This article's lead sectionmay be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(January 2023)
Khitan appears to have been related to the Mongolic languages;[3]Juha Janhunen states, "[T]he 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]
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.
Vocabularyedit
There are several closed systems of Khitan lexical items for which systematic information is available.[10] 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:
Seasonsedit
Khitan
Translation
Mongolian script
modern Mongolian pronunciation
Daur
heu.ur
spring
qabur
havar
haor
ju.un
summer
jun
zun
najir
n.am.ur
autumn
namur
namar
namar
u.ul
winter
ebül
övöl
uwul
Numeralsedit
Khitan
Translation
Mongolian script
modern Mongolian pronunciation
Daur
*omc
one
onca 'unique'
onts (unique)
enqu
j.ur.er
second
jirin 'two'
jirin (two), jiremsen (double/pregnant)
jieeq
hu.ur.er
third
gurba '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
jirgugan
zurgaa (innovation "jir'gur" or 2x3)
jirwoo
da.lo.er
seventh
dologa 'seven'
doloo
doloo
n.ie.em
eight
nayim 'eight'
naim
naim
*is
nine
yesü
yüs, yüsön
is
par (p.ar)
ten
arban
arav
harbin
jau
hundred
jagun
zuu, zuun
jao
ming
thousand
minggan
myanga, myangan
mianga
Compared with Khitan, The Tungusic numerals of the Jurchen language differ significantly: three=ilan, five=shunja, seven=nadan, nine=uyun, hundred=tangu.
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). The Turkic Kyrgyz equivalent would be 'beshinchi ay' while the Manchu (Tungusic) equivalent would be 'sunja biya'.
^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
^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.
^Wilkinson, Endymion Porter (2000). Chinese History: A Manual (illustrated, revised ed.). Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center. p. 864. ISBN0-674-00249-0.
^Yong, Heming; Peng, Jing (2008). Chinese Lexicography: A History from 1046 BC to AD 1911. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 382–. ISBN978-0-19-953982-6.
^Kane, Daniel A. (2009). The Kitan Language and Script. Leiden: Brill. ISBN978-90-04-16829-9.
Vovin, Alexander (2017). "Koreanic Loanwords in Khitan and Their Importance in the Decipherment of the Latter". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 70 (2): 207–215. doi:10.1556/062.2017.70.2.4.
Further readingedit
Franke, H. (1976). "Two Chinese–Khitan Macaronic Poems". In Heissig, W.; Krueger, J. R.; Oinas, F. J.; Schütz, E. (eds.). Tractata Altaica: Denis Sinor, Sexagenario Optime de Rebus Altaicis Merito Dedicata. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. pp. 175–180. ISBN3-447-01798-8.
Kane, Daniel (1989). The Sino-Jurchen Vocabulary of the Bureau of Interpreters. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies. ISBN0-933070-23-3.
Qinge'ertai (Chinggeltei); Yu, Baolin; Chen, Naixiong; Liu, Fengzhu; Xin, Fuli (1985). Qìdān xiǎozì yánjiū [A Study of the Khitan Small Script] (in Chinese). 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 – via Academia.edu.
Vovin, Alexander (2003). "Once Again on Khitan Words in Chinese-Khitan Mixed Verses". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 56 (2–4): 237–244. doi:10.1556/AOrient.56.2003.2-4.10.
External linksedit
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Texts in Khitan language
Look up Category:Khitan language in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wiktionary has a word list at Appendix:Khitan word list
New Developments of the Studies on Khitai Language and Khitai Scripts 2016-04-03 at the Wayback Machine
Khitan language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator
December 02, 2023
khitan, language, this, article, lead, section, short, adequately, summarize, points, please, consider, expanding, lead, provide, accessible, overview, important, aspects, article, january, 2023, khitan, kitan, large, script, small, khitai, chinese, 契丹語, qìdān. This article s lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article January 2023 Khitan or Kitan in large script or in small Khitai 2 Chinese 契丹語 Qidanyǔ also known as Liao is an extinct language once spoken in Northeast Asia by the Khitan people 4th to 13th century It was the official language of the Liao Empire 907 1125 and the Qara Khitai 1124 1218 KhitanNative toNortheastern China southeastern Mongolia eastern SiberiaRegionNorthernExtinctc 1243 Yelu Chucai last person known who could speak and write Khitan Language familySerbi Mongolic Para Mongolic 1 KhitanWriting systemKhitan large script and Khitan small scriptLanguage codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code zkt class extiw title iso639 3 zkt zkt a Linguist ListzktGlottologkita1247 Contents 1 Classification 2 Script 3 Records 4 Vocabulary 4 1 Seasons 4 2 Numerals 4 3 Animals 4 4 Directions 4 5 Time 4 6 Personal relations 4 7 Tribal administration 4 8 Basic verbs 4 9 Natural objects 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 Further reading 8 External linksClassification editKhitan appears to have been related to the Mongolic languages 3 Juha Janhunen states T he 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 4 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 4 Script editKhitan 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 clarification needed in 1191 5 The large script was logographic like Chinese Records editThe 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 6 7 8 9 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 editThere are several closed systems of Khitan lexical items for which systematic information is available 10 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 edit Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daurheu ur spring qabur havar haorju un summer jun zun najirn am ur autumn namur namar namaru ul winter ebul ovol uwulNumerals edit Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daur omc one onca unique onts unique enquj ur er second jirin two jirin two jiremsen double pregnant jieeqhu ur er third gurba three gurav gurvan guramsan triple guarabdurer duren fourth dorben dorov dorvon durubtau five tabun tav tavan taawut ad o ho fifth tabu daki tav dahi taawudar nil six jirgugan zurgaa innovation jir gur or 2x3 jirwooda lo er seventh dologa seven doloo doloon ie em eight nayim eight naim naim is nine yesu yus yuson ispar p ar ten arban arav harbinjau hundred jagun zuu zuun jaoming thousand minggan myanga myangan miangaCompared with Khitan The Tungusic numerals of the Jurchen language differ significantly three ilan five shunja seven nadan nine uyun hundred tangu Animals edit Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daurte qo a chicken taqiya tahia kakraani qo dog noqai nohoi nowus au a bird sibuga shuvuu degiiem a goat imaga yamaa imaatau li a rabbit taulai tuulai taulimo ri horse mori mori moriuni cow uniye unee uniemu ho o snake mogoi mogoi mowoDirections edit Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daurud ur east doruna dorno garkuidzi ge n left jegun zuun solwoibo ra ian right baragun baruun barandau ur un middle dumda dund duandxe du un horizontal kondelen hondolonja cen i border jaqa zasan zaag jagTime edit Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daursuni night soni shono suniun n un e now present ono onoo neePersonal relations edit Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daurc i is blood cisu tsus qosmo ku female eme em emwundeu younger sibling degu duu deun ai ci friend nayija naiz guqna ha an uncle nagaca nagats naoqs ia s en good sayin sain saing en un sadness regret genu to regret in the letter of Arghun Khan genen gem gemxbeiku person kumun hun humun huuTribal administration edit Khitan Translation Mongolian script Daurcau ur war cagur as in tsa urgalan dairakh quagurnai nai d heads officials d is a plural suffix noyan noyad for plural noyint em to bestow a title temdeg sign temgeetk em decree kem kemjiye law norm hesus gi letter useg jiexgenui matter uile urgilqudug blessed qutug hireebeixe se ge part section province keseg meyenming an military unit of thousand minggan mianganBasic verbs edit Khitan Translation Mongolian scriptp o become bol p o ju raise intr bos on a an fall una x ui ri ge ei transfer kur ge u give og sa to reside sagu a be a live as in aj ahui Natural objects edit Khitan Translation Mongolian script modern Mongolian pronunciation Daureu ul cloud egule uul eulens eu ka dew siguderi shuuder suidersair moon sara sar saruulnair sun nara nar narm em m ng silver monggo mong munguThe 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 The Turkic Kyrgyz equivalent would be beshinchi ay while the Manchu Tungusic equivalent would be sunja biya References edit a b c Janhunen 2006 p 393 Khitan Omniglot Retrieved 2021 08 24 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 a b Vovin 2017 p 207 Janhunen 2006 p 395 遼史 卷116 卷116 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 Wilkinson Endymion Porter 2000 Chinese History A Manual illustrated revised ed Cambridge Harvard University Asia Center p 864 ISBN 0 674 00249 0 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 Kane Daniel A 2009 The Kitan Language and Script Leiden Brill ISBN 978 90 04 16829 9 Bibliography editJanhunen Juha 2006 Para Mongolic In Janhunen Juha ed The Mongolic Languages Routledge pp 391 402 ISBN 978 1 135 79690 7 Vovin Alexander 2017 Koreanic Loanwords in Khitan and Their Importance in the Decipherment of the Latter Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 70 2 207 215 doi 10 1556 062 2017 70 2 4 Further reading editFranke H 1976 Two Chinese Khitan Macaronic Poems In Heissig W Krueger J R Oinas F J Schutz E eds Tractata Altaica Denis Sinor Sexagenario Optime de Rebus Altaicis Merito Dedicata Wiesbaden Otto Harrassowitz pp 175 180 ISBN 3 447 01798 8 Kane Daniel 1989 The Sino Jurchen Vocabulary of the Bureau of Interpreters Bloomington Indiana Indiana University Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies ISBN 0 933070 23 3 Qinge ertai Chinggeltei Yu Baolin Chen Naixiong Liu Fengzhu Xin Fuli 1985 Qidan xiǎozi yanjiu A Study of the Khitan Small Script in Chinese 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 via Academia edu Vovin Alexander 2003 Once Again on Khitan Words in Chinese Khitan Mixed Verses Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 56 2 4 237 244 doi 10 1556 AOrient 56 2003 2 4 10 External links edit nbsp Wikisource has original text related to this article Texts in Khitan language nbsp Look up Category Khitan language in Wiktionary the free dictionary nbsp Wiktionary has a word list at Appendix Khitan word list New Developments of the Studies on Khitai Language and Khitai Scripts Archived 2016 04 03 at the Wayback Machine nbsp Khitan language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Khitan language amp oldid 1187263731, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
