User:Kepler-1229b/Xiongnu language

Xiongnu, also referred to as Xiong-nu, Hsiung-nu, or Asian Hunnic is the language(s) presumed to be spoken by the Xiongnu, a people and confederation which existed from the 3rd century BCE to 100 AD. It is sparsely attested, and the extant material available on it composes of about 150 words, as well as what may be a two-line text transcribed using Chinese characters, which the Xiongnu may have used themselves for writing their language.

Attestation
Apart from tribal and sovereign names, some words, a song in the potentially related Jie language, and Chinese descriptions, the language(s) of the Xiongnu is very poorly documented, and very fragmentarily attested.

Classification
The origin of the Xiongnu is disputed and no theory has more support than another.

Xiongnu, with our current information, is unclassifiable or a language isolate, that is, a language whose relationship with another language is not apparent.

Turkic language
According to Savelyev and Jeong (2020):"'The predominant part of the Xiongnu population is likely to have spoken Turkic.'"However, on the basis of genetics, the Xiongnu were likely multiethnic.

Wink (2002) suggests that the Xiongnu spoke an ancient form of Turkic, and if they were not Turkic themselves, that they were influenced by Turkic peoples.

Benjamin (2007) proposes that the Xiongnu were either Proto-Turks or Proto-Mongols, and that their language would have been similar to that of the Dingling.

Chinese historical works link the Xiongnu to carious Turkic peoples:


 * The ruling dynasty of the Göktürks were originally part of the Xiongnu.
 * The Uyghur khagans claimed Xiongnu ancestry.
 * The Book of Wei states that the Yueban were descended from the northern Xiongnu. It is also stated that Yueban language and customs were similar to those of the Tiele.
 * The Book of Jin lists 14 southern Xiongnu tribes who entered Old Yan, and some of the tribal names have been compared to Old Turkic.

(Para-)Yeniseian language
In the 20th century, Lajos Ligeti was the first linguist to hypothesize on the Yeniseian origin of the Xiongnu language. In the early 1960s, Edwin Pulleyblank further developed this theory and added evidence.

The Yeniseian origin theory proposes that the Jie, a Western Xiongnu people, were Yeniseians. Hyun Jin Kim found similarities in a Jie-language song in the Book of Jin (composed during the 7th century) to Yeniseian. Pulleyblank et Vovin then affirmed that the Jie were the minority ruling class of the Xiongnu, ruling over the other Turkic and Iranian groups.

According to Kim, the dominant language of the Xiongnu was likely Turkic or Yeniseian, but their empire was multiethnic.

It is possible that Xiongnu nobility titles originated from Yeniseian and were loaned into Turkic and Serbi-Mongolic languages:


 * The words "tarqan", "tegin", and "kaghan" originate from Xiongnu, and they may therefore have a Yeniseian origin.
 * The Xiongnu word for "heaven" may be derived from Proto-Yeniseian *tɨŋVr.

Certain Xiongnu words appear to be cognate with Yeniseian:


 * Xiongnu kʷala "son" compared to Ket qalek "younger son".
 * Xiongnu sakdak "boot" compared to Ket sagdi "boot".
 * Xiongnu gʷawa "prince" compared to Ket gij "prince".
 * Xiongnu dar "north" compared to Yugh tɨr "north"

According to Pulleyblank, the consonant cluster /rl/ appears word-initially in certain Xiongnu words. This indicates that Xiongnu may not have a Turkic origin. Most of the attested vocabulary also appears Yeniseian in nature.

Vovin remarks that certain horse names in Xiongnu appear to be Turkic with Yeniseian prefixes.

Savalyev and Jeong doubt the theory of Yeniseian origin as the Xiongnu genetically correspond to Iranians, unlike Yeniseians, who have a strong Samoyedic affinity.

It is also possible that Xiongnu is linked to Yeniseian in a Para-Yeniseian phylum, both linked in a Xiongnu-Yeniseian family, mais d'autres pensent que le xiongnu était une langue ienisseïenne méridionale.

As a result, there are two competing models for the classification of Xiongnu into Yeniseian:

Yeniseian model
Yeniseian languages
 * Northern Yeniseian
 * Southern Yeniseian
 * Assanic
 * Pumpokolic
 * Xiongnu

Para-Yeniseian model
Xiongnu-Yeniseian
 * Yeniseian
 * Para-Yeniseian
 * Xiongnu

(Para-)Mongolic language
Certain linguists posit that the Xiongnu spoke a language similar to Mongolic. Selon certains archéologues mongols, le peuple de la culture dalle-tombe était l'ancêtre des Xiongnu, et certains savants pensent que les Xiongnu étaient les ancêtres des mongols.

Selon Bichurin, les Xianbei et les Xiongnu were the same people, just with different states.

Le Livre des Wei indique que les Rouanrouans descendent des Donghu. Le Livre des Liang ajoute, :"«They [the Rouanrouans] also constituted a branch of the Xiongnu»"Ancient Chinese sources also designate various nomadic peoples to be the ancestors of the Xiongnu:


 * The Kumo Xi, speakers of a langue para-mongole
 * The Göktürks, who spoke the Orkhon Turkic language (or Göktürks), a langue turque sibérienne.
 * The Tiele, who also spoke Turkic.

D'autres éléments semblent indiquer une origine mongole ou serbi-mongole aux Xiongnu :


 * Genghis Khan designated the era of Modu Chanyu, in a letter addresed to the taoïste Qiu Chuji, comme « le temps révolu de notre Chanyu ».
 * Les symboles xiongnu du Soleil et de la Lune ressemblent au Soyombo mongol.

Iranian language
On the basis of Xiongnu names of nobility, it was proposed that the Xiongnu spoke an Iranian language.

Beckwith suggests that the name "Xiongnu" is cognate with the word "Scythian", or "Saka", or "Sogdian" (all referring to Central Iranian peoples). According to him, the Iranians directed the Xiongnu and influenced their culture and models.

Harmatta (1994) affirms that Xiongnu names are of Scythian origin, and that Xiongnu would therefore be an Eastern Iranian language.

According to Savelyev et Jeong (2020), ancient Iranians contributed significantly to Xiongnu culture. Additionally, genetic studues indicate that 5% to 25% of Xiongnu were of Iranian origin.

Other possible origins
Other, less developed, hypotheses posit that Xiongnu is of Finno-Ugric or Sino-Tibetan affiliation. It is possible that some eastern Xiongnu peoples may have spoken a Koreanic language.

Multiple languages
Une hypothèse plus développée et soutenue que les précédentes soutient une origine multiethnique, et la langue principale de la confédération serait insuffisamment décrite pour établir une relation.

Possible link with Hunnic
Certain researchers state that Huns and the Hunas are linked, but this is debated.