Rouran | |
---|---|
Ruanruan, Ruan-ruan, Juan-juan | |
Native to | Rouran Khaganate |
Region | Mongolia and northern China |
Era | 4th century AD – 6th century AD |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | None (mis ) |
Glottolog | None |
Rouran ( Chinese: 柔然), also called Ruanruan, Ruan-ruan or Juan-juan ( Chinese: 蠕蠕), is an unclassified extinct language of Mongolia and northern China, spoken in the Rouran Khaganate from the 4th to the 6th centuries AD, considered a likely early precursor to Mongolic. [1]
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 *k’obun (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 non-Altaic language that might have been Rouran, [4] arguing that if so, the language would be non- Altaic, unrelated to its neighbours and 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] Pamela Kyle Crossley (2019) wrote that the Rouran language itself has remained a puzzle, and leading linguists consider it a possible isolate. [5]
Features of Rouran included: [2]
Rouran had the feminine gender suffix -tu-. [2]
Rouran vocabulary included: [2] [1]