Altaic languages

The Altaic family of languages include 60 languages spoken by about 250 million people, found mostly around central Asia, having been distributed by the many invasions out of that corridor.

• Turkic languages
• Mongolian language
• Tungusic languages (or Manchu-Tungus)

The following languages have been postulated to belong to the Altaic group of languages; however, no empirical proof of any genetic relationship has been made so far:

• Japanese
• Korean
• Ainu

The existence of the Altaic family is not accepted without question. The Turkic, Mongolian, and Tungusic families do have strong similarities in many ways, but some linguists suggest these are due to their forming a Sprachbund, with intensive borrowing from long contact. To a lesser extent they also resemble the Uralic languages (such as Finnish and Hungarian), and a Ural-Altaic superfamily is proposed.

See also: Altai