Ruanruan language

Ruan-ruan
Native to Rouran Khaganate
Region Mongolia and northern China
Era 4th century CE – 6th century CE
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)
Glottolog None

Ruan-ruan (Chinese: 蠕蠕; also called Rouran) is an unclassified extinct language of Mongolia and northern China, spoken in the Rouran Khaganate from the 4th to the 6th centuries CE.

Alexander Vovin (2004, 2010)[1][2] considers the Ruan-ruan language to be an extinct non-Altaic language that is not related to any modern-day language (i.e., a language isolate) and is hence unrelated to Mongolic. Vovin (2004) notes that Old Turkic had borrowed some words from an unknown non-Altaic language that may have been Ruan-ruan.

Phonology

Features of Ruan-ruan included:[2]

  • no mid vowels
  • initial l-
  • final consonantal cluster -nd

Morphology

Ruan-ruan had the feminine gender suffix -tu-.[2]

Lexicon

Ruan-ruan vocabulary included:[2]

  • küskü – 'rat'
  • ud – 'ox'
  • luu – 'dragon' < Middle Chinese luŋ – 'dragon'
  • yund – 'horse'
  • laγzïn – 'pig'
  • qaγan – 'emperor'
  • qan – 'khan'
  • qaγatun – 'empress'
  • qatun – 'khan's wife'
  • aq – 'dung'
  • and – 'oath'

References

  1. ↑ Vovin, Alexander 2004. ‘Some Thoughts on the Origins of the Old Turkic 12-Year Animal Cycle.’ Central Asiatic Journal 48/1: 118–32.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Vovin, Alexander. 2010. Once Again on the Ruan-ruan Language. Ötüken’den İstanbul’a Türkçenin 1290 Yılı (720–2010) Sempozyumu From Ötüken to Istanbul, 1290 Years of Turkish (720–2010). 3–5 Aralık 2010, İstanbul / 3–5 December 2010, İstanbul: 1–10.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.