Linguistic Mysteries of Ethnonyms in Inner Asia - Wang Penglin

Linguistic Mysteries of Ethnonyms in Inner Asia focuses on semantics as a central theme in the onomastic study of proper names and strives to unravel the origin and meaning of a series of influential ethnonyms such as Xianbei, Rouran, Tabγač, Tatar, Shiwei, Mongol, Merkid, Nzhen, J̌usen, and Nikan. Since much of modern research has dealt with issues of Inner Asian ethnonyms within a regional framework, Penglin Wang's exploration of the early Indo-European and Altaic influence on the ethnonymic designations of Mongol-Tungusic groups opens up a new horizon of transcontinental approaches that represent an important thrust in inner Asian and Eurasian studies. Wang has based this comprehensive study on textual, cross-linguistic, and patterned analysis of the ethnonyms found primarily in ancient Chinese sources.