Tangut 'ja¹ as a Constituent Question Particle

Abstract

The Tangut character 'ja¹ (#1718) is usually glossed as Chin. nuò 诺 ‘(to) promise; yes’ in dictionaries. Given the fact that it does occur in rhetorical questions, this article argues that Tangut 'ja¹ is instead a constituent question particle and thus not restricted in rhetorical use. The conclusion is based on a detailed philological investigation, employing multilingual parallel texts where applicable. Comparisons with other Qiangic languages reveal several candidates for cognates. Nonetheless, their similarity is more likely to be an areal typological feature, rather than an etymological relation.