Abstract
The Tangut language was spoken during the Xixia (Tangut) dynasty (A.D. 1038-1227) in the northwestern part of China.The first emperor (A.D. 1036) established the Tangut script for the language. Although the Tangut language and its script are now extinct, the many documents written in the Tangut script enable us to reconstruct its phonology and grammar. Tangut belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language group (Tangut-Qiang). Its grammar possesses unique features that are not found in either Old Tibetan or Old Burman. One of such features is a directional prefix. Six or seven morphemes function as prefixes. Previous works have discussed the change in the function of the prefix from directional to aspect (perfective). Some minor Tibeto-Burman languages have morphemes that are similar syllables or functions to Tangut. In this article, we present the outline of the prefixes and a description of the prefix 2da:- with sample sentences and discuss some remarks
Highlights
The Tangut and the language The Xixia (Tangut) dynasty occupied a dominant position in the northwestern part of China (A.D. 1038–1227)
The Tangut script was established for the language by the emperor Li Yuanhao (A.D. 1036)
The language and the script of the Tangut are extinct, the many documents written in the Tangut script enable us to reconstruct its pho
Summary
The Tangut and the language The Xixia (Tangut) dynasty occupied a dominant position in the northwestern part of China (A.D. 1038–1227). The Tangut script was established for the language by the emperor Li Yuanhao (A.D. 1036). In addition to mainly Buddhist texts, the Tangut documents have broad contents including the translations of the Chinese classics, law codes, treaties, poems, rhyme dictionaries, and so on. After the fall of the dynasty in 1227, the Tangut language and its script were used up to the 16th c. They originally lived in the areas in southwest China such as northern Sichuan and Qinghai. The Tangut syllable is analyzed as in classical Chinese phonology. One character in the Tangut script represents one syllable and one word (or one morpheme).
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