| Rouran | |
| Also Known As: | Ruanruan, Ruan-ruan, Juan-juan |
| Region: | Mongolia and northern China |
| States: | Rouran Khaganate |
| Era: | 4th century AD – 6th century AD |
| Familycolor: | unclassified |
| Family: | Unclassified, possibly (Para-)Mongolic or isolate |
| Iso3: | none |
| Glotto: | none |
Rouran, also called Ruanruan, Ruan-ruan or Juan-juan, 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 *kʻobun (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 sprachbund language that might have been Rouran,[4] arguing that if so, the language would be non-Altaic, 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]
Features of Rouran included:[2]
Rouran had the feminine gender suffix -tu-.[2]
Rouran vocabulary included:[2] [1]