View source for Tungusic languages

{{Short description|Language family of Siberia and Manchuria}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox language family
| name          = Tungusic
| region        = [[Siberia]], [[Manchuria]]
| familycolor   = Altaic
| family        = One of the world's primary [[language family|language families]]
| child1        = Northern ([[Ewenic languages|Ewenic]]–[[Udegheic languages|Udegheic]])
| child2        = Southern ([[Jurchenic languages|Jurchenic]]–[[Nanaic languages|Nanaic]])
| iso5          = tuw
| glotto        = tung1282
| glottorefname = Tungusic
| map           = Tungusic map unlabeled.svg
| mapcaption    = Geographic distribution of the Tungusic languages
| ancestor      = 
| glottoname    = 
| notes         = 
| ethnicity     = [[Tungusic peoples]]
}}
The '''Tungusic languages''' ({{IPAc-en|t|ʊ|ŋ|ˈ|ɡ|ʊ|s|ɪ|k}}; also known as '''Manchu–Tungus''' and '''Tungus''') form a [[language family]] spoken in Eastern [[Siberia]] and [[Manchuria]] by [[Tungusic peoples]]. Many Tungusic languages are endangered. There are approximately 75,000 native speakers of the dozen living languages of the Tungusic language family. The term "Tungusic" is from an [[exonym]] for the [[Evenks|Evenk people]] (Ewenki) used by the [[Yakuts]] ("tongus").

==Classification==
Linguists working on Tungusic have proposed a number of different classifications based on different criteria, including morphological, lexical, and phonological characteristics. Some scholars have criticized the tree-based model of Tungusic classification and argue that the long history of contact among the Tungusic languages makes them better treated as a [[dialect continuum]].<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=417262|title=Revisiting Tungusic Classification from the Bottom up: A Comparison of Evenki and Oroqen |journal=Language |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=286–321 |author=Lindsay J. Whaley, Lenore A. Grenoble and Fengxiang Li |date=June 1999|doi=10.2307/417262 }}</ref>
[[File:Distribution_of_the_Tungusic_languages.svg|alt=|thumb|300x300px|Current geographic distribution of languages in the Tungusic family.
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
{{Legend|aa251c|[[Even language|Even]]}}
{{Legend|d5462d|[[Evenki language|Evenki]]}}
{{Legend|f37343|[[Negidal language|Negidal]]}}
{{Legend|f29e22|[[Oroqen language|Oroqen]]}}
{{Legend|a04720|[[Kili language|Kili]]}}
{{col-3}}
{{Legend|94bf62|[[Oroch language|Oroch]]}}
{{Legend|3aa03a|[[Udihe language|Udihe]]}}
{{col-3}}
{{Legend|48a0b5|[[Manchu language|Manchu]]}}
{{Legend|2f6384|[[Xibe language|Xibe]]}}
{{Legend|9797dd|[[Nanai language|Nanai]]}}
{{Legend|6464b2|[[Orok language|Orok]]}}
{{Legend|3b246d|[[Ulch language|Ulch]]}}
{{col-end}}]]
The main classification is into a northern branch and a southern branch (Georg 2004) although the two branches have no clear division, and the classification of intermediate groups is debatable.

Four mid-level subgroups are recognized by Hölzl (2018),<ref>Hölzl, Andreas. 2018. ''The Tungusic language family through the ages: Interdisciplinary perspectives: Introduction''. International Workshop at the 51st Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea (SLE). 29 August – 1st September 2018, Tallinn University, Estonia.</ref> namely [[Ewenic languages|Ewenic]], [[Udegheic languages|Udegheic]], [[Nanaic languages|Nanaic]], and [[Jurchenic languages|Jurchenic]].

{{Pie chart|label1=[[Xibe language|Xibe]]|label2=[[Evenki language|Evenki]]|label3=[[Even language|Even]]|value1=55|value2=28.97|value3=10.45|label4=Others|value4=5.58|caption=Population distribution of total speakers of Tungusic languages, by speaker}}

[[Alexander Vovin]]<ref>Vovin, Alexander. ''[https://www.academia.edu/1804227/Why_Manchu_and_Jurchen_Look_so_Un-Tungusic Why Manchu and Jurchen Look so Un-Tungusic]?''</ref> notes that [[Manchu language|Manchu]] and [[Jurchen language|Jurchen]] are [[aberrant language]]s within South Tungusic but nevertheless still belong in it, and that this aberrancy is perhaps due to influences from the Para-Mongolic [[Khitan language]], from [[Old Korean]], and perhaps also from [[Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages|Chukotko-Kamchatkan]] and unknown languages of uncertain linguistic affiliation.

{{tree list}}
*'''Tungusic'''{{Citation needed|date=August 2025|reason=Where did this classification come from?}}
**'''Southern Tungusic ([[Jurchenic languages|Jurchenic]]–[[Nanaic languages|Nanaic]])'''
*** [[Jurchenic languages|Jurchenic]] (Southwestern Tungusic) ("Manchu group")
**** [[Jurchen language|Jurchen]]† (extinct, developed into Manchu in the 17th century)
***** [[Manchu language|Manchu]]: speakers originated from the [[Songhua River|Sungari Ula River]] area (they founded the [[Jin Dynasty (1115-1234)|Jin]] and [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]] or [[Manchu dynasty|Manchu]] dynasties of [[China]])
***** [[Xibe language|Xibe]]: spoken in [[Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County]], [[Xinjiang]]. (Developed separately since 1764 from a [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] military garrison)
**** [[Chinese Kyakala language|Chinese Kyakala]]† (恰喀拉<ref name="Mu1987">Mu, Yejun 穆晔骏. 1987: Balayu 巴拉语. Manyu yanjiu 满语研究 2. 2‒31, 128.</ref>)
**** [[Bala language (China)|Bala]]†? (巴拉<ref name="Mu1987"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hölzl|first=Andreas|date=2020|title=Bala (China) – Language Snapshot|url=http://www.elpublishing.org/PID/217|journal=Language Documentation and Description|volume=19|pages=162–170}}</ref>)
**** [[Alchuka language|Alchuka]]† (阿勒楚喀<ref name="Mu1987"/>)
*** [[Nanaic languages|Nanaic]] (Southeastern Tungusic) ("Nanai group" / "Amur group")
**** [[Nanai language|Nanai]] (Gold, Goldi, Hezhen) (Akani, Birar, Samagir)
***** ''Upper Amur'' 
****** ''Right-bank Amur'' 
****** ''Sungari'' 
****** ''Bikin'' ''(Ussuri)'' 
***** ''Central Amur''
****** ''Sakachi-Alyan'' 
****** ''Naykhin'' ''(basis of standard [[Nanai language|Nanai]] but not identical)''
****** ''Dzhuen''
***** ''Lower Amur'' 
****** ''Bolon''
****** ''Ekon''
****** ''Gorin''
**** [[Orok language|Orok]] ([[Orok language|Uilta]])
***** ''Northern (Northeast Sakhalin, [[:ru:Вал_(Сахалинская_область)|Village Val]] of Nogliksky)'' 
***** ''Southern (South Sakhalin, Poronaysky)''
**** [[Ulch language|Ulch]] / [[Ulch language|Olcha]]
**'''Northern Tungusic ([[Ewenic languages|Ewenic]]–[[Udegheic languages|Udegheic]])'''
*** [[Ewenic languages|Ewenic]]
**** [[Even language|Even]] ([[Lamut language|Lamut]]) (in eastern [[Siberia]])
***** ''Arman''† (transitional between Even and Evenki)
***** ''Indigirka'' 
***** ''Kamchatka'' 
***** ''Kolyma-Omolon'' 
***** ''Okhotsk''
***** ''Ola''
***** ''Tompon''
***** ''Upper Kolyma''
***** ''Sakkyryr''
***** ''Lamunkhin''
**** Evenki
***** [[Evenki language|Evenki]] (obsolete: Tungus), spoken by [[Evenks]] in central [[Siberia]] and [[Manchuria]]
****** ''[[Solon language|Solon]]'' ''(Solon Ewenki)''
******* ''Hihue/Hoy'' ''(basis of the standard, but not identical)'' 
******* ''Haila'er'' 
******* ''Aoluguya'' ''(Olguya)'' 
******* ''Chenba'erhu'' ''(Old Bargu)'' 
******* ''Morigele'' ''(Mergel)'' 
****** ''Siberian Ewenki'' / ''Ewenki of Siberia''
******* ''Northern (spirant)'' 
******** ''Ilimpeya'' (''subdialects'': ''Ilimpeya'', ''Agata and Bol'shoi'', ''Porog'', ''Tura'', ''Tutonchany'', ''Dudinka/Khantai'')
******** ''Yerbogachen'' (''subdialects:'' ''Yerbogachen'', ''Nakanno'')
******* ''Southern'' ''(sibilant)'' 
******** ''Hushing'' 
********* ''Sym'' (''subdialects:'' ''Tokma/Upper Nepa'', ''Upper Lena/Kachug'', ''Angara'')
********* ''Northern Baikal'' (''subdialects:'' ''Northern Baikal'', ''Upper Lena'')
******** ''Hissing'' 
********* ''Stony Tunguska'' (''subdialects:'' ''Vanavara'', ''Kuyumba'', ''Poligus'', ''Surinda'', ''Taimura/Chirinda'', ''Uchami'', ''Chemdal'sk'')
********* ''Nepa'' (''subdialects:'' ''Nepa'', ''Kirensk'')
********* ''Vitim-Nercha/Baunt-Talocha'' (''subdialects:'' ''[[Baunt]]'', ''Talocha'', ''Tungukochan'', ''Nercha'')
******* ''Eastern'' ''(sibilant-spirant)'' 
******** ''Vitim-Olyokma'' (''subdialects:'' ''Barguzin'', ''Vitim/[[Kalar (river)|Kalar]]'', ''[[Olyokma]]'', ''[[Tungir]]'', ''[[Tokko (river)|Tokko]]'')
******** ''Upper Aldan'' (''subdialects:'' ''Aldan'', ''Upper Amur'', ''Amga'', ''Dzheltulak'', ''[[Timpton]]'', ''Tommot'', ''Khingan'', ''Chul'man'', ''Chul'man-Gilyui'')
******** ''Uchur-Zeya'' (''subdialects:'' ''Uchur'', ''Zeya'')
******** ''Selemdzha-Bureya-Urmi'' (''subdialects:'' ''Selemdzha'', ''Bureya'', ''Urmi'')
******** ''Ayan-Mai'' (''subdialects:'' ''Ayan'', ''Aim'', ''Mai'', ''Nel'kan'', ''Totti'')
******** ''Tugur-Chumikan'' (''subdialects:'' ''Tugur'', ''Chumikan'')
******** ''Sakhalin'' ''(no subdialects)''
***** [[Negidal language|Negidal]]
****** ''Lower Negidal'' †
****** ''Upper Negidal'' 
***** [[Oroqen language|Oroqen]]
****** ''Gankui'' ''(basis of standard Oroqen but not identical)''
****** ''Selpechen''
****** ''Kumarchen''
****** ''Selpechen''
****** ''Orochen''
***** [[Kili language|Kili]] (previously thought to be a dialect of Nanai)
*** [[Udegheic languages|Udegheic]] (Oroch–Udege; strongly influenced by Southern Tungusic)
**** [[Oroch language|Oroch]] †? 
*****''Tumninsky dialect'' †''?''
*****''Khadinsky dialect'' †''?''
*****''Hungarisky dialect'' †''?''
**** [[Udege language|Udege / Udihe]]
*****''Kur-Urmi''
*****Northern (Udihe)
******''Xor''
******''Anjuj''
******''(Xungari)''
*****Southern (Kekar {{a.k.a.}} Kyakala) 
******''Samarga''
******''Iman''; ''Bikin''
{{tree list/end}}

[[Glottolog|Glottolog v5.2.1]] classifies the Tungusic languages as follows:<ref name="glotto">{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/tung1282 |title=Glottolog 5.2 - Tungusic |date=2025-06-11 |access-date=2025-08-22 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last1=Hammarström |first1=Harald |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250602222846/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/tung1282 |archive-date=2025-06-02 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}</ref>

{{hidden begin|border=1px  #aaa solid|title=Glottolog v5.2.1 classification|ta1=center}}
{{tree list}}
* '''Tungusic'''
** '''[[Nanaic languages|Central–Western Tungusic / Nanaic]]'''
*** [[Nanai language|Nanai]]
**** ''Lower Ussari''
**** ''Nuclear Nanai''
***** ''Central Nanai''
****** ''Bolon Nanai''
****** ''Dzhuen''
****** ''Torgon''
***** ''Garin''
****** ''Bicin''
****** ''Samar''
**** ''Sakachi–Alyan''
*** Ulchaic
**** [[Uilta language|Orok / Uilta]]
***** ''Poronaisk''
***** ''Val-Nogliki''
**** [[Ulch language|Ulch]]
** '''[[Jurchenic languages|Manchu–Jurchen / Jurchenic]]'''
*** [[Jurchen language|Jurchen]]
*** Manchu–Xibe
**** [[Manchu language|Manchu]]
***** ''[[Alchuka language|Alechuxa / Alchuka]]''
***** ''[[Bala language (China)|Bala (China)]]''
***** ''Jing''
***** ''Lalin''
**** [[Xibe language|Xibe]]
***** ''Aigun''
***** ''Ibuci''
***** ''Ilan Boo''
***** ''Sibe''
** '''Northeastern Tungusic / Ewenic–Udegheic'''
*** [[Udegheic languages|Central–Eastern Tungusic / Udegheic]]
**** [[Kili language|Kilen]]
***** ''Kili of Amur''
***** ''Sungari''
***** ''Upper Ussuri''
**** Oroch–Udihe
***** [[Oroch language|Oroch]]
****** ''Kjakela''
****** ''Namunka''
****** ''Orichen''
****** ''Tez''
***** [[Udege language|Udihe / Udege]]
****** ''Anjuski''
****** ''Bikin''
****** ''Iman''
****** ''Khor''
****** ''Khungari''
****** ''Samargin''
****** ''Sikhota Alin''
*** [[Ewenic languages|Northern Tungusic / Ewenic]]
**** [[Evenki language|Evenki]]
***** ''Manchurian Evenki''
****** ''Aoluguya''
****** ''Borzya Khamnigan Evenki''
****** ''Solon''
******* ''Amur basin Solon''
******* ''Hulun Buir Solon''
******* ''Morigele''
******* ''Nonni basin Solon''
******* ''Ongkor Solon''
****** ''Urulyungui Khamnigan Evenki''
***** ''Siberian Evenki''
****** ''Eastern Evenki''
******* ''Bareya-Amgun''
******* ''Barguzin Evenki''
******* ''Chul'man-Gilyui''
******* ''Sakhalin Evenki''
******* ''Uchur-Zeya''
******* ''Vitim-Olyokma''
****** ''Northern Evenki''
******* ''Ilimpeya''
******* ''Yerbogachon''
****** ''Southern Evenki''
******* ''Hissing Evenki''
******* ''Hushing Evenki''
**** Ewenic
***** Arman
***** [[Even language|Even]]
****** ''Eastern Even''
******* ''Berjozovka''
******* ''Kamchatka''
******* ''Kolyma-Omolon''
******* ''Okhotsk''
******* ''Ola''
******* ''Sakkyryr''
******* ''Upper Kolyma''
****** ''Middle Even''
******* ''Allaikha''
******* ''Moma Even''
******* ''Tompon''
****** ''Western Even''
******* ''Indigirka''
******* ''Lamunkhin''
******* ''Tjugasjir''
**** Negidalic
***** [[Kili language|Kur–Urmi]]
***** [[Negidal language|Negidal]]
****** ''Nizovsk''
****** ''Samagir''
****** ''Verkhovsk''
**** [[Oroqen language|Oroqen]]
***** ''Central Oroqen''
***** ''Northeastern Oroqen''
***** ''Southeastern Oroqen''
****** ''Birar''
****** ''Shengli''
***** ''Western Oroqen''
{{tree list/end}}
{{hidden end}}

==History==
===Proto-Tungusic===
Some linguists estimate the divergence of the Tungusic languages from a common ancestor spoken somewhere in [[Manchuria|Eastern Manchuria]] around 500 BC to 500 AD. (Janhunen 2012, Pevnov 2012)<ref name=conference /> Other theories favor a homeland closer to [[Lake Baikal]]. ([[Karl Heinrich Menges|Menges]] 1968, Khelimskii 1985)<ref>{{cite book|title=The Global Prehistory of Human Migration|author=Immanuel Ness|page=200|date=29 Aug 2014|publisher=John Wiley & Sons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TyJlBAAAQBAJ&q=tungusic+history&pg=PA200|isbn=978-1-118-97058-4}}</ref> While the general form of the protolanguage is clear from the similarities in the daughter languages, there is no consensus on detailed reconstructions. As of 2012, scholars are still trying to establish a shared vocabulary to do such a reconstruction.<ref name=conference>{{cite web|url=http://www.marumaru.eu/Martine_Robbeets/Publications_files/Robbeets2014_review%20Malchukov%20%26%20Whaley.pdf|title=Book Reviews 161 Andrej L. Malchukov and Lindsay J. Whaley (eds.), Recent advances in Tungusic linguistics (Turcologica 89). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2012. vi + 277 pages, ISBN 978-3-447-06532-0, EUR 68.|author=Martine Robbeets|access-date=25 Nov 2016|archive-date=10 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510102944/http://www.marumaru.eu/Martine_Robbeets/Publications_files/Robbeets2014_review%20Malchukov%20%26%20Whaley.pdf}}</ref> The [[Lake Khanka]] region was found to present the most likely homeland, based on linguistic and ancient genetic data.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Chuan-Chao |last2=Robbeets |first2=Martine |date=2020 |title=The homeland of Proto-Tungusic inferred from contemporary words and ancient genomes |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |language=en |volume=2 |article-number=e8 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2020.8 |pmid=37588383 |pmc=10427446 |s2cid=218569747 |issn=2513-843X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

There are some proposed sound correspondences for Tungusic languages. For example, Norman (1977) supports a Proto-Tungusic ''*t'' > Manchu ''s'' when followed by ''*j'' in the same stem, with any exceptions arising from loanwords.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=41927199|title=THE EVOLUTION OF PROTO-TUNGUSIC *t TO MANCHU s |journal=Central Asiatic Journal |author=JERRY NORMAN |volume= 21| issue = 3/4|year=1977|pages=229–233}}</ref> Some linguists believe there are connections between the [[vowel harmony]] of Proto-Tungusic and some of the neighboring non-Tungusic languages. For example, there are proposals for an areal or genetic correspondence between the vowel harmonies of [[Proto-Korean]], [[Proto-Mongolic|Proto-Mongolian]], and Proto-Tungusic based on an original [[advanced and retracted tongue root|RTR harmony]].<ref name=RTR>{{cite web|title=Paradigm Change: In the Transeurasian languages and beyond (Ch. 7)|author=Seongyeon Ko, Andrew Joseph, John Whitman|date=2014|url= https://conf.ling.cornell.edu/whitman/KoJosephWhitman2014Comparative.pdf}}</ref> This is one of several competing proposals, and on the other hand, some reconstruct Proto-Tungusic without RTR harmony.<ref name=RTR />

Some sources describe the [[Donghu people]] of 7th century BC to 2nd century BC Manchuria as Proto-Tungusic.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&q=donghu+tungusic&pg=PA891|title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania|page=891|author=Barbara A. West|date=19 May 2010|publisher=Infobase |access-date=26 Nov 2016|isbn=978-1-4381-1913-7}}</ref> Other sources sharply criticize this as a random similarity in pronunciation with "Tungus" that has no real basis in fact.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4-vdP2aZWhUC&dq=%22The+Chinese+and+Their+Neighbors+in+Prehistoric+and+Early+Historic+China%22&pg=PA411 The Chinese and Their Neighbors in Prehistoric and Early Historic China]</ref>

The historical records of the Korean kingdoms of [[Baekje]] and [[Silla]] note battles with the [[Mohe people|Mohe]] ({{lang-zh|t=靺鞨|p=Mòhé}}) in [[Manchuria]] during the 1st and 2nd centuries. Some scholars suggest these Mohe are closely connected to the later Jurchens, but this is controversial.

[[Alexander Vovin]] (2015)<ref>Vovin, Alexander. 2015. Eskimo Loanwords in Northern Tungusic. Iran and the Caucasus 19 (2015), 87–95. Leiden: Brill.</ref> notes that Northern Tungusic languages have [[Eskimo–Aleut languages|Eskimo–Aleut]] loanwords that are not found in Southern Tungusic, implying that Eskimo–Aleut was once much more widely spoken in eastern Siberia. Vovin (2015) estimates that the Eskimo–Aleut loanwords in Northern Tungusic had been borrowed no more than 2,000 years ago, which was when Tungusic was spreading northwards from its homeland in the middle reaches of the [[Amur River]].

Wang and [[Martine Robbeets|Robbeets]] (2020)<ref name=":0" /> place the Proto-Tungusic homeland in the [[Lake Khanka]] region.

Liu et al. (2020) <ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Bing-Li |last2=Ma |first2=Peng-Cheng |last3=Wang |first3=Chi-Zao |last4=Yan |first4=Shi |last5=Yao |first5=Hong-Bing |last6=Li |first6=Yong-Lan |last7=Xie |first7=Yong-Mei |last8=Meng |first8=Song-Lin |last9=Sun |first9=Jin |last10=Cai |first10=Yan-Huan |last11=Sarengaowa |first11=Sarengaowa |date=12 July 2020|title=Paternal origin of Tungusic-speaking populations: Insights from the updated phylogenetic tree of Y-chromosome haplogroup C2a-M86 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajhb.23462 |journal=American Journal of Human Biology |language=en |volume=33 |issue=2 |article-number=e23462 |doi=10.1002/ajhb.23462 |pmid=32657006 |s2cid=220501084 |issn=1042-0533|url-access=subscription }}</ref> revealed that [[Haplogroup C2 (Y-DNA)|Haplogroup C-F5484]] and its subclades are the genetic markers of Tungusic-speaking peoples. C-F5484 emerged 3,300 years ago and began to diverge 1,900 years ago, indicating the approximate age of differentiation of Tungusic languages.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

===Jurchen-Manchu language===
The earliest written attestation of the language family is in the [[Jurchen language]], which was spoken by the rulers of the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manchu-Tungus-languages|title=Manchu-Tungus languages|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|author=Lindsay J. Whaley|date=18 Jun 2007|access-date=25 Nov 2016}}</ref> The Jurchens invented a [[Jurchen script]] to write their language based on the [[Khitan large script|Khitan scripts]]. During this time, several [[Stele|stelae]] were put up in Manchuria and Korea. One of these, among the most important extant texts in Jurchen, is the inscription on the back of "the Jin Victory Memorial Stele" (''Da Jin deshengtuo songbei''), which was erected in 1185, during the [[Emperor Shizong of Jin|Dading]] period (1161–1189). It is apparently an abbreviated translation of the Chinese text on the front of the stele.<ref>Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland, and Stephen H. West. ''China Under Jurchen Rule: Essays on Chin Intellectual and Cultural History''. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995, pp. 228–229. {{ISBN|0-7914-2274-7}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=RWXGlb_9GAEC Partial text] on Google Books.</ref> The last known example of the Jurchen script was written in 1526.

The Tungusic languages appear in the historical record again after the [[Jurchen unification|unification of the Jurchen tribes]] under [[Nurhaci]], who ruled 1616–1626. He commissioned a new [[Manchu alphabet]] based on the Mongolian alphabet, and his successors went on to found the [[Qing dynasty]]. In 1636, Emperor [[Huang Taiji|Hong Taiji]] decreed that the ethnonym "Manchu" would replace "Jurchen". Modern scholarship usually treats Jurchen and Manchu as different stages of the same language.

Currently, Manchu proper is a [[language death|dying language]] spoken by a dozen or so elderly people in [[Qiqihar]], China. However, the closely related [[Xibe language]] spoken in [[Xinjiang]], which historically was treated as a divergent dialect of Jurchen-Manchu, maintains the literary tradition of the script, and has around 30,000 speakers. As the only language in the Tungusic family with a long written tradition, Jurchen-Manchu is a very important language for the reconstruction of Proto-Tungusic.

===Other Tungusic languages===
Other Tungusic languages have relatively short or no written traditions. Since around the 20th century, some of these other languages can be written in a Russian-based [[Cyrillic script]] or, in China, Pinyin-based or Mongolian-based scripts, but the languages remain primarily spoken languages.{{Citation needed|date=March 2019}}



== Lexical comparison ==
[[Numeral (linguistics)|Numerals]] in various Tungus languages:

:{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;
|-
! rowspan=2| <small>GLOSA</small>
! colspan=4| Northern Tungus
! colspan=4| Southeast Tungus
! colspan=3| Southwest Tungus
! rowspan=2|<small>PROTO-<br />TUNGUS</small>
|-
! [[Even language|Even]] !! [[Evenki language|Evenki]] !! [[Negidal language|Negidal]] !! [[Oroqen language|Oroqen]] !! [[Udihe language|Udihe]]
! [[Orochi language|Orochi]] !! [[Orok language|Orok]] !! [[Ulcha language|Ulcha]] !! [[Hezhen language|Hezhen]] !! [[Manchu language|Manchu]] !! [[Xibe language|Xibe]]
|-
| '1' || ɵmen || əmun || ɵmɵn || umun || omo
| omoː || geːda || umu || əmkən || əmkən || əmkən ||  *əmu-
|-
| '2' || dʒɵ:r || dʒuːr || dʒuːl || dʒuːr || dʒuː
| dʒuː || duː || dʒuəl || dʐuru || dʂo || dʐu || *dʐubə(r)
|-
| '3' || ɪlan || ɪlan || ilan || ilan || ila
| ila || ila || ila || ilan || ilɑn || ilan || *ilan
|-
| '4' || digen || dijin || diɣin || dijin || diː
| diː || dʒin || dui || dujin || duin || dujin || *dügin
|-
| '5' || tunŋan || tʊŋŋa || toɲŋa || tʊŋŋa || tuŋa
| tuŋa || tunda || tuɲdʒa || sundʑa || sundʑɑ || sundʐa || *tuɲga
|-
| '6' || ɲuŋen || niŋun || ɲuŋun || ɲuŋun || ɲuŋu
| ɲuŋu || nuŋu || ɲuŋgu || niŋun || nyŋŋun || niŋun || *ɲuŋun
|-
| '7' || nadan || nadan || nadan || nadan || nada
| nada || nada || nada || nadan || nɑdən || nadən || *nadan
|-
| '8' || dʒapkan || dʒaxʊn || dʒapkun || dʒapkʊn || dʒapu
| dʒakpu || dʒappu || dʒakpu || dʐaqun || dʐoqoŋ || dʐaqun || *dʐakpun<br />*dʐapkun
|-
| '9' || ujun || jəjin || ijəɣin || jəjin || jəji
| xuju || xuju || xuji || ujyn || ujyn || ujin || *xegün
|-
| '10' || mɪan || dʒaːn || dʒaːn || dʒaːn || dʒaː
| dʒaː || dʒoːn || dʒua || dʐuan || dʐuɑn || dʐuan || *dʐuban
|}

==Research==
The earliest Western accounts of Tungusic languages came from the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] traveler [[Nicolaes Witsen]], who published in the [[Dutch language]] a book, {{Lang|nl|Noord en Oost Tartarye}} (literally 'North and East Tartary'). It described a variety of peoples in the [[Russian Far East]] and included some brief word lists for many languages. After his travel to Russia, his collected findings were published in three editions, 1692, 1705, and 1785.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5YNFAAAAcAAJ&q=noord+en+oost+tartarten|title=Noord en oost Tartaryen|author=Nicolaas Witsen|date=1785}}</ref> The book includes some words and sentences from the [[Evenki language]], then called "Tungus".

The German linguist [[Wilhelm Grube]] (1855–1908) published an early dictionary of the [[Nanai language]] (Gold language) in 1900, as well as deciphering the [[Jurchen language]] for modern audiences using a Chinese source.

==Common characteristics==
The Tungusic languages are of an [[agglutinative]] morphological type, and some of them have complex [[declension|case]] systems and elaborate patterns of [[grammatical tense|tense]] and [[grammatical aspect|aspect]] marking. However, none of the languages have [[grammatical gender]] or noun classes. All Tungusic languages have [[Adposition|postpositions]]. Counting is done in [[base ten]], and the names of the cardinal numbers from 1 to 10 are [[cognate]]s in most cases.<ref name=Oskolskaya2024>{{cite book | last=Oskolskaya | first=Sofia | title=The Languages and Linguistics of Northern Asia | chapter=3 The Tungusic language family | publisher=De Gruyter | date=2024-02-19 | isbn=978-3-11-055621-6 | doi=10.1515/9783110556216-003 | pages=123–166}}</ref>

The normal word order for all of the languages is [[subject–object–verb]].<ref name=Dartmouth>{{cite web|url=http://www.dartmouth.edu/~trg/languages/section3.html|title=Basic Typological Features of Tungusic Languages|author=The Tungusic Research Group at Dartmouth College|access-date=25 Nov 2016|archive-date=30 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130202656/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~trg/languages/section3.html}}</ref>

===Phonology===
Tungusic languages exhibit a complex pattern of [[vowel harmony]], based on two parameters: vowel [[roundedness]] and vowel [[tenseness]] (in Evenki, the contrast is back and front). Tense and lax vowels do not occur in the same word; all vowels in a word, including suffixes, are either one or the other. Rounded vowels in the root of a word cause all the following vowels in the word to become rounded, but not those before the rounded vowel. Those rules are not absolute, and there are many individual exceptions.<ref name=Dartmouth/>

[[Vowel length]] is phonemic in most languages, with many words distinguished based on the distinction between short vowel and long vowel.<ref name=Dartmouth/> Languages without long vowels consist of the [[Jurchenic languages]] (Jurchen, Manchu, Xibe) and the Hezhe language. [[Diphthong]]s also occur in all languages.<ref name=Oskolskaya2024 />

Tungusic words have simple word [[syllable coda|codas]], and usually have simple word onsets, with [[consonant clusters]] forbidden at the end of words and rare at the beginning.<ref name=Dartmouth/>

Below are Proto-Tungusic consonants as reconstructed by Tsintsius (1949) and the vowels according to Benzing (1955):<ref>J. Benzing, "Die tungusischen Sprachen: Versuch einer vergleichenden Grammatik", ''Abhandlungen der Geistes und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse'',vol. 11 (1955), pp. 949–1099.</ref>

:{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Consonants
! colspan=2 |
! scope="col" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! scope="col" | [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! scope="col" | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! scope="col" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! scope="row" rowspan=2 | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! <small>voiceless</small>
| p || t ||  || k
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
| b || d ||  || ɡ
|-
! scope="row" rowspan=2 | [[Affricate]]
! <small>voiceless</small>
|  ||  || t͡ʃ ⟨č⟩ || 
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
|  ||  || d͡ʒ ⟨ǯ⟩ || 
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Fricative]]
|  || s || ʃ ⟨š⟩ || x
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| m || n || ɲ ⟨ń⟩ || ŋ
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Lateral approximant]]
|  || l ||  || 
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|  || r ||  || 
|-
! colspan=2 | Glide
| w ||  || j || 
|}

:{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+Vowels
!  !! front !! central !! back
|-
! high
| i y ⟨ü⟩ || ɨ ⟨ï⟩ ||  u
|-
! mid
| e ø ⟨ö⟩ ||  || o
|-
! low
|  || a || 
|}

==Relationships with other languages==
Tungusic is today considered a primary language family. Especially in the past, some linguists linked Tungusic with [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] and [[Mongolic languages]], among others, in either the [[Altaic languages|Altaic]] or the [[Transeurasian]] language family.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320915864|title=Austronesian influence and Transeurasian ancestry in Japanese: A case of farming/language dispersal|journal=Language Dynamics and Change|date=January 2017 |volume=7 |pages=210–251 |doi=10.1163/22105832-00702005 |language=en|access-date=2019-03-26|last1=Robbeets |first1=Martine |doi-access=free |hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-002E-8635-7 |hdl-access=free }}, Robbeets, Martine et al. 2021 Triangulation supports agricultural spread of the Transeurasian languages, Nature 599, 616–621</ref> However, the proposal that there are genetic rather than merely areal links remains highly controversial.<ref>{{cite book |last=Georg |first=Stefan |year=2023 |chapter=Connections between Uralic and Other Language Families |editor1=Daniel Abondolo |editor2=Riitta-Liisa Valijärvi |title=The Uralic Languages |location=London |publisher=Routledge |pages=176–209 |doi=10.4324/9781315625096-4|isbn=978-1-315-62509-6 }}</ref><ref name="Tian 2022">{{citation |url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.09.495471v1 |last1=Tian |first1=Zheng |last2=Tao |first2=Yuxin |last3=Zhu |first3=Kongyang |last4=Jacques |first4=Guillaume |author4-link=Guillaume Jacques|last5=Ryder |first5=Robin J. |last6=de la Fuente |first6=José Andrés Alonso |last7=Antonov |first7=Anton |last8=Xia |first8=Ziyang |last9=Zhang |first9=Yuxuan |last10=Ji |first10=Xiaoyan |last11=Ren |first11=Xiaoying |last12=He |first12=Guanglin |last13=Guo |first13=Jianxin |last14=Wang |first14=Rui |last15=Yang |first15=Xiaomin |last16=Zhao |first16=Jing |last17=Xu |first17=Dan |last18=Gray |first18=Russell D. |author18-link=Russell Gray|last19=Zhang |first19=Menghan |last20=Wen |first20=Shaoqing |last21=Wang |first21=Chuan-Chao |last22=Pellard |first22=Thomas |title=Triangulation fails when neither linguistic, genetic, nor archaeological data support the Transeurasian narrative |publisher=Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory |date=2022-06-12 |doi=10.1101/2022.06.09.495471|s2cid=249649524 }}</ref>

Some scholars believe that the language spoken in Europe by the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]] (who created the [[Avar Khaganate]]) is of Tungusic origin.<ref>Helimski, E (2004). "Die Sprache(n) der Awaren: Die mandschu-tungusische Alternative". Proceedings of the First International Conference on Manchu-Tungus Studies, Vol. II: 59–72.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Lists of endangered languages]]
* [[Language death]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* Kane, Daniel. ''The Sino-Jurchen Vocabulary of the Bureau of Interpreters''. Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, Volume 153. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, 1989. {{ISBN|0-933070-23-3}}.
* Miller, Roy Andrew. ''Japanese and the Other Altaic Languages''. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1971.
* Poppe, Nicholas. ''Vergleichende Grammatik der Altaischen Sprachen'' [A Comparative Grammar of the Altaic Languages]. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1960.
* Tsintsius, Vera I. ''Sravnitel'naya Fonetika Tunguso-Man'chzhurskikh Yazïkov'' [Comparative Phonetics of the Manchu-Tungus Languages]. Leningrad, 1949.
* Stefan Georg. "Unreclassifying Tungusic", in: Carsten Naeher (ed.): ''Proceedings of the First International Conference on Manchu-Tungus Studies (Bonn, August 28 – September 1, 2000), Volume 2: Trends in Tungusic and Siberian Linguistics'', Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 45–57.
{{refend}}
* Hölzl, Andreas & Payne, Thomas E. (eds.). 2022. Tungusic languages: Past and present. (Studies in Diversity Linguistics 32). Berlin: Language Science Press. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7025328 https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/355 Open Access.

== Further reading ==
*Aixinjueluo Yingsheng. 2014. Manyu kouyu yindian . Peking: Huayi chubanshe.
*{{cite encyclopedia |last= Apatóczky |first= Ákos Bertalan |author-link1= Ákos Bertalan Apatóczky |author2= Kempf, Béla |year=2017 |title=Recent developments on the decipherment of the Khitan small script. Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung. 70(2). 109–133. |journal= Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume= 70 |issue= 2 |pages= 109–133 |doi= 10.1556/062.2017.70.2.1 |url= http://real.mtak.hu/56019/1/062.2017.70.2.1.pdf }}.
*Alonso de la Fuente, José Andrés. 2015. [http://www.ejournals.eu/pliki/art/4457/ Tungusic historical linguistics and the Buyla (a.k.a. Nagyszentmiklós) inscription]. Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia 20. 17–46.
*Alonso de la Fuente, José Andrés. 2017a. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/an-oroch-wordlist-lost-and-rediscovered-a-critical-edition-of-tronsons-1859-pseudonivkh-vocabulary/EEA32937377AA9F7FB1B9187D45AE212 An Oroch word-list lost and rediscovered: A critical edition of Tronson's 1859 pseudo- Nivkh vocabulary]. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 80(1). 97–117.
*Alonso de la Fuente, José Andrés. 2017b. From converb to classifier? On the etymology of Literary Manchu nofi. In Michał Né meth, Barbara Podolak & Mateusz Urban (eds.), Essays in the history of languages and linguistics. Dedicated to Marek Stachowski on the occasion of his 60th birthday, 57–80. Cracow: Księgarnia Akademicka.
*Alonso de la Fuente, José Andrés. 2018. Past tenses, diminutives and expressive palatalization: Typology and the limits of internal reconstruction in Tungusic. In Bela Kempf, Ákos Bertalan Apatóczky & Christopher P. Atwood (eds.), Philology of the Grasslands: Essays in Mongolic, Turkic, and Tungusic Studies, 112–137. Leiden: Brill.
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*Baek, Sangyub. 2014. Verbal suffix -du in Udihe. Altai Hakpo 24. 1–22.
*Baek, Sangyub. 2016. Tungusic from the perspective of areal linguistics: Focusing on the Bikin dialect of Udihe. Sapporo:Graduate School of Letters, Hokkaidō University. (Doctoral dissertation.)
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* {{cite encyclopedia |last= Vovin |first= Alexander |author-link= Alexander Vovin |editor1=Keith Brown |editor2=Sarah Ogilvie |encyclopedia=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World |title=Tungusic Languages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC&pg=PA1103 |edition=1st |year=2009 |orig-date= 2006 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam and Boston |isbn=978-0-08-087774-7 |oclc=264358379 |pages=1103–1105 }}

==External links==
*[http://www.dartmouth.edu/~trg/languages/preface.html Tungusic Research Group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006081839/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~trg/languages/preface.html |date=2012-10-06 }} at [[Dartmouth College]]
*{{in lang|es}} [http://www.proel.org/index.php?pagina=mundo/altaica/tungusoma/manchu Tungusic languages]
* [http://kaltric.de/mat/matlingu/even Vergleich der Reziproken des Ewenischen mit verwandten Sprachen]
* [https://siberianlanguages.surrey.ac.uk/summary/ Endangered Languages and Cultures of Siberia]

{{Tungusic languages}}
{{Altaic languages}}
{{Language families}}
{{Eurasian languages}}

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[[Category:Tungusic languages| ]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Language families]]