| Tuoba | |
|---|---|
| T'opa | |
| Tabγač,Taγbač | |
| Native to | Tuoba |
| Region | Northern China andMongolia |
| Ethnicity | Tuoba |
| Era | 5th century |
| Serbi script[1] | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
Tuoba (Tabγač orTabghach; alsoTaγbač orTaghbach;Chinese:拓跋) is anextinct language spoken by theTuoba people innorthern China around the 5th century AD during theNorthern Wei dynasty. It has variously been considered to be of (Para-)Mongolic orTurkic affiliations.[2][3][4]
Alexander Vovin (2007) identifies the Tuoba language as aMongolic language.[2]
On the other hand,Juha Janhunen proposed that the Tuoba might have spoken anOghur Turkic language.[3] According toPeter Boodberg, the Tuoba language was essentially Turkic with Mongolic admixture.[4] Chen Sanping noted that the Tuoba language "had both" Turkic and Mongolic elements.[5][6]
Liu Xueyao stated that Tuoba may have had their own language, which should not be assumed to be identical with any other known languages.[7]
Andrew Shimunek (2017) classifies Tuoba (Taghbach) as a "Serbi" (i.e.,para-Mongolic) language. Shimunek's Serbi branch also consists of theTuyuhun andKhitan languages.[1]
An-King Lim (2016, 2023) classifies Tuoba (Tabghatch) as Turkic language.[8][9]
Some functional suffixes are:[1]
Selected basic Taghbach words from Shimunek (2017) are listed below. Forms reconstructed using thecomparative method are marked with one asterisk (*), while forms reconstructed according to the Chinesefanqie spellings and/or rhymes of the traditional Chinese philological tradition are marked with two asterisks (**) (originally marked as ✩ by Shimunek 2017).[1]
| Taghbach (reconstructed form) | Taghbach (original Chinese transcription) | English meaning | Original Chinese gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| *agyɪl ~ *agɪl | 屋引 | house | 房 |
| *čʰɪrnɔ | 叱奴 | wolf | 狼 |
| **dɪʁa | 地何 | writing, book, document | 書 |
| **ɦatśir̃ | 阿真 | food | 飲食 |
| *ɦorbǝl | 嗢盆 | warmth | 溫 |
| *ɪrgɪn | 俟懃 | above, superior | 尚 |
| **kʰɪl- | 乞 | to speak | - |
| **kʰɪr- | 契 | to kill someone | 殺人 |
| **kʰɪrʁayčɪn | 契害真 | assassins | 殺人者 |
| *ñaqañ | 若干 | dog | 狗 |
| *pary-al | 拔列 | bridge | 梁 |
| **pʰatala | 破多羅 | rice water | 潘 |
| *qɔw/*qəw | 侯 | pig, boar | 亥 |
| **tʰaʁ | 托 | dirt, soil, earth | 土 |
| *tʰʊʁnar | 土難 | mountain | 山 |
| **tʰʊʁay | 吐奚 | ancient | 古 |
| *uwl/*ʊwl | 宥連 | cloud | 雲 |
| *yirtʊqañ/*yirtʊqan | 壹斗眷 | bright | 明 |
| *žirpəŋ | 是賁 | raised earth, embankment | 封 |
| **žiʁlʊ | 是樓 | high, tall | 高 |
| Reconstructed |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oghur | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Turkic |
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| Disputed classification | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Potentially Turkic languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Creoles andpidgins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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