Linguistic Mysteries of Ethnonyms in Inner Asia

In Linguistic Mysteries of Ethnonyms in Inner Asia, Penglin Wang focuses on semantics as a central theme in onomastics and strives to unravel the origin and meaning of a series of influential ethnonyms such as Xianbei, Rouran, Tabγač, Tatar, Shiwei, Mongol, Merkid, Nüzhen, Jušen, and Nikan. Since much of modern research has dealt with issues of Inner Asian ethnonyms within a regional framework, Wang’s exploration of the early Indo-European and Altaic influence on the ethnonymic designations of Mongol-Tungusic and Turkic groups opens up a new horizon for transcontinental approaches, which 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.