Nam is an unclassified extinct language preserved in Tibetan transcriptions in a number of Dunhuang manuscript fragments. The manuscript fragments are held at the British Library and the .
Classification According to Ikeda Takumi, the research of F. W. Thomas, published in 1948, concluded that Nam "was one of the old Qiang [languages] spoken around the Nam mountain range near Koko nor in Qinghai province", associated with a country called Nam tig which is mentioned in some historical records. However, Ikeda further states that Thomas' conclusions were widely criticized.
Glottolog accepts that it was at least Sino-Tibetan.
Lexicon Wen (1981: 18–19) lists the following basic vocabulary items, which have been taken from Thomas (1948: 399–451).
No. Chinese gloss English gloss Nam 1 天 sky mo, nam 2 云 cloud gmog, mog, mog 3 日 sun gnyi 4 月 moon ’la, la 5 火 fire sme/’me, ’me’i, me, ’mye, ye 6 水 water ’ldya, ’ldya 7 山 mountain ’ri, gri, gri’i, ’ri’i 8 石 stone ’rto, rto 9 虎 tiger cho 10 熊 bear (animal) gre 11 牦牛 yak ’brong 12 马 horse rta, rta’, ’rta, ’rta’ 13 驴 donkey gzu, ’ju, ’zu, ’dzu, ’ju’u’gduz 14 狗 dog ’kyi 15 猪 pig ’phag 16 头 head ’bu, ’ko 17 眼 eye ’me’i, méi, mye 18 齿 tooth swa 19 手 hand ’phyag 20 心 heart syning, snyang 21 盲 blind klu 22 死 dead ’shi, shi (gshi, bshi) 23 箭 arrow ’da’, ’lda’? 24 门 door rgo, ’go, ’ko(rgor) 25 大 big rbo, bo-bon, rbom, ’bom, ’rbom 26 小 small byi, hbyi 27 高 high shid, ’shid, tho, ’tho, stang, ’stang
References
Further reading
Chén Zōngxiáng 陳宗祥 (1994). 〈敦煌古藏文拼冩的“南語”手卷的名稱問題〉Dūnhuáng Gǔzàngwén pīnxiěde 'Nányǔ' shǒujuànde míngchēng wèntí [The identity of the Dūnhuáng 'Nam language' scroll transcribed in Old Tibetan].《四川藏學研究》Sìchuān Zàngxué yánjiū 2. 中國藏學出版社 Zhōngguó Zàngxué chūbǎnshè, 164–180頁．（筆名爲寶羊與王建民合冩） Chén Zōngxiáng 陳宗祥 (1997). 〈敦煌古藏文拼冩的“南語”手卷的有關地名考釋〉Dūnhuáng Gǔzàngwén pīnxiěde 'Nányǔ' shǒujuànde yǒuguān dìmíng kǎoshì [Explanation of the places names in the Dūnhuáng 'Nam language' scroll transcribed in Old Tibetan].《四川藏學研究》Sìchuān Zàngxué yánjiū 4．四川民族出版社 Sìchuān mínzú chūbǎnshè. 684–698．
Lalou, Marcelle (1939). “Sur la langue « nam ».” Journal Asiatique 231: 453.
Thomas, Frederick William (1948). Nam, an ancient language of the Sino-Tibetan borderland. London: Oxford University Press.
Wén Yòu 聞宥 (1981). 〈論所謂南語〉Lùn suǒwèi Nányǔ (On the 'Nam' language)《民族語文》. Mínzú yǔwén 1: 16–25.