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 | |
---|---|
Region | Central Asia |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | None (mis ) |
Glottolog | namm1235 |
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 gloss | English gloss | Nam |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 天 | sky | mo, nam |
2 | 云 | cloud | gmog, mog, mog |
3 | 日 | sun | gnyi |
4 | 月 | moon | ’la, la |
5 | 火 | fire | sme/’me, ’me’i, me, ’mye, ye |
6 | 水 | water | ’ldya, ’ldya |
7 | 山 | mountain | ’ri, gri, gri’i, ’ri’i |
8 | 石 | stone | ’rto, rto |
9 | 虎 | tiger | cho |
10 | 熊 | bear (animal) | gre |
11 | 牦牛 | yak | ’brong |
12 | 马 | horse | rta, rta’, ’rta, ’rta’ |
13 | 驴 | donkey | gzu, ’ju , ’zu, ’dzu, ’ju’u’gduz |
14 | 狗 | dog | ’kyi |
15 | 猪 | pig | ’phag |
16 | 头 | head | ’bu, ’ko |
17 | 眼 | eye | ’me’i, méi, mye |
18 | 齿 | tooth | swa |
19 | 手 | hand | ’phyag |
20 | 心 | heart | syning, snyang |
21 | 盲 | blind | klu |
22 | 死 | dead | ’shi, shi (gshi, bshi) |
23 | 箭 | arrow | ’da’, ’lda’? |
24 | 门 | door | rgo, ’go, ’ko(rgor) |
25 | 大 | big | rbo, bo-bon, rbom, ’bom, ’rbom |
26 | 小 | small | byi, hbyi |
27 | 高 | high | shid, ’shid, tho, ’tho, stang, ’stang |
References
- 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.
- 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.