Sino-Tibetan

[ sahy-noh-ti-bet-n, sin-oh- ]

noun

1. a family of languages including especially Burmese, Tibetan, and the various local languages and dialects whose speakers share literary Chinese as their standard language.

Sino-Tibetan

/ ˈsaɪnəʊ- /

noun

1. a family of languages that includes most of the languages of China, as well as Tibetan, Burmese, and possibly Thai. Their most noticeable phonological characteristic is the phonemic use of tones

adjective

1. belonging or relating to this family of languages

Word History and Origins

Origin of Sino-Tibetan¹

First recorded in 1915–20; Sino- + Tibetan

Example Sentences

Hundreds of Tibetan exiles held a protest far from the summit venue to condemn Chinese participation in the event and urge leaders to discuss Sino-Tibetan relations.

From Seattle Times

Languages as distinct as Sino-Tibetan Chinese and Native American Washo use "baba."

From Salon

Zhang et al. compared the two competing views of where the earliest Sino-Tibetan speakers originated.

From Nature

Dozens of other languages have also been brought into question, including Latin and a language derived from the Sino-Tibetan family.

From National Geographic

At the one extreme, Mandarin and its relatives, which constitute the Chinese subfamily of the Sino-Tibetan language family, are distributed continuously from North to South China.

From Literature