Khitan language
Khitan or Kitan, also known as Liao, is an extinct language once spoken in Northeast Asia by the Khitan people. It was the official language of the Liao Empire and the Qara Khitai. Owing to a narrow corpus of known words and a partially undeciphered script, the language has yet to be completely reconstructed.
Classification
Khitan appears to have been related to the Mongolic languages; Juha Janhunen states: "Today, however, the conception is gaining support that Khitan was a language in some respects radically different from the historically known Mongolic languages. If this view proves to be correct, Khitan is, indeed, best classified as a Para-Mongolic language."Alexander Vovin argues that Khitan has several Koreanic loanwords. Since both the Korean Goryeo dynasty and the Khitan Liao dynasty claimed to be successors of Goguryeo, it is possible that the Koreanic words in Khitan were borrowed from the language of Goguryeo.
Script
Khitan was written using two mutually exclusive writing systems known as the Khitan large script and the small script">small Khitan script">small script. The small script, which was a syllabary, was used until the Jurchen-speaking Jin dynasty (1115–1234) replaced it with the Jurchen script in 1191. The large script was logographic like Chinese.Records
Prior to the 19th century, only one Khitan text, the Langjun inscription, was known to scholarship in China; however, the inscription was thought by Ming and Qing scholars to be written in the Jurchen script.The History of Liao contains a volume of Khitan words transcribed in Chinese characters titled "Glossary of National Language". It is found in Chapter 116.
The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty erroneously identified the Khitan people and their language with the Solons, leading him to use the Solon language to "correct" Chinese character transcriptions of Khitan names in the History of Liao in his Imperial Liao-Jin-Yuan Three Histories National Language Explanation project.
The Liao dynasty referred to the Khitan language with the term Guoyu, which was also used by other non-Han Chinese dynasties in China to refer to their languages like Manchu of the Qing, Classical Mongolian during the Yuan dynasty, Jurchen during the Jin, and Xianbei during the Northern Wei. Even today, Mandarin is referred to in Taiwan as Guoyu.
Vocabulary
There are several closed systems of Khitan lexical items for which systematic information is available. The following is a list of words in these closed systems that are similar to Mongolic. Mongolian and Daur equivalents are given after the English translation:Seasons
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation | Daur |
| heu.ur | spring | ' | havar | haor |
| ju.un | summer | ' | zun | najir |
| n.am.ur | autumn | ' | namar | namar |
| u.ul | winter | ' | övöl | uwul |
Numerals
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation | Daur |
| *omc | one | ' 'unique' | onts | enqu |
| j.ur.er | second | ' 'two' | jirin, jiremsen | jieeq |
| hu.ur.er | third | ' 'three' | gurav, gurvan, guramsan | guarab |
| durer/duren | fourth | ' | döröv, dörvön | durub |
| tau | five | ' | tav, tavan | taawu |
| t.ad.o.ho | fifth | ' | tav dahi | taawudar |
| *nil | six | ' | zurgaa | jirwoo |
| da.lo.er | seventh | ' 'seven' | doloo | doloo |
| n.ie.em | eight | ' 'eight' | naim | naim |
| *is | nine | ' | yüs, yüsön | is |
| par | ten | ' | arav | harbin |
| jau | hundred | ' | zuu, zuun | jao |
| ming | thousand | myanga, myangan | mianga |
Animals
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation | Daur |
| te.qo.a | chicken | ' | tahia | kakraa |
| ni.qo | dog | ' | nohoi | nowu |
| s.au.a | bird | ' | shuvuu | degii |
| em.a | goat | ' | yamaa | imaa |
| tau.li.a | rabbit | ' | tuulai | tauli |
| mo.ri | horse | ' | mori | mori |
| uni | cow | ' | ünee | unie |
| mu.ho.o | snake | ' | mogoi | mowo |
Directions
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation | Daur |
| ud.ur | east | ' | dorno | garkui |
| dzi.ge.n | left | ' | züün | solwoi |
| bo.ra.ian | right | ' | baruun | baran |
| dau.ur.un | middle | ' | dund | duand |
| xe.du.un | horizontal | ' | höndölön | |
| ja.cen.i | border | ' | zasan, zaag | jag |
Time
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation | Daur |
| suni | night | ' | shönö | suni |
| un.n/un.e | now, present | ' | önöö | nee |
Personal relations
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation | Daur |
| c.i.is | blood | ' | tsus | qos |
| mo ku | female | ' | em | emwun |
| deu | younger sibling | ' | düü | deu |
| n.ai.ci | friend | ' | naiz | guq |
| na.ha.an | uncle | ' | nagats | naoq |
| s.ia/s.en | good | ' | sain | sain |
| g.en.un | sadness, regret | '='to regret' in the letter of Arghun Khan) | genen, gem | gemxbei |
| ku | person | ' | hün, hümün | huu |
Tribal administration
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | Daur |
| cau.ur | war | ', as in "tsa'urgalan dairakh" | quagur |
| nai/nai.d | heads, officials | "-d" is a plural suffix=noyan, noyad for plural | noyin |
| t.em- | to bestow a title | ' 'sign' | temgeet |
| k.em | decree | ' kemjiye 'law/norm' | hes |
| us.gi | letter | ' | jiexgen |
| ui | matter | ' | urgil |
| qudug | blessed | ' | hireebei |
| xe.se.ge | part, section, province | ' | meyen |
| ming.an | military unit of thousand | ' | miangan |
Basic verbs
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script |
| p.o | become | ' |
| p.o.ju | raise | ' |
| on.a.an | fall | ' |
| x.ui.ri.ge.ei | transfer | ' |
| u- | give | ' |
| sa- | to reside | ' |
| a- | be | 'live', as in "aj ahui" |
Natural objects
| Khitan | Translation | Mongolian script | modern Mongolian pronunciation | Daur |
| eu.ul | cloud | ' | üül | eulen |
| s.eu.ka | dew | ' | shüüder | suider |
| sair | moon | ' | sar | saruul |
| nair | sun | ' | nar | nar |
| m.em/m.ng | silver | möng | mungu |
The Liaoshi records in Chapter 53:
'Tao Saiyier' corresponds to Mongolian 'tavan sar'.