^ 遼史/卷116 卷116.
  8. ^ Howorth, H. H. (1881). "The Northern Frontagers of China. Part V. The Khitai or Khitans". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 13 (2): 123–125. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00017780. JSTOR 25196875. S2CID 162589769.
  9. ^ Wilkinson, Endymion Porter (2000). Chinese History: A Manual (illustrated, revised ed.). Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center. p. 864. ISBN 0-674-00249-0.
  10. ^ Yong, Heming; Peng, Jing (2008). Chinese Lexicography: A History from 1046 BC to AD 1911. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 382–. ISBN 978-0-19-953982-6.
  11. ^ "Bolor Dictionary". Bolor Dictionary (in Mongolian). Retrieved 2024-10-27.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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Wikisource has original text related to this article:
 
Look up Category:Khitan language in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
 
Wiktionary has a word list at Appendix:Khitan word list
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