Mongolic languages

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The Mongolic languages are a group of thirteen languages spoken in Central Asia. Some linguists propose the grouping of Mongolic with Turkic (of which Turkish is a member) and Tungusic as Altaic languages, but this hypothesis is not universally agreed upon.

The best-known member of this language family, Mongolian (in Cyrillic orthography as used in Mongolia, Монгол Хэл, and in the vertical Uygur-derived script as used in Inner Mongolia, China, Mongγol Kele), is the primary language of most of the residents of Mongolia, and is spoken by around 5.7 million people in Mongolia, Russia, and Inner Mongolia. Nikudari, an archaic and unclassified Mongolian language, remains preserved by a few hundred speakers in Herat, Afghanistan.

Classification

Mongolic

Central Mongolic

Khalkha (Halh) Mongolian (official language of Mongolia)
Ordos (native form: Urdus)
Chahar

Western Mongolic (Oirat-Kalmyk-Darkhat)

Oirat (Kalmyk) (Dialects: Torgut, Dorbet, Olot [Ööld, Elyut, Eleuth], Khoshut [Khoshuud])
Darkhat

Northern Mongolic

Buryat (Dialects: Bargu, Khori, Aga, Ekhirit, Unga, Nizhne-Udinsk, Barguzin, Tunka, Oka, Alar, Bohaan, Bulagat)
Khamnigan Mongol

Northeastern Mongolic

Dagur (Daur)
Khitan

Southeastern Mongolic (i.e., the Qinghai-Gansu Sprachbund Mongolic languages)

Monguor (Also known as Tu, Dialects: Mongghul, Mangghuer, heavily influenced by Tibetan or Chinese)
Kangjia
Bonan
Dongxiang (Santa)

South-Central Mongolic

Eastern Yugur (Shira Yugur)

Southwestern Mongolic

Moghol (Mogholi, Mogol)

External links

References

Janhunen, J. 2003. The Mongolic Languages. London.

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Last updated on Monday February 25, 2008 at 18:32:43 PST (GMT -0800)
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