Mongolic languages The Mongolic languages are a language family spoken by the Mongolic peoples in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia, mostly in Mongolia and surrounding areas and in Kalmykia and Buryatia. The best-known member of this language ...

Tuyuhun Tuyuhun (; LHC: *''tʰɑʔ-jok-guənʔ''; Wade-Giles: ''T'u-yühun''), also known as Henan () and Azha (; ), was a dynastic kingdom established by the nomadic peoples related to the Xianbei in the Qilian Mountains and upper Yellow River valley ...

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

Wuhuan The Wuhuan (, <

Eastern Han Chinese

: *''ʔɑ-ɣuɑn'', <

might be Para-Mongolic, as might those of the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...

and the

Tuoba The Tuoba (reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation: *''tʰak-bɛt''), also known as the Taugast or Tabgach ( otk, 𐱃𐰉𐰍𐰲 ''Tabγač''), was a Xianbei clan in Imperial China.Wei Shou. '' Book of Wei''. Vol. 1 During the Sixteen King ...

(the founders of the

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

) and Khitan. Because the surviving evidence for Xianbei and Tuoba is very sparse, one can only hypothesize that a genetic relationship ''could'' be possible. In the case of Khitan, there is rich evidence, but most of it is written in the two Khitan scripts (

large Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (or ...

and

small Small may refer to: Science and technology * SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language * Small (anatomy), the lumbar region of the back * ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication * <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text ...

) that have yet to be fully deciphered. However, from the available evidence it has been concluded that a genetic relationship to Mongolic is likely.

Tuoba

Alexander Vovin Alexander (Sasha) Vladimirovich Vovin (russian: Александр Владимирович Вовин; 27 January 1961 – 8 April 2022) was a Soviet-born Russian-American linguist and philologist, and director of studies at the School for Adv ...

(2007) identifies the extinct

Tuoba language Tuoba (Tabγač or Tabghach; also Taγbač or Taghbach; ) is an extinct language spoken by the Tuoba people in northern China around the 5th century AD during the Northern Wei dynasty. Classification Alexander Vovin (2007) identifies the Tuoba l ...

(Tabγač) as a Mongolic language. However, Chen (2005) argues that Tuoba was a

Turkic language The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic languag ...

. Shimunek classifies Tuoba as a "Serbi" (i.e., para-Mongolic) language, along with Tuyuhun and Khitan.

Ruanruan

Alexander Vovin Alexander (Sasha) Vladimirovich Vovin (russian: Александр Владимирович Вовин; 27 January 1961 – 8 April 2022) was a Soviet-born Russian-American linguist and philologist, and director of studies at the School for Adv ...

(2018) suggests that the

Ruanruan language Ruanruan (; also called Rouran) is an unclassified extinct language of Mongolia and northern China, spoken in the Rouran Khaganate from the 4th to the 6th centuries AD, considered a likely early precursor to Mongolic. Peter A. Boodberg claime ...

of the

Rouran Khaganate The Rouran Khaganate, also Juan-Juan Khaganate (), was a tribal confederation and later state founded by a people of Proto-Mongolic Donghu origin.*Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (2000)"Ji 姬 and Jiang 姜: The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organizatio ...

was a Mongolic language, close but not identical to Middle Mongolian.

Khitan

Juha Janhunen Juha Janhunen (born 12 February 1952 in Pori, Finland) is a Finnish linguist whose wide interests include Uralic and Mongolic languages. Since 1994 he has been Professor in East Asian studies at the University of Helsinki. He has done fieldwork o ...

(2006) classified the

Khitan language Khitan or Kitan ( in large script or in small, ''Khitai''; , ''Qìdānyǔ''), also known as Liao, is a now-extinct language once spoken in Northeast Asia by the Khitan people (4th to 13th century). It was the official language of the Liao Empir ...

into the "Para-Mongolic" family, meaning that it is related to the Mongolic languages as a

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

, rather than as a direct descendant of Proto-Mongolic.

Alexander Vovin Alexander (Sasha) Vladimirovich Vovin (russian: Александр Владимирович Вовин; 27 January 1961 – 8 April 2022) was a Soviet-born Russian-American linguist and philologist, and director of studies at the School for Adv ...

(2017) has also identified several possible loanwords from

Koreanic languages Koreanic is a small language family consisting of the Korean and Jeju languages. The latter is often described as a dialect of Korean, but is distinct enough to be considered a separate language. Alexander Vovin suggests that the Yukjin dialect ...

into the Khitan language.

Tuyuhun

Vovin (2015) identified the extinct

Tuyuhun language Tuyuhun (), also known as ‘Azha from Tibetan script, is an extinct language once spoken by the Tuyuhun of northern China about 500 AD. The existence of the Tuyuhun, and consequently their language, is first attested in the ''Book of Song'', co ...

as a Para-Mongolic language.

Internal classification

Shimunek (2017) proposes a "Serbi–Awar" group of languages that is a sister branch of the

Mongolic languages The Mongolic languages are a language family spoken by the Mongolic peoples in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia, mostly in Mongolia and surrounding areas and in Kalmykia and Buryatia. The best-known member of this language ...

. Together, the Serbi–Awar and Mongolic languages make up the '' Serbi–Mongolic'' languages in Shimunek's classification. *'' Serbi–Mongolic'' ** Mongolic **Serbi–Awar (=

Juha Janhunen Juha Janhunen (born 12 February 1952 in Pori, Finland) is a Finnish linguist whose wide interests include Uralic and Mongolic languages. Since 1994 he has been Professor in East Asian studies at the University of Helsinki. He has done fieldwork o ...

's "Para-Mongolic") *** Awar (Avar) (

Wuhuan The Wuhuan (, <

Eastern Han Chinese

: *''ʔɑ-ɣuɑn'', <

烏桓 or Wuwan 烏丸) ***Old Serbi (Common Serbi) ****Ch’i-fu/ Qifu 乞伏 (northern

Early Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The Sw ...

/NEMC *kʰɨrbuwk) ****Tuan/ Duan 段 (NEMC *dɔr̃) **** Taghbach ****

Tuyuhun Tuyuhun (; LHC: *''tʰɑʔ-jok-guənʔ''; Wade-Giles: ''T'u-yühun''), also known as Henan () and Azha (; ), was a dynastic kingdom established by the nomadic peoples related to the Xianbei in the Qilian Mountains and upper Yellow River valley ...

/T’u-yü-hun (Mu-jung/

Murong Murong (; LHC: *''mɑC-joŋ''; EMC: *''mɔh-juawŋ'') or Muren refers to an ethnic Xianbei tribe who are attested from the time of Tanshihuai (reigned 156–181). Different strands of evidence exist linking the Murong to the MongolsТаск� ...

慕容) ****Kitanic (Yü-wen/Yuwen 宇文) *****Old Kitan *****Qay 奚 (NEMC *ɣay) *****Shirwi proper 室韋 (*širwi/*širβi < *serbi 鮮卑 '

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...

')

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Mongolic languages Mongolic–Khitan languages

Languages

Tuoba

Ruanruan

Khitan

Tuyuhun

Internal classification

See also

References

Bibliography