Halayuntlığ (Halat)
The Halayuntlığ or Halat (Common Script: Halayuntlığ; Halat; IPA: /hɑlɑ.juntlɨɣ/; /hɑlɑt), also known as the Alat, Alatçin, Halatçin, and/or Ulayundluğ (Chinese: 賀賴, 曷剌, 遏羅支, 葛羅枝牙; Kharakhanid: اُوﻻيُنْدْلُغْ), were originally a Xuŋa tribe; however, they gradually branched out, joining a variety of nomadic confederations. Their modern descendants are now scattered across the Asian continent in countries such as Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and China.
Etymology
From Turkic *[pʰ]ɑlɑː "Dappled, mottled, piebald" + Oğuz Turkic *junt "horse." Similarily, the derivitive (H)alat is from *[pʰ]ɑlɑː and *ɑt "horse." (H)ala(t)çin is another variant with the Mongolic occupational derivational suffix -çin.
Transcriptions of Their Name
Halayuntlığ - Luán-dī (攣鞮) - LH *lyan-te (Hanshu 94)
Halayuntlığ - Xū-lián-tí (虛連題) - LH *hɨɑ-lian-te (Hou Hanshu)
Halat - He-lai (賀賴) LH *gɑi-lɑs (Weishu 113, Jinshu 97)
Halat - He-la (曷剌) MC *ɣât-lât (Tongdian 200)
Alatçin - E-luo-zhi (遏羅支) MC *ʔât-lâ-tśje (Jin Tangshu 217)
Halatçin – Ge-luo-zhi-ya (葛羅枝牙) MC *kăt-lâ-tśje-ŋa (Tang Huiyao 72)
Ulayundluğ - Aulayundlugh (اُوﻻيُنْدْلُغْ) *ulɑːyundluğ (Divan Lughat al-Turk)
A branch of their tribe was likely Iranicized as the Xalaç, itself Turkified by the Oğuz and re-etymologized as Qalaç, from Turkic *k(ʲ)ɑːl "to stay (behind)" and *ɑːt͡ʃ "hunger, hungry."
History
The earliest mention of the Halayuntlığ occurs in the Hanshu, where a subdivision of theirs is noted as the ruling clan of the Xuŋa.