page_title: Altaic languages
hierarchical_section_title: Altaic languages
caption_attribution_description: English: The branches of the Altaic language familyː &#160; Turkic languages &#160; Mongolic languages &#160; Tungusic languages &#160; Japonic languages&#160;? &#160; Koreanic languages&#160;? &#160; Ainu languages&#160;? Español: Las grandes ramas de la familia de lenguas altaicasː &#160; Lenguas túrquicas &#160; Lenguas mongólicas &#160; Lenguas tunguses &#160; Lenguas japónicas ¿? &#160; Lenguas coreánicas ¿? &#160; Lenguas ainu ¿? Italiano: I rami delle lingue altaicheː &#160; Lingue turche &#160; Lingue mongoliche &#160; Lingue tunguse &#160; Lingue nipponiche&#160;? &#160; Lingue coreane&#160;? &#160; Lingua ainu&#160;? 한국어: 알타이 제어의 갈래ː &#160; 튀르크어족 &#160; 몽골어족 &#160; 퉁구스어족 &#160; 일본어족&#160;? &#160; 한국어족&#160;? &#160; 아이누어&#160;? Русский: Ветви алтайской языковой семьиː &#160; Тюркские языки &#160; Монгольские языки &#160; Тунгусо-маньчжурские языки &#160; Японо-рюкюские языки&#160;? &#160; Корейский язык&#160;? &#160; Айнский язык&#160;?
context_page_description: Altaic is a Sprachbund and proposed language family that would include the Turkic, Mongolian and Tungusic language families and possibly also the Japonic and Koreanic languages. Speakers of these languages are currently scattered over most of Asia north of 35 °N and in some eastern parts of Europe, extending in longitude from Turkey to Japan. The group is named after the Altai mountain range in the center of Asia.
  This theory has long been rejected by most comparative linguists, but still has some supporters.
  The Altaic family was first proposed in the 18th century. It was widely accepted until the 1960s and is still listed in many encyclopedias and handbooks. Since the 1950s, many comparative linguists have rejected the proposal, after supposed cognates were found not to be valid, hypothesized sound shifts were not found and Turkic and Mongolic languages were found to be converging rather than diverging over the centuries. Opponents of the theory proposed that the similarities are due to mutual linguistic influences between the groups concerned.
  The original hypothesis unified only the Turkic, Mongolian and Tungusic groups.
context_section_description: Altaic (/ælˈteɪ.ɪk/) is a Sprachbund (i.e. a linguistic area) and proposed language family  that would include the Turkic, Mongolian and Tungusic language families and possibly also the Japonic and Koreanic languages. Speakers of these languages are currently scattered over most of Asia north of 35 °N and in some eastern parts of Europe, extending in longitude from Turkey to Japan. The group is named after the Altai mountain range in the center of Asia. 
  This theory has long been rejected by most comparative linguists, but still has some supporters.
  The Altaic family was first proposed in the 18th century. It was widely accepted until the 1960s and is still listed in many encyclopedias and handbooks. Since the 1950s, many comparative linguists have rejected the proposal, after supposed cognates were found not to be valid, hypothesized sound shifts were not found and Turkic and Mongolic languages were found to be converging rather than diverging over the centuries. Opponents of the theory proposed that the similarities are due to mutual linguistic influences between the groups concerned.
  The original hypothesis unified only the Turkic, Mongolian and Tungusic groups. Later proposals to include the Korean and Japanese languages into a "Macro-Altaic" family have always been controversial. (The original proposal was sometimes called "Micro-Altaic" by retronymy.) Most proponents of Altaic continue to support the inclusion of Korean. A common ancestral Proto-Altaic language for the "Macro" family has been tentatively reconstructed by Sergei Starostin and others.
  Micro-Altaic includes about 66 living languages, to which Macro-Altaic would add Korean, Jeju, Japanese and the Ryukyuan languages, for a total of 74 (depending on what is considered a language and what is considered a dialect). These numbers do not include earlier states of languages, such as Middle Mongol, Old Korean or Old Japanese.
caption:   Turkic languages
    Mongolic languages
    Tungusic languages 
    Koreanic languages (sometimes included)
    Japonic languages (sometimes included)
    Ainu language (rarely included)
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