TY - JOUR T1 - Some Early Inner Asian Terms Related to the Imperial Family and the Comitatus PY - 2013 N2 - This article suggests philological explanations for a number of terms that have so far wholly or partly resisted analysis. The chosen examples highlight the fact that lacking progress was not due to inaccurate Chinese transcriptions, but rather that much of the terminology is neither Iranian, nor Tokharian, nor attested in Old or Middle Turkic inscriptions. Recent work on Kitan and Tuyuhun vocabulary, but also early Sanskrit / Prakrit loanwords used widely in Türk and pre-Türk Inner Asia and other eastern Inner Asian languages has, moreover, produced insight into previously unknown Inner Asian vocabulary from Chinese and other sources of the Türk and Uyghur eras. Holding these together is a renewed appreciation for the general consistency and accuracy of Chinese transcriptions, which when properly read can provide considerable information about a now completely defunct Inner Asian political vocabulary. JF - Central Asiatic Journal JA - Central Asiatic Journal VL - 56 IS - 1 UR - https://doi.org/10.13173/centasiaj.56.2013.0049 M3 - doi:10.13173/centasiaj.56.2013.0049 ER -