Nam language explained
Nam |
Region: | Central Asia |
Familycolor: | Sino-Tibetan |
Fam2: | (unclassified) |
Iso3: | none |
Glotto: | namm1235 |
Glottorefname: | Nam |
Extinct: | ? |
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 .
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.
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 | |
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.
- Book: 10.1163/9789004233454_006 . Highlights in the Decipherment of the Nam Language . Medieval Tibeto-Burman Languages IV . 2012 . 111–119 . 978-90-04-23202-0 . Ikeda . Takumi .
- Lalou, Marcelle (1939). “Sur la langue « nam ».” Journal Asiatique 231: 453.
- Thomas . F. W. . Frederick William Thomas (philologist) . The Nam Language . Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society . July 1928 . 60 . 3 . 630–634 . 5221378 . 10.1017/S0035869X00060974 . 250344975 .
- Thomas . F. W. . The Nam Language . Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society . April 1939 . 71 . 2 . 193–216 . 25201881 . 10.1017/S0035869X00088456 . 162874593 .
- Thomas, Frederick William (1948). Nam, an ancient language of the Sino-Tibetan borderland. London: Oxford University Press.
- Shafer . Robert . Clews to the Decipherment of the 'Nam' Language . Monumenta Serica . 1 January 1963 . 22 . 1 . 169–184 . 10.1080/02549948.1963.11731032 . 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.
Notes and References
- Web site: Spotlights to the decipherment of the Nam language . Ikeda Takumi . Ikeda Takumi . The 41st International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics . abstract . November 27, 2010.