Xiongnu language

Xiongnu, also referred to as Xiong-nu or Hsiung-nu, 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 comprises 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.
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.
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.
According to Savelyev and Jeong (2020): the "predominant part of the Xiongnu population is likely to have spoken Turkic" languages, even though comparative archaeogenetic analysis, of the remains of Xiongnu and other peoples, has suggested that they 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 various Turkic peoples:
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 and 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:
Certain Xiongnu words appear to be cognate with Yeniseian:
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.
Savelyev 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, but others believe it was a Southern Yeniseian language.
As a result, there are two competing models for the classification of Xiongnu into Yeniseian:
Certain linguists posit that the Xiongnu spoke a language similar to Mongolic. According to some Mongolian archaeologists, the people of the slab-grave culture were the ancestors of the Xiongnu, and some scholars believe the Xiongnu were the ancestors of Mongols.
According to Bichurin, the Xianbei and the Xiongnu were the same people, just with different states.
The Book of Wei indicates that the Rouanrouans were descendants of the Donghu. The Book of Liang adds:
Ancient Chinese sources also designate various nomadic peoples to be the ancestors of the Xiongnu:
Other elements seem to indicate a Mongolic or Serbi-Mongolic origin of the Xiongnu:
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, 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.
A more developed and supported hypothesis than the previous ones indicate a multiethnic origin, and the primary language of the Xiongnu would be too poorly attested to conclude a relationship to any other language.
Some researchers suggest a linguistic connection between the Huns, Hunas, and the Xiongnu people, However, this is debated, as there is also the possibility that the Huns, despite sharing the same migration route and having relations with the Xiongnu, originated from Indo-European peoples. In 2005, As-Shahbazi suggested that there were originally a Hunnish people who had mixed with Iranian tribes in Transoxiana and Bactria, where they adopted the Kushan-Bactrian language. It should be known that there is no consensus about the linguistic origins of the Huns. Some scholars have suggested that the Huns originated from Mongolic or Turkic groups, making them possibly linguistically distinct from the Xiongnu people.
The Xiongnu had mutual contact with the Chinese civilization, and the Chinese were their sole contact with the outside world besides the tribes around them which they were the dominating force above them. In 53 BC, Huhanye (呼韓邪) decided to enter into tributary relations with Han China. The original terms insisted on by the Han court were that, first, the Chanyu or his representatives should come to the capital to pay homage; secondly, the Chanyu should send a hostage prince; and thirdly, the Chanyu should present tribute to the Han emperor. The political status of the Xiongnu in the Chinese world order was reduced from that of a "brotherly state" to that of an "outer vassal" (外臣). One of the most significant inscriptions in the Xiongnu language, found in the Xiongnu capital Longcheng, was written in Chinese characters and spell out *darƣʷa, meaning "leader" or "chief". There also were a Xiongnu inscription unearthed in Buryatia that has Chinese characters written on it, suggesting that Chinese alphabet was in usage in the area of this is result of Han influence via trade networks. Another inscription that uses Chinese characters is located in the royal tomb complex of the Xiongnu that spells out:
Xiongnu influence in the Chinese language includes the Chinese word for lipstick (胭脂) which spells out as *'jentsye and derives from the Xiongnu word for wife (閼氏) which is spelled out in the same manner. Several terms in animal husbandry, including names for different species of horses and camels that have uncertain foreign-originating etymologies, also had been suggested to have Xiongnu origins. The name of the Qilian Mountains also originates from Xiongnu. A Xiongnu deity named Jinglu (徑路) was depicted as a sword and the spelling is the same as the Chinese word for "path" or "way". This deity had a temple dedicated to him and the worship included carving gold using the holy knife.
After the dissolution of the Xiongnu, a few tribes remained to exist, which were the tribes of Chuge, Tiefu, Lushuihu, and Yueban. Except for the Yueban, also called the Weak Xiongnu, the rest of the tribes migrated to China and started their own settlements. One of those unique settlements is Tongwancheng, which has a mixed Xiongnu and Chinese etymology, specifically 統萬 (tongwan), a possible cognate with the word tümen which exists in both Turkic and Mongolian, meaning "leading 10,000" or "leading a myriad".