Khitan
Spoken in China
Region northern
Total speakers —
Language family Altaic[1]

• Mongolic[2]
  • Khitan

Language codes
ISO 639-1 None
ISO 639-2 tut
ISO 639-3 zkt
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The Khitan language (also known as Liao, Kitan [ISO 639-3]) is a now-extinct language once spoken by the Khitan people. Khitan is generally deemed to be genetically linked to the Mongolic languages.[3] It was written in Khitan script.

Notes

1. ^ The existence of the Altaic family is controversial. See Altaic languages.
2. ^ Linguist List entry for Kitan
3. ^ Janhunen, Juha (2003): Para-Mongolic. In: Juha Janhunen (ed.): The Mongolic languages. London: Routledge: 391-402.

Further reading

• Franks, H. (1976): "Two Chinese-Khitan Macaronic Poems." In: Heissig, W.-Krueger, J. R.-Oinas, F. J.-Schütz, E. (eds): Tradata Altaica. Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz.
• Kane, Daniel: The Sino-Jurchen Vocabulary of the Bureau of Interpreters. (Uralic and Altaic Series, Vol. 153). Indiana University, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies. Bloomington, Indiana, 1989.
• Qinge'ertai [Chinggeltei]-Yu Baolin-Chen Naixiong-Liu Fengzhu-Xin Fuli (1985): Qidan xiao zi yanjiu [A Study of the Khitan Small Script]. Beijing, Zhonguo shehui kexue chu-banshe.
• Vovin, Alexander (2003) "Once Again on Khitan Words in Chinese-Khitan Mixed Verses" Acta Orientalia Scientificarum Academiae Hungaricae Volume 56, Numbers 2-4, pp. 237-244

See also

Look up Category:Khitan language in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

External links

• 契丹語語法 Khitan Language Grammar (Chinese Big5 code page) via Internet Archive

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