Editing Mongolic languages (section)

==Classification==
{{see also|Para-Mongolic languages|Altaic languages}}

The Mongolic languages have no convincingly established living relatives. The closest relatives of the Mongolic languages appear to be the [[para-Mongolic languages]], which include the extinct [[Khitan language|Khitan]],<ref name=Janhunen>{{cite book|author=Juha Janhunen|title=The Mongolic Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DuCRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA364|date=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-79690-7|page=393}}</ref> [[Tuyuhun language|Tuyuhun]], and possibly also [[Tuoba language|Tuoba]] languages.<ref name="Shimunek2017">{{cite book|last=Shimunek|first=Andrew|title=Languages of Ancient Southern Mongolia and North China: a Historical-Comparative Study of the Serbi or Xianbei Branch of the Serbi-Mongolic Language Family, with an Analysis of Northeastern Frontier Chinese and Old Tibetan Phonology|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|publication-place=Wiesbaden|year=2017|isbn=978-3-447-10855-3|oclc=993110372}}</ref>

[[Alexander Vovin]] (2007) identifies the extinct Tabɣač or [[Tuoba language]] as a Mongolic language.<ref>Vovin, Alexander. 2007. ‘Once again on the Tabɣač language.’ Mongolian Studies XXIX: 191-206.</ref> However, Chen (2005)<ref>Chen, Sanping 2005. Turkic or Proto-Mongolian? A Note on the Tuoba Language. Central Asiatic Journal 49.2: 161–73.</ref> argues that Tuoba (Tabɣač) was a [[Turkic language]]. Vovin (2018) suggests that the [[Rouran language]] of the [[Rouran Khaganate]] was a Mongolic language, close but not identical to Middle Mongolian.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Vovin |first=Alexander |title = A Sketch of the Earliest Mongolic Language: the Brāhmī Bugut and Khüis Tolgoi Inscriptions |url = https://www.academia.edu/39716045|journal = International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics |year=2019 |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=162–197 |doi = 10.1163/25898833-12340008 |s2cid=198833565 |issn=2589-8825 }}</ref>

===Altaic===
A few linguists have grouped Mongolic with [[Turkic languages|Turkic]], [[Tungusic languages|Tungusic]] and possibly [[Koreanic languages|Koreanic]] or [[Japonic languages|Japonic]] as part of the controversial [[Altaic languages|Altaic family]].<ref>e.g. {{harvcoltxt|Starostin|Dybo|Mudrak|2003}}; contra e.g. {{harvcoltxt|Vovin|2005}}</ref>

Following [[Sergei Starostin]], [[Martine Robbeets]] suggested that Mongolic languages belong to a "[[Transeurasian]]" superfamily also comprising [[Japonic languages]], [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Tungusic languages]] and [[Turkic languages]],<ref>Robbeets, Martine et al. 2021 Triangulation supports agricultural spread of the Transeurasian languages, Nature 599, 616–621</ref> but this view has been severely criticized.<ref name="Tian 2022">{{citation |url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.09.495471v1 |last1=Tian |first1=Zheng |last2=Tao |first2=Yuxin |last3=Zhu |first3=Kongyang |last4=Jacques |first4=Guillaume |author4-link=Guillaume Jacques|last5=Ryder |first5=Robin J. |last6=de la Fuente |first6=José Andrés Alonso |last7=Antonov |first7=Anton |last8=Xia |first8=Ziyang |last9=Zhang |first9=Yuxuan |last10=Ji |first10=Xiaoyan |last11=Ren |first11=Xiaoying |last12=He |first12=Guanglin |last13=Guo |first13=Jianxin |last14=Wang |first14=Rui |last15=Yang |first15=Xiaomin |last16=Zhao |first16=Jing |last17=Xu |first17=Dan |last18=Gray |first18=Russell D. |author18-link=Russell Gray|last19=Zhang |first19=Menghan |last20=Wen |first20=Shaoqing |last21=Wang |first21=Chuan-Chao |last22=Pellard |first22=Thomas |title=Triangulation fails when neither linguistic, genetic, nor archaeological data support the Transeurasian narrative |publisher=Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory |date=2022-06-12 |doi=10.1101/2022.06.09.495471|s2cid=249649524 }}</ref> {{Better source needed|reason=Source is a preprint and the publisher is not a linguistic journal but appears to be a biology journal.|date=November 2024}}

=== Languages ===
{{Main list|List of Mongolic languages}}

Contemporary Mongolic languages are as follows. The classification and numbers of speakers follow Janhunen (2006),<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Janhunen|2006|pp=232–233}}</ref> except for Southern Mongolic, which follows Nugteren (2011).<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Nugteren|2011}}</ref>

{{tree list}}
* '''Mongolic'''
** [[Dagur language|Dagur]] (96,000 speakers)
** Central Mongolic
*** [[Khamnigan Mongol]] (2,000 speakers)
*** [[Buryat language|Buryat]] (330,000 speakers)
*** [[Mongolian language|Mongolian proper]] (5.2 million speakers)
*** [[Mongolian language in Inner Mongolia|Peripheral Mongolian]] (as [[Ordos Mongolian|Ordos]])
*** [[Kalmyk Oirat|Kalmyk]]–[[Oirat language|Oirat]] (360,000 speakers)
** Southern Mongolic (part of a Gansu–Qinghai [[Sprachbund]])
*** [[Eastern Yugur language|Shira Yugur]] (4,000 speakers)
*** [[Shirongol languages|Shirongol]]
**** [[Monguor language|Monguor]] (150,000 speakers)
***** Mongghul/Huzhu Monguor
***** Mangghuer/Minhe Monguor
**** Baoanic
***** [[Bonan language|Bonan]] (6,000 speakers)
***** [[Santa language|Santa]] (Dongxiang) (200,000 speakers)
***** [[Kangjia language|Kangjia]] (1,000 speakers)
** [[Moghol language|Moghol]] (extinct)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Glottolog 4.7 – Mogholi |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/mogh1245 |access-date=2022-12-27 |website=glottolog.org}}</ref>
{{tree list/end}}

In another classificational approach,<ref>e.g. Sečenbaɣatur et al. (2005:193–194)</ref> there is a tendency to call Central Mongolian a language consisting of Mongolian proper, Oirat and Buryat, while Ordos (and implicitly also Khamnigan) is seen as a variety of Mongolian proper. Within Mongolian proper, they then draw a distinction between Khalkha on the one hand and the [[Mongolian language in Inner Mongolia]] (containing everything else) on the other hand. A less common subdivision of Central Mongolic is to divide it into a Central dialect (Khalkha, Chakhar, Ordos), an Eastern dialect (Kharchin, Khorchin), a Western dialect (Oirat, Kalmyk), and a Northern dialect (consisting of two Buryat varieties).<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Luvsanvandan|1959}} quoted from Sečenbaɣatur et al. (2005:167–168)</ref>

The broader delimitation of Mongolian may be based on [[mutual intelligibility]], but an analysis based on a [[Phylogenetic tree#Limitations of phylogenetic analysis|tree diagram]] such as the one above faces other problems because of the close contacts between, for example, Buryat and Khalkha Mongols during history, thus creating or preserving a [[dialect continuum]]. Another problem lies in the sheer comparability of terminology, as Western linguists use ''language'' and ''dialect'', while Mongolian linguists use the [[Brothers Grimm|Grimmian]] trichotomy ''language'' (kele), ''dialect'' (nutuɣ-un ayalɣu) and ''Mundart'' (aman ayalɣu).

Rybatzki (2003: 388–389)<ref>Rybatzki, Volker. 2003. "Intra-Mongolic taxonomy." In Janhunen, Juha (ed). ''The Mongolic Languages'', 364–390. Routledge Language Family Series 5. London: Routledge.</ref> recognizes the following 6 areal subgroups of Mongolic.
* Northeastern Mongolic (NE) = [[Dagur language|Dagur]]
* Northern Mongolic (N) = [[Khamnigan Mongol]]–[[Buryat language|Buryat]]
* Central Mongolic (C) = [[Mongolian language|Mongol proper]]–[[Ordos Mongolian|Ordos]]–[[Oirat language|Oirat]]
* South-Central Mongolic (SC) = [[Eastern Yugur language|Shira Yughur]]
* Southeastern Mongolic (SE) = [[Monguor language|Mongghul]]–[[Monguor language|Mangghuer]]–[[Bonan language|Bonan]]–[[Santa language|Santa]] – [[Kangjia language|Kangjia]]
* Southwestern Mongolic (SW) = [[Moghol language|Moghol]]

Additionally, the [[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] refers to Central Mongolic as "Eastern Mongolic" and classifies the group as follows, using data from Rybatzki (2003) as the basis:<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/oira1260 |title=Glottolog 4.8 - Eastern Mongolic |date=2023-07-10 |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last1=Hammarström |first1=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117134205/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/oira1260 |archive-date=2024-01-17 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |author-link=Harald Hammarström |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |publication-place=[[Leipzig]] |doi=10.5281/zenodo.7398962 |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |author-link3=Martin Haspelmath |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian |doi-access=free}}</ref>

{{Tree list}}
* Eastern Mongolic
** Khalkha–Buriat
*** [[Buryat language|Buriat]]
**** China Buriat
**** Mongolia Buriat
**** Russia Buriat
*** [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]]
**** [[Khalkha Mongolian|Halh Mongolian]]
**** [[Oirat language|Oirad–Kalmyk–Darkhat]]
**** [[Mongolian language in Inner Mongolia|Peripheral Mongolian]]
** [[Khamnigan Mongol|Khamnigan]]
{{Tree list/end}}

=== Mixed languages ===
The following are [[mixed languages|mixed]] [[Varieties of Chinese|Sinitic]]–Mongolic languages.
* [[Tangwang language|Tangwang]] (mixed [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]]–[[Santa language|Santa]])
* [[Wutun language|Wutun]] (mixed [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]]–[[Bonan language|Bonan]])