Directional prefixes in Tangut --Outline, types, and some remarks--

Abstract

The language of Tangut was spoken during the Xixia (Tangut) dynasty (A.D. 1038-1227) in the northwestern part of China. The Tangut script was established for the language by the emperor (A.D. 1036). Although the language and script of Tangut are now extinct, the many documents written in the Tangut script enable us to reconstruct the phonology and grammar. Tangut belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language group (Tangut-Qiang). The grammar has unique features that are not found in either Old Tibetan or Old Burman. One of these is the “directional prefixes.” Six or seven morphemes functions as prefixes. Previous works has discussed the change in the function of the prefixes from “directional” to “aspect (perfective).” Some minor Tibeto-Burman languages have similar syllables or functions to Tangut. In this article, we present an outline of the prefixes and a description of each prefix with sample sentences, along with some remarks on the prefix (derivation, double prefix, and so on). In section 1, we introduce an outline of the language (basic information and phonology). Section 2 presents verb phrases and prefixes in Tangut. In section 3, the directional prefixes are described with sample sentences. Some remarks are provided in the final section.