𗼇𗟲

Tangut

Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman, Qiangic) · historical / hidden variety

FamilySino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman, Qiangic) SpeakersExtinct (~11th-13th c. CE) ScriptTangut script (logographic, ~6,000 characters, designed 1036 by Yeli Renrong) CountriesWestern Xia Official inWestern Xia (Tangut) Empire (1038-1227 CE) Vitalityextinct ISO 639-3txg

Tangut (Mi-nia) was the Qiangic Sino-Tibetan language of the Western Xia (Tangut) Empire (1038-1227 CE), which dominated parts of modern Ningxia, Gansu, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia and rivaled Song China and the Liao before its destruction by Genghis Khan's Mongol forces. The Tangut script was designed in 1036 by minister Yeli Renrong on imperial commission — a logographic system of ~6,000 characters visually resembling Chinese but constructed on entirely different internal principles. Decipherment, begun by Nikolai Nevsky in the 1930s, advanced significantly with Soviet and Chinese scholarship in the late 20th century; today most Tangut characters and grammar are understood. Major texts include Buddhist sutra translations and the Sea of Characters dictionary.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Tangut

Water

𗀚

/tjɨ˧/

Fire

𘎩

/me˧/

Sun

𘂴

/pjij˧˥/

Moon

𗏯

/lja˧˥/

Mother

𘎒

/ma˧˥/

Father

𗥃

/pa˧/

Eat

𗅋

/dzjij˧˥/

Drink

𘉞

/tʰjij˧˥/

Love

𗙊

/lhjij˧˥/

Heart

𘃠

/njij˧˥/

Tree

𘀇

/sji˧/

House

𗩴

/kʰjwa˧˥/

Dog

𗋒

/kʰwjɨ˧/

Cat

𗦷

/mji˧˥/

Hand

𘀔

/lje˧/

Eye

𗞴

/mjij˧/

Hello

/—/

Thank you

/—/

One

𘈩

/lew˧˥/

Good

𗏁

/tsji˧/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman, Qiangic) languages

Meaning TangutAzheTujiaPwo KarenNaxiLhomiTibetan
Water 𗀚 /tjɨ˧/ ʑɿ /ʑɿ˧˧/ zi /t͡sɨ˥˧/ ထံ /tʰi˧/ gee /ɡɯ˧/ ཆུ་ /tɕʰu˥/ ཆུ /t͡ɕʰu˥/
Fire 𘎩 /me˧/ mi /mi˧˧/ mi /mi˥˧/ မ့ၣ် /me˨˩/ mee /mɯ˧/ མེ་ /me˥/ མེ /me˩˧/
Sun 𘂴 /pjij˧˥/ ŋni /ŋnʲi˧˧/ ni /ni˧˥/ မုန် /mu˧/ ny-mei /nĩ˧mi˧/ ཉི་མ་ /ɲi˥ma˩/ ཉི་མ /ɲima˩˧/
Moon 𗏯 /lja˧˥/ ɬɛ /ɬɛ˧˧/ nie /nie˧˥/ လး /la˧/ he-mei /hɯ˧mi˧/ ཟླ་བ་ /dawa˩/ ཟླ་བ /tawa˩˧/
Mother 𘎒 /ma˧˥/ amo /amo˧˧/ a-mie /a˧mie˧/ မိ /mu˧˥/ mei /mei˧/ ཨ་མ་ /ʔama˩/ ཨ་མ /ama˥/
Father 𗥃 /pa˧/ ada /ada˧˧/ a-pa /a˧pa˧/ ဖါ /pa˧/ av /a˧/ ཨ་པ་ /ʔapa˩/ ཨ་ཕ /apʰa˥/
Eat 𗅋 /dzjij˧˥/ dza /dza˧˧/ za /t͡sa˨˩/ အၢင် /ai˧˩/ zo /d͡zo˧/ ཟ་ /sa˩/ /sa˩˧/
Drink 𘉞 /tʰjij˧˥/ du /du˧˧/ da /ta˧/ အူ /ɔ˧/ chil /t͡ʂʰi˥/ འཐུང་ /tʰuŋ˩/ འཐུང་ /tʰuŋ˥/
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Han readings compared

Compared with related Sino-Tibetan > Qiangic languages

Character TangutCentral BaiChongqing MandarinOld Xiang (Shuangfeng)Middle KoreanDunganSichuan Mandarin
lew1 /lew˩/ it6 /ʔit̚˨˨˨/ yi²¹ /i˨˩/ i /i˨˦/ ·qilq /ʔilʔ˥/ yi¹ /ji˦/ yi²¹ /i˨˩/
nyy2 /ɲɨː˨/ nox3 /no˨˩˦/ er²¹⁴ /ɚ˨˩˦/ er /ɚ˨˩/ ·zi /zi˥/ er³ /ɚ˥˩/ er²¹³ /ɚ˨˩˧/
soo2 /soː˨/ sae1 /sæ˥/ san⁵⁵ /san˥˥/ san /san˧˧/ sam /sam˩/ san¹ /san˦/ san⁵⁵ /san˥˥/
lier2 /liər˨/ sv4 /sɿ˨˩/ si²¹⁴ /sɿ˨˩˦/ si /sɿ˦˥/ ·sʌ /sʌ˥/ sy³ /sɨ˥˩/ si²¹³ /sɿ˨˩˧/
ngwu1 /ŋwu˩/ ngux3 /ŋu˨˩˦/ wu⁴² /u˦˨/ u /u˦˩/ :ngwo /ŋo˩˥/ /u˨˦/ wu⁵³ /u˥˧/
chhiw2 /tɕʰiw˨/ lox6 /lo˨˨˨/ liu²¹ /liəu˨˩/ leu /ləu˨˦/ ·lyuk /ljuk̚˥/ lyu³ /lju˥˩/ neu²¹ /nəu˨˩/
shja1 /ɕja˩/ chi1 /tɕʰi˦˦/ qi²¹ /tɕʰi˨˩/ qi /tɕʰi˨˦/ ·chilq /tsʰilʔ˥/ chi¹ /tɕʰi˦/ qi²¹ /tɕʰi˨˩/
ghjar2 /ɣjar˨/ be2 /pe˧˥/ ba²¹ /pa˨˩/ pa /pa˨˦/ ·palq /palʔ˥/ ba¹ /pa˦/ ba²¹ /pa˨˩/
ghew2 /ɣew˨/ jiux3 /tɕiu˨˩˦/ jiu⁴² /tɕiəu˦˨/ jieu /tɕiəu˦˩/ :kwu /ku˩˥/ jyu² /tɕju˨˦/ jiu⁵³ /tɕiəu˥˧/
gha2 /ɣa˨/ cix6 /tsʰɿ˨˨˨/ si²¹ /sɿ˨˩/ zhi /ʑɿ˨˦/ ·ssip /s͈ip̚˥/ shy² /ʂɨ˨˦/ si²¹ /sɿ˨˩/
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