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

Among these are Korean and Japanese as well as: various Turkic languages including Turkish in parts of Europe, Anatolia, Central Asia and Siberia; various Mongolic languages including Mongolian in Central and Northeast Asia; and various Tungusic languages in Manchuria and Siberia.

From Reuters

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

Taken together, the three strands of evidence suggest a shared common ancestor for modern-day speakers of Japonic, Koreanic, Tungusic, Mongolic, and Turkic languages: farmers living in the Liao River Valley approximately 9000 years ago, the researchers write today in Nature.

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