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Introduction to the Language and Culture of the Tanguts: Grammar, Writing, Texts – Mathieu Beaudouin (CRLAO) & Romain Lefebvre (University of Artois, Textes & Cultures)
Tangut (glottocode: tang1334) is an extinct Sino-Tibetan language belonging to the West-Gyalrongic branch of the Qiangic family, specifically within the internal Horpa/Horpic taxon of the West-Gyalrongic. It was the language used by the founders and administrators of the Western Xia Empire (1038–1227) and was in use until the fifteenth century. Our knowledge of this language is derived from numerous secular and religious texts preserved in international collections.
The study of Tangut provides an opportunity to occasionally introduce elements of related living languages (from the Horpic family) and make incidental comparisons with Tibetan and Mediaeval Chinese.
