Indo-Iranian Loans in Kilda

NB: Since under-dots seem dodgy on some fonts, I’m using capital letters to transliterate Sanskrit retroflex sounds.

The Neo-Khitanese or Kilda language preserves fairly large numbers of loanwords originating in Indian and Iranian languages. This page attempts to catalog them more or less thoroughly.

Indian (Sanskrit) Loans

Both (Neo)Khitan and Mongolian borrowed large amounts of vocabulary from Old Turkic/Old Uighur sources, including all or almost all terms of Indian origin. It’s interesting to see the differences in how the two languages handled the loanwords, considering the likely close relationship of the Old Khitan and the (Pre)Classical Mongolian languages, and that the loans came from essentially the same source language and source texts, separated by perhaps two or three centuries. One of the differences between the Neo-Khitanese (henceforth “NK”) and the Mongolian borrowings of Sanskrit terminology from Turkic sources is that Mongolian, but not Khitan, changed voiceless stops to voiced ones:

• NK pïšacï “tp. of man-eating demon” vs. Mong bisaci < Uigh pišači < Skt piśāca
• NK pratï “discrimination, judgment; intelligence; knowledge” vs. Mong bradiya, brajina, branca/branja < OTurk pratya < Skt prajñā
• NK pïratïkabut, pïraktabut, partïkabut “buddha who achieves enlightenment on his own” vs. Mong bradikabud, biratikabud, bardakbud < Uigh pratikabut, piratakabut < Skt pratyekabuddha
• NK putanï, kataputanï “tp. of disease spirit” vs. Mong butani, katabutani < Uigh putani, kataputani < Skt pūtana, kaTaputana
• NK pirit “tp. of spirit/ghost” vs. Mong birid < Uigh prit < Skt preta
• NK mantal “icon, mandala” vs. Mong mandal < Uighur mantal < Skt maNDala
• NK kumbantï “tp. of spirit” vs Mong kumbandi < Uigh kumbanti < Skt kumbhāNDa
• NK kalp “eon, (geological) era” vs. Mong galb, galab < OTurk kalp, klp < Skt kalpa
• NK cakïravart “world-ruler, sovereign emperor” vs. Mong cakiravard < Uigh čakiravrt < Sogdian < Skt cakravartin
• NK kitü “eclipse ‘planet’” vs. Mong kidu < Uigh kitu < Skt ketu
• NK šukur, šükür “Venus (in astrological/magical jargon)” vs. Mong šukra < OTurk šukur, šükür < Skt śukra
• NK cišti “name of lunar mansion” vs. Mong cisda < OTurk čišt < Skt jyeSThā
• NK utarsat, utarbatïrwat, utarpalgunï “names of lunar mansions” vs. Mong udirasat, udirabadirabat, utirabalguni < OTurk utrasat, udarabatirawat/utrabadirabat, utrapalguni < Skt uttarāSāDHā, uttarabhādrapadā, uttaraphalgunī
• NK funarwasu, furwabatïrwat, furwapalgunï, furwašat, fus “id.” vs. Mong bunarwasu, purwabadirabat, burwabalguni, burwasat bus < Uigh punarwasu, purwabadirabat, purwapalguni, purwašat, puš < Skt punarvasu, pūrvabhādrapadā, pūrvaphalgunī, pūrvāSāDHā, puSya
• NK hast “id.” vs. Mong qasda < OTurk χast, qast < Skt hasta
• NK šatabïs “id.” vs. Mong sadabis < OTurk šatabiš, satabis < Skt śatabhiSaj
• NK suwatï “id. (also, the star Arcturus)” vs. Mong suwadi < OTurk suwati < Skt svātī
• NK caïtïr “id. (also, the star Spica)” vs. Mong caidir < OTurk čaytir < Skt citrā, caitra
• NK kirtik “id. (also, the Pleiades)” vs. Mong kirdik < OTurk kirtik < Skt kRttikā

Note that the change of *p to *f before high back vowels is regular in NK, taking place en masse sometime between the 13th and 16th centuries and intermittently thereafter.

On the other hand, the Sanskrit name of the lunar mansion dhaniSTHā was borrowed > OTurk daniš, taništa > NK danïš but Mong tanis – clearly not an example of the reversal of the pattern noted above, but a case of each of the two recipient languages adopting a different variant that existed within the Turkic source.

In some cases, the Mongolian voicing is more faithful to the Indian original; this may be coincidence, but it may also be due to later influence from Tibetan sources which better preserved Sanskrit phonology than did Old Turkic. For example, NK urgunï “name of lunar mansion; the star Aldebaran” < OTurk urguni, urukini < Skt rohiNī, vs. Mong rokini; NK arïwadï “name of lunar mansion” < OTurk eriwadi, riwati < Skt revatī, vs. Mong riwadi.

In other cases, the difference between Neo-Khitanese and Mongolian borrowings is less regular but still clear:

• NK rahu “eclipse ‘planet’” vs. Mong raqu < OTurk raχu < Skt rāhu
• NK barkasadï “Jupiter (in astrological/magical jargon)” vs. Mong briqasbadi < OTurk braχaswadi, br(a)χasiwadi, barxasuvadi < Skt bRhaspati
• NK šanïcar “Saturn (in astrological/magical jargon)” vs. Mong sanisčar < OTurk šaničar, šaniščar < Skt śanaiścara
• NK margasïr “name of lunar mansion” vs. Mong margasiri < OTurk mrgašir < Skt mr.gaśirā
• NK asïlïs “id.” vs Mong aslis < OTurk ašliš < Skt āśles.ā
• NK ašuwïn “id.” vs. Mong asuwani < OTurk ašwani < Skt aśvinī
• NK abïtï “recognition, remembering” vs. Mong abinca < OTurk abitiyi < Skt abhijñā
• NK gandarwï “tp. of spirit” vs. Mong gandaris (also gandarwi) < Uigh gandarwi < Skt gandharva
• NK cïkšapat “moral precept” vs. Mong cigšabad < Uigh čixšapat < Sogdian < Skt śikSāpada
• NK ušnïr “1) excrescense on the head of a Buddha; 2) halo, diadem (of a supernatural being)” vs. Mong usnir < Uigh ušnir < Toch. A uSNīr < Skt uSNīSa
• NK tattu “truth, a true principle” vs. Mong dadu < OTurk ? < Skt. tattva
• NK sušak “id.” vs. Mong šusaq < OTurk sušak < Skt viśākhā
• NK šašan, šajïn “discipline, instruction; doctrine, teachings” vs. Mong šasin < OTurk šazan, šasiñ, šažin < Saka śśaśana, śśāśaM < Skt śāsana
• NK slök “verse, stanza, section of text” vs. Mong silüg < OTurk šlok < Skt śloka

In general it can be said that the Neo-Khitanese forms are more conservative, or at least have remained closer to the Turkic originals, than the Mongolian forms have.

As can be seen above, astronomy/astrology and Buddhism are the primary domains in which Indian loans spread into Neo-Khitanese. A fairly complete list of examples in addition to those given above follows.

Astrology & Astronomy (Almost all terms in this category are restricted, in modern times, to religious and performances and consciously archaicizing poetic, literary, or calendrical contexts.)

• mag “a lunar mansion; the star Regulus” < OTurk mag < Skt maghā
• ardïr “a lunar mansion; the star Betelgeuse” < OTurk ardïr < Skt ārdrā
• abïcï “a lunar mansion; the star Vega” < OTurk abiči < Skt abhijit
• anurad “a lunar mansion” < OTurk anurat, anurad < Skt anurādha
• baranï “id.” < OTurk barani < Skt bharaNī
• mul “id.” < OTurk mul < Skt mūla
• sïrawan “id.” < OTurk širawan < Skt śravaNā
• garha “planet” (astrological/magical jargon) < OTurk graχ, garχ < Skt graha
• adïtï “Sun” < OTurk aditya < Skt āditya “Sun (god)”
• bud “Mercury” < OTurk bud < Skt budha
• somo “Moon” < OTurk soma < Skt soma
• aŋgarak “Mars” < OTurk aŋarak < Skt aŋgāraka

Buddhist Philosophy, Religious Practice, Mythology

• akšantï “patience, endurance” < OTurk kšanti < Skt kSānta, kSānti
• asurï “evil deity, malicious god” < OTurk asurï < Skt asura
• bodï “enlightenment” < OTUrk bodi < Skt bodhi
• bodïmant “seat of enlightenment” < OTurk bodimant < Skt bodhimaNDa
• cambudïwïp “the world” < OTurk čambudiwip < Skt jambudvīpa
• darm “1) science, theory, doctrine; 2) nature, character, characteristic peculiarity, essential quality or condition” < OTurk darm < Skt dharma
• dïyan “meditation, reflective thought” < OTurk dian, dyan, diyan < Skt dhyāna
• estüp “reliquary for religious relics” < OTurk estup, stup < Skt stūpa
• fïšaï “sense object” < OTurk wišay, fišay < Skt viSaya
• fïyakrït “analyzed, explained, expounded” < Uighur vyakrit < Skt vyākRta (cf Mong viyakirid, viyaŋgirid, vivaŋgir(i)d)
• fusar “bodhisattva” < OTurk pusar < Chinese pusa (*b’uo-sat) < Skt bodhisattva
• garudï “tp. of spirit” < Uigh garudi < Skt garuDa
• ïnyana “wisdom, knowledge” < OTurk inyana < Skt jñāna
• kïnarï “tp. of spirit” < Uigh kinari < Skt kiMnara
• makuragï “tp. of serpent spirit” < Uigh maqoragi < Skt mahoraga
• namabut “veneration to the Buddha!” < OTurk namobut < Skt namo buddhāya
• namadarm “veneration to the Teaching!” < OTurk namodarm < Skt namo dharmāya
• namasaŋ “veneration to the Community!” < OTurk namosaŋ < Skt namo sam.ghāya
• nïkaï “school (of thought/belief), sect, grouping” < OTurk nikay < Skt nikāya
• parmïtal, parïmtal “perfections, transcendental virtues” < OTurk paramit < Skt pāramitā
• šabï “novice monk, lay brother” < OTurk šabi < (Chinese?) < Skt śramanera
• sadu “good! great! wonderful!” < OTurk sadu < Skt sādhu
• šamnancï, sïmnancï “nun” < OTurk šamnanč, šmnanč, šimnanč < Sogdian < Skt śramanerī (note the distinctively Sogdian feminine nominal suffix)
• sansar “samsara” < OUigh sansar < Skt saMsāra
• saŋda “monastic community; monks (as a group); monastery (as an organization)” < OTurk saŋram < Skt saNghārāma
• šastïr “dogmatic text, religious book” < OTurk šastir < Skt śāstra
• satya “truth” (in technical sense of Buddhist epistemologists) < OTurk ? < Skt satya
• sudur “scripture, sutra” < OTurk sudur < Skt sūtra
• upasañcï “novice nun, lay sister” < OTurk upasanč, vpasanč < Sogdian upāsanč < Skt upāsikā
• upasï “lay brother” < OTurk upasi, vpasi < Sogd. upāsi < Skt upāsaka
• wïrha, wïhar “monastery (as a building)” < OTurk wiχar, w(i)rχar < Sogd. βarχār < Skt vihāra
• wïyakrït “prophecy, prophecizing” < OTurk wiyakrit < Skt vyākRti
• yakša “tp. of spirit” < OTurk yakša, Uigh yäk < Sogdian yakš < Skt yakSa
• yawa “grain, kernel, seed” < OTurk yawa < Skt yava

Exotica (Folktales, literature set in foreign lands, mythology of a non-specifically-Buddhist nature.)

• banït “rosewater, sweet or perfumed syrup” < OTurk banït < Kuchean pañit, panit < Skt phāNita
• barman, bïraman “foreign/exotic priest” < OTurk braman < Skt brāhmaNa
• cïntamanï “magic wish-granting jewel” < OTurk cintamani < Skt cintāmaNi
• merici “barbarian, savage” < OTurk merici < Skt mleccha
• nïgrantï “Jain, a Jain” < OTurk nigranti < Skt nirgrantha
• orohït “tp. of fish that lives in India” < OTurk orohit < Skt rohita
• arsayan “elixir of youth/immortality” OTurk rasayan < Skt rasāyana
• šala “tp. of tree that grows in India” < OTurk šala < Skt śāla
• sukšumur “cardamom” < OTurk sukšumur < Skt sūkSmāilā
• waïdurï “emerald, beryl, aquamarine; a blue or bluish-green gemstone” < OTurk wayduri < vaiDūrya "tiger's eye gem"

General Usage

• acarï “spiritual master; mentor” < OTurk acari < Skt ācārya
• asaŋkï “innumerable, uncountable; infinite (number)” < OTurk asanki < Kuchean asaMkhyai < Skt asaMkhyeya
• buyan “merit, good deeds” < OTurk buyan < Skt puNya
• cantal “sonofabitch, bastard, fucker (g.t.a.)” < OTurk candal < Toch A caNDāl < Skt caNDāla “outcaste, man born to Shudra father and Brahman mother”
• erdeni “jewel; precious(ness), value” < OTurk erdeni, erdini, r(e)tni, radna < Sogdian rtny < Skt ratna.
• kawï “poetry, verse” < OTurk kawi < Skt kāvya
• költi “zillion, gazillion (any nonspecific ridiculously large number)” < Uighur koltï < Sogdian kōtī < Skt koTi
• lakšan “lucky sign, fortunate symbol, favorable mark” < OTurk lakšan < Skt lakSaNa
• maŋgal “luck, happiness, felicity, auspiciousness” < OTurk maŋgal < Skt maŋgala
• matar “tp. of water-spirit” < Uighur matar < Toch A mātār < Skt makara
• patïr “alms-bowl” < OTurk patir < Sogd pātr < Skt pātra
• šeker “sugar” < OTurk šeker < Middle Iranian šakar (Kuch. śakkār) < Skt śarkarā
• sïla “morals, morality; goodness” < Skt śīla

There is exactly one (1) Sanskrit term which for which an argument can be made that it was borrowed into NK from some route other than Tocharian or Sogdian and Turkic: the word for “thunderbolt, vajra”. In NK this is palja (*balja < *barja < *bajra < *wajra ?); compare to OTurk wačir, w(a)žir, w(a)zir, vcir < Sogdian βažir, Tocharian waśir < Skt vajra.

IRANIAN LOANWORDS

Terms derived from Iranian languages were also likely transmitted through Turkic intermediaries, though there is some reason to believe that the Sogdian language had a direct influence on the sources of Neo-Khitanese. (E.g., a term exists in Sogdian and NK, but not in OTurk; or the OTurk form of the loanword is distinctively different from the NK form.)

Almost all Iranian loans are from Sogdian. The few known exceptions, all restricted to religious and (antiquarian) literary use, are:

• karsï “palace” < OTurk karšï < Kuchean kerciye
• ket “very, most, much” < OTurk ked < (Sogd kāðə ?) < Saka kəde
• ton “clothing, dress, garb” < OTurk ton < Saka thauna

A somewhat complete list of selection of Sogdian loans follows. First, those with known Turkic equivalents (and presumably, borrowed from Turkic rather than from Sogdian directly):

• ajun “life, existence” < OTurk azun, ažun < Sogdian āžun
• cakar “wheel” < OTurk cakïr < Sogdian čəxr (< Skt cakra ?)
• dïndar, dïntar “holy person, member of the religious elect” < OTurk dindar, dintar < Sogdian ðenðār
• kedün “queen (wife of the leader of a tribe or sub-tribe; wife or mistress of any khan” < OTurk χatun, qatun < Sogdian xwatēn
• kegde “page, sheet of paper” < OTurk kegde, kagda < Sogdian kāɣði
• kibit “shop, stall” < Uighur kibit < Sogdian Sogdian kəpēð (cf Mong kebid)
• kuštïr “master, superior, chief” < OTurk quštr < Sogdian (Manichean) χwēštar
• mardaspan “element”, mardaspad “the elements” (reanalysis with native NK plural marker?) < OTurk mardaspant < Sogdian (Manichean) mardāspant
• mitik “layman, laity” < OTurk midik, mitik < Sogdian (Buddhist) miðāk "layman, laity"
• mojok “a court title; later, a surname” < OTurk možag, možak "teacher (Budh), archbishop (Manich.)" < Sogdian mōčak
• nïgušak “layman” < OTurk niɣošak < Sogdian niɣōšāk "hearer, layman
• nïsban, nïswanï “desire, passion, lust” < OTurk nïzwanï, nïzbanï < Sogdian nizβān (sg.), nizβānē (pl.)
• pasïk “hymn” < OTurk pašik < Sogdian pāšīk, bāšīk
• sogdo “Sogdian (adj.)”, sogdaï “a Sogdian (person)”, sogdomnï “Sogdians, Sogdian people” < OUigh sogda < Sogdian swgd, swgdyk

Then, the remainder with no (currently) known Turkic intermediary:

• ajïnda “story, parable” < Sogdian a:zend
• akcamba “world, plane of existence (= Skt. loka) < Sogdian əškamb
• akšabun “rule, regulation, official procedures” < Sogdian əxšāwen "a rule",
• aktanï “sin” < Sogdian əktānē
• aŋgarakcï “astrologer” (renalaysis with Khitan-Mongolic agentive suffix –ci/–gci) < Sogdian anxər-kəsē
• aŋgarbasa “Zodiac; the twelve animal signs” < Sogdian anxər-wəzən
• apsagcï “servant” (with NK agentive suffix –gci) < Sogdian əspāsē
• apsak “wreath, garland” < Sogdian əpsāk
• asamït “greed, desire” (n.) < Sogdian āzəmīč "of desire, greed" (adj.)
• awaraksa “lust” < Sogdian āβərəxsē
• ayabdï- “to pervert, twist out of shape” < āyamb- (v.tr.), āyəfs- v.itr, āyəβd (n.)
• ayakun “eternally”, ayakuñcïk “eternal, everlasting” < Sogdian āyəkōn (adv.), āykōnčīk (adj.)
• besibere “miserable, wretched, suffering” < βežīβərān “miserable”
• besik “evil, bad (thing)” < Sogdian βəžīk masc., βež fem.
• büsendi “fast, period of abstaining from food” < Sogdian βūsəndī
• cakšan “salve, ointment” < Sogdian čəxšām
• cehüd “Jewish, Jew” < Sogdian čəxūð
• cetebün “ghosts, apparitions, phantoms” < Sogdian čētē "ghost"
• êjendi(n) “worthy, worthy person; title of courtier or priest at khan’s court” (with NK adjective suffix –di(n)) < Sogdian ēžəndē "worthy"
• fritet “love, charity” < Sogdian frītāt
• hüdenig “Khotanese (person)” < Sogdian xuðənīk
• kefür “camphor” < Sogdian kəpūr
• pid “elephant” < Sogdian pīð

Return to main Neo-Khitanese page: Kilda Kelen