Nam language

Nam is an unclassified extinct language preserved in Tibetan transcriptions in a number of Dunhuang manuscript fragments. The manuscript fragments are held at the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Nam
RegionCentral Asia
Sino-Tibetan
  • (unclassified)
    • Nam
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottolognamm1235

Classification

According to Ikeda Takumi, the research of F. W. Thomas, published in 1948, concluded that Nam "was one of the old Qiang [languages] spoken around the Nam mountain range near Koko nor in Qinghai province", associated with a country called Nam tig which is mentioned in some historical records. However, Ikeda further states that Thomas' conclusions were widely criticized.[1]

Glottolog accepts that it was at least Sino-Tibetan.[2]

Lexicon

Wen (1981: 18–19) lists the following basic vocabulary items, which have been taken from Thomas (1948: 399–451).

No.Chinese glossEnglish glossNam
1skymo, nam
2cloudgmog, mog, mog
3sungnyi
4moon’la, la
5firesme/’me, ’me’i, me, ’mye, ye
6water’ldya, ’ldya
7mountain’ri, gri, gri’i, ’ri’i
8stone’rto, rto
9tigercho
10bear (animal)gre
11牦牛yak’brong
12horserta, rta’, ’rta, ’rta’
13donkeygzu, ’ju , ’zu, ’dzu, ’ju’u’gduz
14dog’kyi
15pig’phag
16head’bu, ’ko
17eye’me’i, méi, mye
18齿toothswa
19hand’phyag
20heartsyning, snyang
21blindklu
22dead’shi, shi (gshi, bshi)
23arrow’da’, ’lda’?
24doorrgo, ’go, ’ko(rgor)
25bigrbo, bo-bon, rbom, ’bom, ’rbom
26smallbyi, hbyi
27highshid, ’shid, tho, ’tho, stang, ’stang

References

  1. Ikeda Takumi. "Spotlights to the decipherment of the Nam language". The 41st International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. p. abstract. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Nam". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Further reading

  • Chén Zōngxiáng 陳宗祥 (1994). 〈敦煌古藏文拼冩的“南語”手卷的名稱問題〉Dūnhuáng Gǔzàngwén pīnxiěde 'Nányǔ' shǒujuànde míngchēng wèntí [The identity of the Dūnhuáng 'Nam language' scroll transcribed in Old Tibetan].《四川藏學研究》Sìchuān Zàngxué yánjiū 2. 中國藏學出版社 Zhōngguó Zàngxué chūbǎnshè, 164–180頁.(筆名爲寶羊與王建民合冩)
  • Chén Zōngxiáng 陳宗祥 (1997). 〈敦煌古藏文拼冩的“南語”手卷的有關地名考釋〉Dūnhuáng Gǔzàngwén pīnxiěde 'Nányǔ' shǒujuànde yǒuguān dìmíng kǎoshì [Explanation of the places names in the Dūnhuáng 'Nam language' scroll transcribed in Old Tibetan].《四川藏學研究》Sìchuān Zàngxué yánjiū 4.四川民族出版社 Sìchuān mínzú chūbǎnshè. 684–698.
  • Takumi, Ikeda (2012). "Highlights in the Decipherment of the Nam Language". Medieval Tibeto-Burman Languages IV. pp. 111–119. doi:10.1163/9789004233454_006. ISBN 978-90-04-23202-0.
  • Lalou, Marcelle (1939). “Sur la langue « nam ».” Journal Asiatique 231: 453.
  • Thomas, F. W. (July 1928). "The Nam Language". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 60 (3): 630–634. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00060974. JSTOR 5221378. S2CID 250344975.
  • Thomas, F. W. (April 1939). "The Nam Language". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 71 (2): 193–216. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00088456. JSTOR 25201881. S2CID 162874593.
  • Thomas, Frederick William (1948). Nam, an ancient language of the Sino-Tibetan borderland. London: Oxford University Press.
  • Shafer, Robert (1 January 1963). "Clews to the Decipherment of the 'Nam' Language". Monumenta Serica. 22 (1): 169–184. doi:10.1080/02549948.1963.11731032. JSTOR 40726470.
  • Wén Yòu 聞宥 (1981). 〈論所謂南語〉Lùn suǒwèi Nányǔ (On the 'Nam' language)《民族語文》. Mínzú yǔwén 1: 16–25.
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