02-27-2014, 03:58 PM
Magister Militum Flavius Aetius wrote:
Well so much to cover but let us start with the origins of Xiongnu. Although not denying that there were Turkic elements in the original Xiongnu who formed a confederation of numerous tribes, clans & races eg Turkic, Mongol, Indo-Iranian and possibly some Chinese in 209BC for defence against an aggressive Ch’in emperor who drove them from their original homeland south of the Yellow River bend to the Gobi in 214BC. I still think that the Royal clan the Luan-ti spoke predominantly a Yeniseian/Kettic language but as they expanded north and west over time Turkic probably became the main language as they would have made up the majority of his subjects. Before moving west Motun the shan-yu attacked the haughty Tung-hu to his east. After defeating them he then turned on the Yueh-chih who once held him as a hostage, drove them out and then went on to conquer Lou-lan, Wusun and Hu-chieh tribes as well. He then moved north against various pastoralist tribes and forest dwellers giving him access to furs & the metals of the Altai. So I am not saying that Yeniseian/Mongolian was their only language but I do not think they started as Altaic people and later on as we are talking a few centuries here became predominantly Turkic. But like I mentioned before they were probably multi-lingual. However I am here to learn as well as discuss and do love discussing Steppe societies like the Huns and Alans and maybe just maybe the possibility that in a small way the Huns were influenced by the Xiongnu as mentioned in my previous post so if you have references that state that Xiongnu spoke Turkic only I would be very interested to read them. :-) :? Notice that most of the Han walls seem south and east of Gobi not west.
Map below showing origin of Xiongnu from 'A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia' by David Christian.
[attachment=9162]hsiung-nuloress.jpg[/attachment]
Regards
Michael Kerr
Quote:The Xiongnu, like the Huns, were an Altaic people (it used to be thought they were Mongoloid but that is not true).
Well so much to cover but let us start with the origins of Xiongnu. Although not denying that there were Turkic elements in the original Xiongnu who formed a confederation of numerous tribes, clans & races eg Turkic, Mongol, Indo-Iranian and possibly some Chinese in 209BC for defence against an aggressive Ch’in emperor who drove them from their original homeland south of the Yellow River bend to the Gobi in 214BC. I still think that the Royal clan the Luan-ti spoke predominantly a Yeniseian/Kettic language but as they expanded north and west over time Turkic probably became the main language as they would have made up the majority of his subjects. Before moving west Motun the shan-yu attacked the haughty Tung-hu to his east. After defeating them he then turned on the Yueh-chih who once held him as a hostage, drove them out and then went on to conquer Lou-lan, Wusun and Hu-chieh tribes as well. He then moved north against various pastoralist tribes and forest dwellers giving him access to furs & the metals of the Altai. So I am not saying that Yeniseian/Mongolian was their only language but I do not think they started as Altaic people and later on as we are talking a few centuries here became predominantly Turkic. But like I mentioned before they were probably multi-lingual. However I am here to learn as well as discuss and do love discussing Steppe societies like the Huns and Alans and maybe just maybe the possibility that in a small way the Huns were influenced by the Xiongnu as mentioned in my previous post so if you have references that state that Xiongnu spoke Turkic only I would be very interested to read them. :-) :? Notice that most of the Han walls seem south and east of Gobi not west.
Map below showing origin of Xiongnu from 'A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia' by David Christian.
[attachment=9162]hsiung-nuloress.jpg[/attachment]
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
