Ruanruan (; also called Rouran) is an unclassified
extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers, especially if the language has no living descendants. In contrast, a dead language is one that is no longer the native language of any community, even if it is still in use, li ...
of
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
and
northern China, spoken in the
Rouran Khaganate from the 4th to the 6th centuries AD, considered a likely early precursor to
Mongolic.
Peter A. Boodberg
Peter Alexis Boodberg (born Pyotr Alekseyevich Budberg; 8 April 1903 – 29 June 1972) was a Russian-American scholar, linguist, and sinologist who taught at the University of California, Berkeley for 40 years. Boodberg was influential in 20th ...
claimed in 1935 that the Ruanruan language was Mongolic by analysing Chinese transcriptions of Ruan-ruan names.
Atwood (2013) notes that Rourans
calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language wh ...
d the
Sogdian word ''pūr'' "son" into their language as *''k’obun'' (Chinese transliteration: 去汾
MC *''kʰɨʌ
H-bɨun'' >
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
''qùfén''); which, according to Atwood, is cognate with
Middle Mongol ''kö'ün'' "son".
Alexander Vovin
Alexander (Sasha) Vladimirovich Vovin (russian: Александр Владимирович Вовин; 27 January 1961 – 8 April 2022) was a Soviet-born Russian-American linguist and philologist, and director of studies at the School for Ad ...
noted that
Old Turkic
Old Turkic (also East Old Turkic, Orkhon Turkic language, Old Uyghur) is the earliest attested form of the Turkic languages, found in Göktürk and Uyghur Khaganate inscriptions dating from about the eighth to the 13th century. It is the old ...
had borrowed some words from an unknown non-Altaic language that might have been Ruan-ruan,
arguing that if so, the language would be non-
Altaic
Altaic (; also called Transeurasian) is a controversial proposed language family that would include the Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic language families and possibly also the Japonic and Koreanic languages. Speakers of these languages are ...
language, unrelated to its neighbours and possibly a
language isolate
Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...
, though evidence was scant.
In 2019, with the emergence of new evidence through the analysis of the ''
Brāhmī Bugut'' and ''
Khüis Tolgoi'', Vovin changed his view, suggesting Ruan-ruan was, in fact a
Mongolic language
The Mongolic languages are a language family spoken by the Mongolic peoples in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia, mostly in Mongolia and surrounding areas and in Kalmykia and Buryatia. The best-known member of this language ...
, close but not identical to
Middle Mongolian
Middle Mongol or Middle Mongolian, was a Mongolic koiné language spoken in the Mongol Empire. Originating from Genghis Khan's home region of Northeastern Mongolia, it diversified into several Mongolic languages after the collapse of the empire ...
.
Pamela Kyle Crossley
Pamela K Crossley (born 18 November 1955) is a historian of modern China, northern Asia, and global history and is the Charles and Elfriede Collis Professor of History, Dartmouth College. She is a founding appointment of the Dartmouth Society of ...
(2019) wrote that the Rouran language itself has remained a puzzle, and leading linguists consider it a possible isolate.
Phonology
Features of Ruan-ruan included:
*no mid vowels
*presence of initial ''l-''
*final consonantal cluster ''-nd'' unusual for any
"Altaic" languages
Morphology
Ruan-ruan had the feminine gender suffix ''-tu-''.
Lexicon
Ruan-ruan vocabulary included:
*''küskü'' – 'rat'
*''ud'' – 'ox'
*''luu'' – 'dragon' <
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...
''luŋ'' – 'dragon'
*''yund'' – 'horse' < otk, 𐰖𐰆𐰣𐱃, yunt - 'horse'
*''laγzïn'' – 'pig'
*''qaγan'' – 'emperor'
*''qan'' – 'khan'
*''qaγatun'' – 'empress'
*''qatun'' – 'khan's wife'
*''aq'' – 'dung'
*''and'' – 'oath' < otk, 𐰦, ant 'oath'
*''beg'' – 'elder'
*''bitig'' – 'inscription'
*''bod'' – 'people'
*''drö'' – 'law'
*''küǰü'' – 'strength' < otk, 𐰚𐰇𐰲, küč 'strength, power'
*''ordu'' – 'camp'
*''tal-'' – 'to plunder'
*''törö'' – 'to be born'
*''türǖg'' – '
Turk'
References
{{Eurasian languages
Unclassified languages of Asia
Languages of China
Medieval languages
Extinct languages of Asia
Rouran
Xianbei