Tuvan Torture Names from the Manchurian-Chinese Period Compared to Mongolian Torture Names

The article offers a lexical analysis of the Tuvan names of tortures known in Tuvan history as тос эрии ‘nine tortures.’ Тос эрии refers to the period of Manchu Chinese rule, the time of the Qin dynasty in Tuva and Mongolia (XVIII to early XX century). However, their rule in Tuva was exercised by local rulers, who, in turn, were subordinate to the Mongols. Historical data indicate that the Chinese administration ruled Mongolia and Tuva according to a specially created document, “The Code of the Chinese Chamber of Foreign Relations.” According to the norms contained in it, about 40 types of torture were developed for investigative measures. Of these, nine were applied in Tuva and Mongolia. Hence, the Tuvan and Mongolian names for torture – tuv. тос эрии / эрээ and mong. есөн эрүү ‘nine tortures’. The article shows for the first time the structural and semantic features of the semantics of the names of the ‘nine tortures’ in the Tuvan language compared with the Mongolian language. The Tuvan and Mongolian sources show that there are certain discrepancies in listing the types of torture in different works. The analysis of the material allowed us to identify seven matches in the names of the ‘nine tortures.’ In the three cases described, there are complete structural and semantic correspondences in the names – tuv. шаагайтаары / mong. шаахайдах ‘to strike the Shaagai in the face,’ 2) tuv. маңзылаары / mong. банздах or чавчирга ‘to hit the hips with a board,’ 3) tuv. кулузуннар кадаары / mong. хулсан хадаас ‘to drive a sharp thin splinter under the nails.’ In these cases, we are dealing with direct borrowings from the Mongolian language. The other four parallels are semantic equivalents in which the same type of torture is denoted in Tuvan and Mongolian with different lexical means: in Tuvan, mainly with descriptive phrases, in Mongolian with special lexemes (tuv. ооргага хаг кыпсыры ‘to light tinder on the back’ / mong. төөнүүр ‘to light the tinder on the back,’ tuv. хаак-биле кагар / mong. туйван ‘to beat with thin branches of a willow or other tree,’ tuv. ийи холунуң улуг-эргээнден азар / mong. дүүжин ‘to hang by the thumbs,’ tuv. саактаары / mong. хавчуур ‘squeeze the shins of men and the hands of women with a vice’). A linguistic study of the ‘nine tortures’ names has shown a clear Mongolian influence. This group’s Tuvan vocabulary arose through direct borrowings from the Mongolian language and through the descriptive transfer of the meanings of Mongolian lexemes. The latter could indicate a relatively lower prevalence (or frequency of use) of types of torture. The comparative method, the component analysis method, and the descriptive method were used in the study. Data from Tuvan and Mongolian dictionaries, scholarly works on Tuvan history, ethnography, and legal history, as well as works by Mongolian researchers who have studied the Mongolian есөн эрүү ‘nine tortures’ from a historical perspective, were used as research material. The illustrative material was taken from works of Tuvan fiction and ethnographic descriptions

Tuvan language, Mongolian language, structural and semantic features