蒲立本
L. Rogers and Edwin G. Pulleyblank argue that the title "chanyu" may be equivalent to the later attested title "tarkhan", suggesting that the Chinese pronunciation was originally "dān-ĥwāĥ", an approximation for "*darxan". Linguist Alexander Vovin tentatively proposes a Yeniseian etymology for 撐犁孤塗單于, in Old Chinese pronunciation "*treng-ri kwa-la dar-ɢwā", from four roots: *"tɨŋgVr-" "high", *"kwala-" "son, child", *"tɨl" "lower reaches of the Yenisei" or "north", and *"qʌ̄j" ~ *"χʌ̄j" "prince"; as a whole "Son of Heaven, Ruler of the North".