User:Kdnjl2000/JL2000 Manchu Language

The Manchu language, also known as Manju Gisun, is a severely endangered, Tungusic language spoken in Manchuria. It was the official language of the Manchus and imperial language of the Qing Dynasty (1636–1911) of China. There are about 9,821,180 people within the ethnic population, and the Manchu language is now spoken as a native language by fewer than twenty, mainly elderly, people. Most of the remaining native speakers now live in the Sanjiazi Village in the Heilongjiang Province of China. A majority of the Manchu people now speak Mandarin Chinese in order to get a job in China.

Manchu Language
Manchu is the major representative of the southern branch of the Tungusic languages, traditionally thought to be part of the Altaic language family (or sprachbund), which also includes Mongolic and Turkic languages. Manchu was the language of the Jurchen tribes who inhabited what came to be called Manchuria and who, after 1635, decided to call themselves “Manchus.” When they went on shortly thereafter to take over all of China, Manchu became one of the official languages of the empire they created, the Qing Dynasty, and remained in fairly wide use until the early 20th c. Though it has practically died out in its original homeland, a dialect of Manchu continues to be used by the Sibe, a minority nationality living in the Ili Valley.

History
The number of Manchu speakers began decreasing during the middle of the Qing Dynasty, due to war. Manchu as a language has high historical value for historians of China. Manchu is related to a large change in late twentieth-century intellectual currents, especially the inclination to question dominant historical narratives. As the social and political landscape of the contemporary world, ethnicity has become an important subject of scholarly research. Manchu language contains information that is not available in Chinese textbooks or information that is unavailable to translate in Mandarin Chinese (need source). As China’s last imperial masters, the alien Manchus have thus become an obvious focus of interest: not only were they minority rulers, but the empire they built—the greatest continental empire since the time of Cinggis—is seen as the predecessor, if not the blueprint, of the vast poly-ethnic state that China has become today.

The Manchu established a dynasty, called the Qing, which ruled much like a Chinese dynasty, with an extensive military and civilian bureaucracy. More than half of 6,000 languages all over the world face the imminent threat of extinction, and Manchu is listed along with them. It is not only a symbol of the greatest dynasty in Chinese history, but also proof that the greatest culture has existed. Nowadays, very few students are interested in learning a language that won't be used outside the archives. The Chinese government has also allocated money to Manchu language learning; fifteen students are enrolled in Heilongjiang University's Manchu language program.

Geographic Distribution
The region that falls entirely within modern China is now usually referred to as Northeast China.

Example
Youtube Link of Professor Yongshantai speak the language of the Manchu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZNoGlajrQs

Writing System
Manchu language uses modified Mongolian writing system and it goes from left to right and up to down. About 10 million Manchus live in north China, 100 speak Manchu and only 20 can read and write it.

Syntax
left to right in vertical columns running from top to bottom.Most letters have several different forms: initial, medial and final, which are used at the beginning, middle and end of a word respectively. The vowels also have isolated forms. Some letters have different shapes depending on which vowel comes before and/or after them.

External Link

 * Ethnologue Manchu