Apatóczky, Ákos Bertalan ELTE University Budapest A linguistic analysis of the 譯語 Yiyu 1 (Beilu yiyu 北虜譯語) a Chinese-Mongolian glossary of the 16 th century 2 The manuscript version of the 譯語 Yiyu (or 北虜譯語 Beilu yiyu) – a Chinese- Middle Mongolian parallel glossary which was included in the 登壇必究 Dengtan Bijiu (a military handbook for generals compiled during the 萬歷 Wanli period of the Ming dynasty) – conserved by the Library of HAS is an important source of the history of Mongolian language. Although we do not possess any earlier version of this work, yet because of the comparatively large number of the similar glossaries of the Yuan era we may presume that the whole material of the Yiyu was taken from a supposed earlier text. Due to the constraints on size this paper may not contain the whole text of Yiyu, we may only mention the versions of its most important precedents as well as the morphologic characteristics and the grammatical features of the Middle-Mongolian represented by the early Mandarin script 3 . The known Yiyu text has several copies, not only block print but also manuscript editions exist. Next to the manuscript conserved by the Oriental Collection of HAS 4 , I had two block prints to study, one is the text of the Beijing University Library 5 (BUL), and the other one is a facsimile edition of the Beilu yiyu published in the 中國兵書集成 Zhongguo bingshu jicheng 6 series in China. 1 In this paper I use the pinyin Chinese transcription system for the Chinese words. Chinese characters are given either in their classical or in their simplified forms according to the source. 2 This paper was read at the 4 th International Junior Scholars’ Conference on Sinology, National Dong Hwa University, Institute of Development for Indigenous Peoples-Harvard University, Hualian, Taiwan R.O.C. 2005. November 18-21. 3 On the periods of the history of the Chinese language: Pulleyblank, Edwin G.: Lexicon of Reconstructed Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese, Late Middle Chinese, and Early Mandarin. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver 1991 4 HAS. Oriental Collection. Mong. No. 44. 5 善本特藏閱覽室 Shanben tezang yuelanshi No. 9060 6 高休乾 Gao Xiuqian (et. al. ed.): 登壇必究: 北虜譯語 Dengtan Bijiu: Beilu yiyu. In: 中国兵书集成 Zhongguo bingshu jicheng Vol. 22 解放军出版社 Jiefangjun Chubanshe [People’s Liberation Army Publishing House], 1989, pp. 3067-3092. [Dengtan Bijiu: Beilu yiyu. In: Collection of Chinese Literature on military issues]