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The Manchu alphabet (Manchu: ᠮᠠᠨᠵᡠ ᡥᡝᡵᡤᡝᠨ, Möllendorff: manju hergen, Abkai: manju hergen) is the alphabet used to write the now critically endangered Manchu language. A similar script called Xibe script is used today by the Xibe people , whose language is considered either a dialect of Manchu or a closely related ...
Manchu began as a primary language of the Qing dynasty Imperial court, but as Manchu officials became increasingly sinicized, many started losing the language. Trying to preserve the Manchu identity, the imperial government instituted Manchu language classes and examinations for the bannermen , offering rewards to those who excelled in the ...
This system, which has become the de facto modern standard in English-language publications, is the most recent incarnation of a system originally designed by the German linguist Hans Conon von der Gabelentz for his 1864 edition of the Manchu translation of the Four Books and other Chinese classics. As he explains:
The Pentaglot Dictionary [1] [2] (Chinese: 御製五體清文鑑, Yuzhi Wuti Qing Wenjian; the term 清文, Qingwen, "Qing language", was another name for the Manchu language in Chinese), also known as the Manchu Polyglot Dictionary, [3] [4] was a dictionary of major imperial languages compiled in the late Qianlong era of the Qing dynasty (also said to be compiled in 1794).
Sibe is written in a derivative of the Manchu alphabet. [6] The Sibe alphabet diverges from the Manchu alphabet in that the positions of the letters in some words have changed, Sibe lacks 13 out of 131 syllables in Manchu, and Sibe has three syllables that are not found in Manchu (wi, wo, and wu). [4]
After the Qing dynasty collapsed, the Manchu language lost its status as a national language and its official use in education ended. Manchus today generally speak Standard Chinese. The remaining skilled native Manchu speakers number less than 100, [ h ] [ 150 ] most of whom are to be found in Sanjiazi ( Manchu : ᡳᠯᠠᠨ
In order to facilitate communication, the Manchu language borrowed many Han Chinese loanwords as well as Chinese language structures and grammatical elements. During the course of the Qing, the Manchu developed their own alphabet (based on the Mongol script), and their language became deeply influenced by Han Chinese language and culture. [3]
Currently, Manchu proper is a dying language spoken by a dozen or so elderly people in Qiqihar, China. However, the closely related Xibe language spoken in Xinjiang, which historically was treated as a divergent dialect of Jurchen-Manchu, maintains the literary tradition of the script, and has around 30,000 speakers. As the only language in the ...