Tungusic

[ toong-goo-zik ]

noun

1. a family of languages spoken or formerly spoken in Manchuria and central and SE Siberia, including Manchu, Evenki, Even, and languages of the Amur River region, as Nanay.

adjective

1. of or relating to Tungusic or its speakers.

Tungusic

/ tʊŋˈɡʊsɪk /

noun

1. a branch or subfamily of the Altaic family of languages, including Tungus and Manchu

adjective

1. of or relating to these languages or their speakers

Word History and Origins

Origin of Tungusic¹

First recorded in 1865–70; Tungus + -ic

Example Sentences

For more than 100 years, linguists have debated when, where, and how a group of languages spoken today across central and eastern Asia, including those in the Japanese, Korean, Tungusic, Mongolic, and Turkic families, emerged.

From Science Magazine

Some linguists believe they sprang from the same source, but others say extensive borrowing between ancient languages explains why certain sounds, terms, and grammatical features are common among many tongues, from Turkish to Tungusic.

From Science Magazine

A Tungusic people native to Siberia and on the Black Dragon river, as the Amur is known in China, the Hezhen rebuilt its population to 5,000 from 300 after World War II.

From Reuters

The ancient women also were related to other people who speak the remaining and endangered 75 or so Tungusic languages spoken by dwindling numbers of ethnic people in eastern Siberia and China.

From Science Magazine

Of all members of the Tungusic family the Manchus alone can be called a historical people.

From Project Gutenberg