The Tangut language was spoken during the Xixia (Tangut) dynasty (A.D. 1038–1227) in
the northwestern part of China.The first emperor (A.D. 1036) established the Tangut script for the
language. Although the Tangut language and its script are now extinct, the many documents written
in the Tangut script enable us to reconstruct its phonology and grammar. Tangut belongs to the Tibeto-
Burman language group (Tangut-Qiang). Its grammar possesses unique features that are not
found in either Old Tibetan or Old Burman. One of such features is a “directional prefix”. Six or
seven morphemes function as prefixes. Previous works have discussed the change in the function of
the prefix from “directional” to “aspect (perfective)”. Some minor Tibeto-Burman languages have
morphemes that are similar syllables or functions to Tangut. In this article, we present the outline of
the prefixes and a description of the prefix 2da:- with sample sentences and discuss some remarks.
The monograph by A. Zorin “The Wish-Fulfilling Precious Gem”: the “Gzungs bsdus” and “Mdo mang” Collections in the History of Tibetan Literature was submitted to the Department of Manuscripts and Documents.
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