Tuoba language
Extinct 5th-century language of northern China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tuoba (Tabγač or Tabghach; also Taγbač or Taghbach; Chinese: 拓跋) is an extinct language spoken by the Tuoba people in northern China around the 5th century AD during the Northern Wei dynasty. It has variously been considered to be of (Para-)Mongolic or Turkic affiliations.[2][3][4]
Classification
Alexander Vovin (2007) identifies the Tuoba language as a Mongolic language.[2]
On the other hand, Juha Janhunen proposed that the Tuoba might have spoken an Oghur Turkic language.[3] However, Janhunen's position is ambiguous; he cautiously suggested that the Xianbei and Tabgach languages are Para-Mongolic.[5][6] According to Peter Boodberg, the Tuoba language was essentially Turkic with Mongolic admixture.[4] Chen Sanping noted that, based on the new evidence uncovered from the Tuoba onomastic data, the core Tuoba clans now would seem more likely to have spoken a Turkic language.[7][8]
Liu Xueyao stated that Tuoba may have had their own language, which should not be assumed to be identical with any other known languages.[9]
Andrew Shimunek (2017) classifies Tuoba (Taghbach) as a "Serbi" (i.e., para-Mongolic) language. Shimunek's Serbi branch also consists of the Tuyuhun and Khitan languages.[1]
An-King Lim (2016, 2023) classifies Tuoba (Tabghatch) as Turkic language.[10][11]
Morphology
Lexicon
Selected basic Taghbach words from Shimunek (2017) are listed below. Forms reconstructed using the comparative method are marked with one asterisk (*), while forms reconstructed according to the Chinese fanqie spellings and/or rhymes of the traditional Chinese philological tradition are marked with two asterisks (**) (originally marked as ✩ by Shimunek 2017).[1]
| Taghbach (reconstructed form) | Taghbach (original Chinese transcription) | English meaning | Original Chinese gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| *agyɪl ~ *agɪl | 屋引 | house | 房 |
| *čʰɪrnɔ | 叱奴 | wolf | 狼 |
| **dɪʁa | 地何 | writing, book, document | 書 |
| **ɦatśir̃ | 阿真 | food | 飲食 |
| *ɦorbǝl | 嗢盆 | warmth | 溫 |
| *ɪrgɪn | 俟懃 | above, superior | 尚 |
| **kʰɪl- | 乞 | to speak | - |
| **kʰɪr- | 契 | to kill someone | 殺人 |
| **kʰɪrʁayčɪn | 契害真 | assassins | 殺人者 |
| *ñaqañ | 若干 | dog | 狗 |
| *pary-al | 拔列 | bridge | 梁 |
| **pʰatala | 破多羅 | rice water | 潘 |
| *qɔw/*qəw | 侯 | pig, boar | 亥 |
| **tʰaʁ | 托 | dirt, soil, earth | 土 |
| *tʰʊʁnar | 土難 | mountain | 山 |
| **tʰʊʁay | 吐奚 | ancient | 古 |
| *uwl/*ʊwl | 宥連 | cloud | 雲 |
| *yirtʊqañ/*yirtʊqan | 壹斗眷 | bright | 明 |
| *žirpəŋ | 是賁 | raised earth, embankment | 封 |
| **žiʁlʊ | 是樓 | high, tall | 高 |
