Syllabus
INTRODUCTION:
Tangut is, among the major classical literary languages of Central and East Asia, the one whose rich literature and linguistic make-up remain least investigated. It was employed by the inhabitants of the Western Xia kingdom that existed in Inner Asia between the 11th and the 13th century. The Tanguts created a unique civilizational amalgam, incorporating Sinitic, Tibetan, and nomadic elements within their culture. After the destruction of Western Xia in the early 13th century, the Tangut language gradually became extinct. Nevertheless, after the discovery of a rich Tangut textual deposit in 1909, a cohort of international scholars began to decipher the Tangut script and reconstruct Tangut grammar.
“Reading Tangut Texts - Intermediate” is a course primarily designed for students who have already acquired the rudiments of the Tangut writing system and Tangut grammar and would like to expand their language knowledge and get more experience with original Tangut texts. Secondarily, students of general linguistics will benefit from the course since the course focuses on specific core grammar aspects of the Tangut language. It aims to develop students’ ability to identify and understand widely used grammar formulas and vocabulary patterns and hone their translation skills. Each passage will be carefully selected from the corpus of Tangut texts and will highlight one or several grammar points or vocabulary usages. Knowledge of Classical Chinese and/or Classical Tibetan will be useful but not required.
The course will consist of an introduction to various aspects of Tangut grammar and reading the excerpts from the Tangut versions of Avalokiteśvara-sūtra and Lotus-sūtra with additional example sentences from other Tangut Buddhist and secular texts.
The course will be held in English and will be entirely held online via Zoom, on Fridays 14.00-15.30 CET.
COURSE OUTLINE:
Session 1 October 6, 2023 (Friday)
Introduction to the Tangut language: General Grammar Overview
Session2 October 13, 2023 (Friday)
Topic: Personal and Demonstrative Pronouns. Proper Names.
Session 3 October 20, 2023 (Friday)
Topic: Question Words, Propositions, Conditional Patterns.
October 27, 2023 (Friday) Holiday
Session 4 November 3, 2023 (Friday)
Introduction to Tangut Verb
Session 5 November 11, 2023 (Friday)
Numerals and Adjectives
Tangut verbs “to do” and “have to”
November 17, 2023 (Friday) Holiday
Session 6 November 24 (Friday)
Verbal Prefixes (1)
Session 7 December 1 (Friday)
Verbal Prefixes (2)
Session 8 December 8 (Friday)
Adverbs and Prepositions
Session 9 December 15 (Friday)
Verbal Agreement (1)
December 22, 2023 Winter holidays
Session 10 January 5, 2024 (Friday)
Verbal Agreement (2)
Session 11 January 12 (Friday)
Integral Reading
Session 12 January 19, 2024 (Friday)
Final Exam – Translation of a Tangut textual passage that includes all the studied grammar
Annotation
Tangut, a language used in Inner Asia until the 14th century, is the least investigated of the major classical literary languages of Asia. Its speakers created a unique civilizational amalgam, incorporating Sinitic, Tibetan, and nomadic elements into their culture. Since the discovery of a rich Tangut textual deposit in 1909, the Tangut script has been gradually deciphered and its grammar reconstructed.
The course “Reading Tangut Texts - Intermediate” will systematically introduce core aspects of Tangut grammar with the help of reading selected passages of classical Tangut texts.The sessions will consist of an introduction to individual aspects of Tangut grammar, reading the excerpts from the Tangut versions of Avalokiteśvara-sūtra and Lotus-sūtra with additional example sentences from other Tangut Buddhist and secular texts, and a detailed discussion of the grammar points.
THe course will be interesting both for students who have already acquired the rudiments of the Tangut writing system and Tangut grammar and would like to expand their language knowledge and get more experience with original Tangut texts, and for students of general linguistics. It aims to develop students’ ability to identify and understand widely used grammar formulas and vocabulary patterns and hone their translation skills. Each passage will be carefully selected from the corpus of Tangut texts and will highlight one or several grammar points or vocabulary usages. Knowledge of Classical Chinese and/or Classical Tibetan will be useful but not required.