Tungus

See also: tungus

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Russian тунгус (tungus), supposedly deriving from donki, a self-designation of certain Siberian groups, or alternatively from a Yakut name for the Evenki. [1] Or, of East Turkic origin, from tunguz (“wild boar, pig”), from Old Turkic [script needed] (tonguz), from Proto-Turkic *toŋuz.[2] More at Tungusic.

A controversial theory further connects the word with Chinese 東胡／东胡 (Dōnghú, “Donghu”, literally “Eastern barbarians”), an ancient people of North China.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈtʊŋɡʊs/, /ˈtʊŋɡuːs/

Noun

Tungus (plural Tunguses)

  1. A member of any Tungusic people.

Proper noun

Tungus

  1. (dated, possibly obsolete) The Evenki language.

References
  1. New Light on the Origins of the Manchus, Pei Huang, 1990
  2. “Tungus”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

Anagrams
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.