Ajaymodi01 at 13:03, 14 April 2026

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{{short description|Proposed language family}}
{{hatnote|This article is about the proposed language family. For the languages of the East Asian geographical region, see [[languages of East Asia]].}}
{{Infobox language family
| name = East Asian
| acceptance = proposed, under study
| region = [[East Asia]], [[South Asia]], [[Southeast Asia]], [[Oceania]], [[Madagascar]], [[Siberia]]
| familycolor = superfamily
| family = Proposed language family
| child1 = [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]]
| child2 = [[Hmong–Mien languages|Hmong–Mien]]
| child3 = [[Kra–Dai languages|Kra–Dai]]
| child4 = [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]]
| child5 = [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]]
| child6 = [[Koreanic languages|Koreanic]] (sometimes included)
| child7 = [[Japonic languages|Japonic]] (sometimes included)
| glotto = none
| glottoname =
| glottorefname =
| notes =
| map =
| mapcaption =
| child8 = [[Mongolic languages|Mongolic]] (sometimes included)
| child9 = [[Tungusic Languages|Tungusic]] (sometimes included)
| child10 = [[Ainu languages|Ainu]] (sometimes included)
| child11 = [[Paleo-Siberian languages|Paleo-Siberian]]
| child12 = [[Eskaleut languages|Eskaleut]]
| child13 = [[Uralic Languages|Uralic]] (rarely included)
| child14 = [[Turkic Languages|Turkic]] (rarely included)
}}
The '''East Asian languages''' are a [[language family]] (alternatively ''[[macrofamily]]'' or ''superphylum'') proposed by [[Stanley Starosta]] in 2001. The proposal has since been adopted by [[George van Driem]] and others.

==Classifications==
===Early proposals===
Early proposals of similar linguistic macrophylla, in narrower scope:<ref name=GvD2013 />

*''Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Kra–Dai, Tibeto-Burman'': [[August Conrady]] (1916, 1922)<ref>Conrady, August. 1916. Eine merkw rdige Beziehung zwischen den austrischen und den indochinesischen Sprachen. ''Aufsätze zur Kultur- und Sprachgeschichte vornehmlich des Orients: Ernst Kuhn zum 70. Geburtstage am 7. Februar 1916 gewidmet von Freunden und Schülern'', 475-504. München: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.</ref><ref>Conrady, August. 1922. ''Neue austrisch-indochinesische Parallelen''. Asia Major: Hirth Anniversary Volume, 23-66. London: Robsthan and Company.</ref> and Kurt Wulff (1934, 1942)<ref>Wulff, Kurt. 1934. ''Chinesisch und Tai: Sprachvergleichende Untersuchungen''. Copenhagen: Levin & Munksgaard.</ref><ref>Wulff, Kurt. 1942 [posthumous]. ''Über das Verhältnis des Malay-Polynesischen zum Indochinesischen''. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.</ref>
*''Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Kra–Dai, Hmong–Mien'': [[Paul K. Benedict]] (1942),<ref>Benedict, Paul King. 1942. Thai, Kadai and Indonesia: A new alignment in southeastern Asia. ''American Anthropologist'' 44:576-601.</ref> [[Robert Blust]] (1996),<ref>Blust, Robert. 1996. Beyond the Austronesian homeland: The Austric hypothesis and its implications for archaeology. ''Prehistoric Settlement of the Pacific'', ed. by Ward H. Goodenough, 117-160. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.</ref> [[Ilia Peiros]] (1998)<ref>Peiros, Ilia. 1998. ''Comparative Linguistics in Southeast Asia''. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.</ref>
*''Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Kra–Dai, Tibeto-Burman, Hmong–Mien'': Stanley Starosta (2001)

Precursors to the East Asian proposal:
*''[[Austro-Tai languages|Austro-Tai]]'' (Kra–Dai and Austronesian): [[Gustave Schlegel]] (1901, 1902),<ref>Schlegel, Gustave. 1901. Review: ‘Elements of Siamese Grammar by O. Frankfurter, Ph.D., Bangkok: Printed at the American Presbyterian Mission Press, Leipzig, Karl W. Hiersemann, 1900’. ''T'oung Pao'' (Série II), II:76-87.</ref><ref>Schlegel, Gustave. 1902. Siamese Studies. ''T'oung Pao'', New Series II, Volume II, Supplement. Leiden.</ref> Weera Ostapirat (2005)<ref>Ostapirat, Weera. 2005. Kra-Dai and Austronesian: Notes on phonological correspondences and vocabulary distribution. ''The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics'', ed. by Laurent Sagart, Roger Blench and Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, 107-131. London: Routledge Curzon.</ref><ref>Ostapirat, Weera. 2013. ''Austro-Tai revisited''. 23rd Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistic Society, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 29 May 2013.</ref>
*''[[Austric languages|Austric]]'' (Austroasiatic and Austronesian): [[Wilhelm Schmidt (linguist)|Wilhelm Schmidt]] (1906),<ref>Schmidt, Wilhelm. 1906. Die Mon-Khmer Völker, ein Bindeglied zwischen Völkern Zentral-Asiens und Austronesiens. ''Archiv für Anthropologie Neue Folge'' V:59-109.</ref> [[Lawrence Reid]] (1994, 2005)<ref>Reid, Lawrence A. 1994. Morphological evidence for Austric. ''Oceanic Linguistics'' 33.2:323-344.</ref><ref>Reid, Lawrence A. 2005. The current status of Austric: a review and evaluation of the lexical and morphosyntactic evidence. ''The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics'', ed. by Laurent Sagart, Roger Blench and Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, 132-160. London: Routledge Curzon, London.</ref>

===Starosta (2005)===
[[File:Peiligang_map.svg|thumb|right|Location of the Peiligang culture]]
[[Stanley Starosta]]'s (2005)<ref>Since Starosta died on July 18, 2002, his paper, originally written in 2001, was published posthumously.</ref> East Asian proposal includes a "Yangzian" branch, consisting of [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]] and [[Hmong–Mien languages|Hmong–Mien]], to form an '''East Asian''' superphylum. However, Starosta believes his proposed Yangzian to be a direct [[sister group|sister]] of Sino-Tibetan rather than Austronesian, which is more distantly related to Sino-Tibetan as a sister of Sino-Tibetan-Yangzian. He concludes Proto-East Asian was a [[disyllabic]] (CVCVC) language spoken from 6,500 to 6,000 BCE by [[Peiligang culture]] and [[Cishan culture]] [[millet]] farmers on the [[North China Plain]] (specifically the [[Hanshui|Han River]], [[Wei River]], and central [[Yellow River]] areas).<ref name="Origin">{{cite book | given = Stanley | surname = Starosta | chapter = Proto-East Asian and the origin and dispersal of languages of east and southeast Asia and the Pacific | pages = [https://archive.org/details/peoplingeastasia00blen/page/n210 182]–197 | title = The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics | url = https://archive.org/details/peoplingeastasia00blen | url-access = limited | editor-given1 = Laurent | editor-surname1 = Sagart | editor-given2 = Roger | editor-surname2 = Blench | editor-given3 = Alicia | editor-surname3 = Sanchez-Mazas | location = London | publisher = Routledge Curzon | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-0-415-32242-3 }}</ref>

{{tree list}}
*'''East Asian'''
**'''[[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]]'''
***(various [[Formosan languages|Formosan]] branches)
***Extra-Formosan
****'''[[Tai–Kadai languages|Tai–Kadai]]'''
****'''[[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian]]'''
**Sino-Tibetan-Yangzian
***'''[[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]]'''
***Yangzian
****'''[[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]]'''
****'''[[Hmong–Mien languages|Hmong–Mien]]'''
{{tree list/end}}

Starosta (2005) proposes the following Proto-East Asian morphological affixes, which are found in [[Proto-Tibeto-Burman]] and [[Proto-Austronesian]], as well as in some morphologically conservative Austroasiatic branches such as [[Nicobaric languages|Nicobaric]].<ref>{{cite journal | given = Lawrence A. | surname = Reid | url = https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/32987/1/A39.1994.pdf | title = Morphological evidence for Austric | journal = Oceanic Linguistics | year = 1994 | volume = 33 | issue = 2 | pages = 323–344 | jstor = i285831 | doi = 10.2307/3623132 | hdl = 10125/32987 | access-date = 2020-08-10 | archive-date = 2017-08-15 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170815182316/http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/32987/1/A39.1994.pdf | url-status = live | hdl-access = free }}</ref>
* *m(V)- 'agent of V-ing'
* *-Vn 'patient of V-ing'
* *sV- 'instrument of V-ing'
* *n(V)- 'perfective'

===van Driem (2012)===
{{see also|Father tongue hypothesis}}
The following tree of East Asian superphylum (macrofamily) was proposed by [[George van Driem]] in 2012 at the 18th Himalayan Languages Symposium, held at the [[Benares Hindu University]].<ref name=GvD2013>van Driem, George. 2013. "{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190429103442/http://www.himalayanlanguages.org/files/driem/pdfs/2013f.pdf East Asian ethnolinguistic phylogeography]}}", ''Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics'', 7 (1): 135-188.</ref><ref>van Driem, George. 2016. "{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20181009043105/http://www.himalayanlanguages.org/files/driem/pdfs/2016g.pdf The Eastern Himalayan corridor in prehistory]}}", pp. 467-524, Vol. II in Elena Nikolaevna Kolpačkova, ed., Проблемы китайского и общего языкознания — ''Problems in Chinese and General Linguistics''. St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo Studija « NP-Print ».</ref>

{{tree list}}
*'''East Asian'''
**'''[[Austro-Tai languages|Austro-Tai]]'''
***'''[[Kra–Dai languages|Kradai]]'''
***'''[[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]]'''
**'''[[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]]'''
**Himalayan-Yangtzean
***'''[[Trans-Himalayan languages|Trans-Himalayan]]'''
****[[Sino-Bodic languages|Sino-Bodic]]
****[[Burmo-Qiangic languages|Burmo-Qiangic]]
****[[Sal languages|Brahmaputran]]
****[[Gongduk language|Gongduk]], etc.
****[[Kiranti languages|Kiranti]], etc.
***Yangtzean
****'''[[Hmong–Mien languages|Hmong–Mien]]'''
{{tree list/end}}

[[File:Geographic distributions of Y chromosome haplogroups O in East Asia.png|thumb|Modern distribution of basal O-M175, which expanded from southern China and Mainland Southeast Asia.]]
According to van Driem, the linguistic evidence for the East Asian languages matches the genetic evidence from Y-DNA [[Haplogroup O (Y-DNA)#Languages families and genes|Haplogroup O]].<ref>van Driem, George. 2018. "{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20210110235952/https://himalayanlanguages.org/files/driem/pdfs/2018i.pdf The East Asian linguistic phylum: A reconstruction based on language and genes]}}", ''Journal of the Asiatic Society'', LX (4): 1-38.</ref> (Further information: [[Father tongue hypothesis]])

=== Larish (2006, 2017) ===
According to Michael D. Larish, the languages of Southeast and East Asia descended from one proto-language (which he calls "Proto-Asian"). [[Japonic languages|Japonic]] is grouped together with [[Koreanic languages|Koreanic]] as one branch of the Proto-Asian family. The other branch consists of the [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]], [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]], [[Kra–Dai]], [[Hmong–Mien]] and [[Sino-Tibetan languages]].<ref>{{Cite conference|last=Larish|first=Michael D.|date=January 2006|title=Possible Proto-Asian Archaic Residue and the Statigraphy of Diffusional Cumulation in Austro-Asian Languages|url=https://sil-philippines-languages.org/ical/papers/larish-proto_asian.pdf|conference=Tenth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics|access-date=2019-01-07|archive-date=2019-01-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108045904/https://sil-philippines-languages.org/ical/papers/larish-proto_asian.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Larish, Michael. 2017. ''Proto-Asian and its branches: An archeolinguistic approach for the history of Eastern Asia''. Linguistic Society of the Philippines.</ref>

{{tree list}}
*'''East Asian'''
**'''Japano-Koreanic'''
***'''[[Japonic languages|Japonic]]'''
***'''[[Koreanic languages|Koreanic]]'''
**'''Austro-Asian'''
***'''[[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]]'''
***'''[[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]]'''
***'''[[Kra–Dai languages|Kra–Dai]]'''
***'''[[Hmong–Mien languages|Hmong–Mien]]'''
***'''[[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]]'''
{{tree list/end}}

==Vocabulary comparison==
Below is a comparison of basic vocabulary items for proto-languages of all 5 East Asian language families.

;Sources
* [[Proto-Tibeto-Burman]]: Matisoff (2015)<ref>Matisoff, James A. 2015. [http://stedt.berkeley.edu/~stedt-cgi/rootcanal.pl/chapters ''The Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023221846/https://stedt.berkeley.edu/~stedt-cgi/rootcanal.pl/chapters |date=2020-10-23 }}. Berkeley: University of California. ([https://stedt.berkeley.edu/dissemination/STEDT.pdf PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202053131/https://stedt.berkeley.edu/dissemination/STEDT.pdf |date=2020-02-02 }})</ref>
* [[Proto-Hmong–Mien]]: Ratliff (2010)<ref>Ratliff, Martha. 2010. ''Hmong–Mien language history''. Canberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics. {{ISBN|0-85883-615-7}}.</ref>
* [[Proto-Austroasiatic]]: Sidwell (2024);<ref name="Sidwell 500">{{cite journal |last1=Sidwell |first1=Paul |date=2024 |title=500 Proto Austroasiatic Etyma: Version 1.0 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/10524/52519 |journal=Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=i-xxxiii |issn=1836-6821 |access-date=2024-06-15 |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |location=Honolulu}}</ref> Sidwell & Rau (2015)<ref name="SidwellRau2015">Sidwell, Paul and Felix Rau (2015). "Austroasiatic Comparative-Historical Reconstruction: An Overview." In Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). ''The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages''. Leiden: Brill.</ref>
* [[Proto-Austronesian]]: Blust & Trussel (2020)<ref name="ACD">{{cite web |title=Austronesian Comparative Dictionary, web edition |first1=Robert |last1=Blust |first2=Stephen |last2=Trussel |url=https://www.trussel2.com/acd/acd-pl_pan.htm |date=June 21, 2020 |access-date=November 10, 2020 |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806165028/https://www.trussel2.com/ACD/acd-pl_pan.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Proto-Tai]]: Pittayaporn (2009)<ref>Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2009. ''The Phonology of Proto-Tai''. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Linguistics, Cornell University.</ref>
* [[Proto-Hlai]]: Norquest (2007)<ref>Norquest, Peter K. 2007. [http://gradworks.umi.com/32/84/3284367.html ''A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210532/http://gradworks.umi.com/32/84/3284367.html |date=2016-03-03 }}. Ph.D. dissertation. Tucson: Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.</ref>
* [[Proto-Kra]]: Ostapirat (2000)<ref>Ostapirat, Weera. 2000. "[http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/weera2000proto.pdf Proto-Kra] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112022126/http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/weera2000proto.pdf |date=2020-11-12 }}." ''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area'' '''23''' (1): 1-251.</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!
! Sino-Tibetan
! Hmong–Mien
! Austroasiatic
! Austronesian
! colspan = "3" | Kra–Dai
|-
! gloss
! [[Proto-Tibeto-Burman]]
! [[Proto-Hmong–Mien]]
! [[Proto-Austroasiatic]]
! [[Proto-Austronesian]]
! [[Proto-Tai]]
! [[Proto-Hlai]]
! [[Proto-Kra]]
|-
| hair
| *(t)sam
| *pljei
| *sukˀ, *sɔkˀ
| *bukeS
| *prɤmA
| *hnom
| *m-səmA
|-
| eye
| *s-myak
| *mu̯ɛjH
| *matˀ
| *maCa
| *p.taːA
| *tʃʰaː
| *m-ʈaA
|-
| ear
| *r/g-na
| *mbræu
| *Ctoːr
| *Caliŋa
| *krwɯːA
| *ljəy
| *k-raA
|-
| nose
| *s-na ~ *s-naːr
| *mbruiH
| *muːh, *muːɕ
| *ujuŋ
| *ɗaŋA
| *kʰət
| *hŋətD
|-
| tooth
| *s/p-wa
| *hmjinʔ
| *muɲ, *məɲ
| *lipen, *n/ŋipen
| *wanA
| *fjən
| *l-pənA
|-
| tongue
| *m/s-lay ~ *s-ley
| *mblet
| *lntaːkˀ
| *Sema, *lidam
| *liːnC
| *hliːnʔ
| *l-maA
|-
| hand
| *lak ~ *C-yak
| *-bɔuʔ
| *tiːˀ
| *kamay
| *mwɯːA
| *C-mɯː
| *mjaA
|-
| bone
| *s/m/g-rus
| *tshuŋʔ
| *cʔaːŋ
| *CuqelaN
| *C̥.dukD
| *Cuɾɯːk
| *dəkD
|-
| blood
| *s-hywəy-t
| *ntshjamʔ
| *(m)ɕaːm
| *daRaq
| *lɯətD
| *alaːc
| *platD
|-
| liver
| *m-sin
| *-hri̯ən
| *kləːm;<ref name="SidwellRau2015"/> *gre(ː)ɕ
| *qaCay
| *tapD
| *ɗəy
| *təpD
|-
| meat, flesh
| *sya-n
| ''P-Mienic'' *ʔaB
| *sacˀ
| *Sesi
| *n.mɤːC
| *rəmʔ
| *ʔaɯC
|-
| dog
| *d-kʷəy-n
| ''P-Hmongic'' *hmaŋC
| *cɔʔ
| *asu
| *ʰmaːA
| *hmaː
| *x-maA
|-
| bird
| *s-ŋak
| *m-nɔk
| *ciːm
| *manuk
| *C̬.nokD
| *səc
| *ɳokD
|-
| fish
| *s-ŋya
| *mbrəuʔ
| *kaʔ
| *Sikan
| *plaːA
| *hlaː
| *p-laA
|-
| louse
| *s-r(y)ik
| *ntshjeiʔ
| *ciʔ
| *kuCux
| *trawA
| *tʃʰwəw
| *C-ʈuA
|-
| leaf
| *lay
| ''P-Hmongic'' *mblɔŋA, ''P-Mienic'' *nɔmA
| *slaʔ
| *waSaw
| *ɓaɰA
| *ɓɯː
| *ɖiŋA
|-
| sun, day
| *s-nəy
| ''P-Mienic'' *hnu̯ɔiA
| *tŋiːˀ
| *waRi, *qajaw
| *ŋwanA
| *hŋwən
| *(l-/h)wənA
|-
| moon
| *s/g-la
| *hlaH
| *khe(ː)ʔ
| *bulaN, *qiNaS
| *ɓlɯənA
| *C-ɲaːn
| *(C-)tjanA
|-
| water
| *m-t(w)əy-n ~ *m-ti-s
| *ʔu̯əm
| *ɗaːkˀ; [[Proto-Palaungic language|Pal]]. *ʔoːm
| *daNum
| *C̬.namC
| *C-nəmʔ
| *ʔuŋC
|-
| rain
| *r/s/g-wa
| ''P-Hmongic'' *m-noŋC
| *gmaːˀ
| *quzaN
| *C̥.wɯnA
| *fun
| *jəlA
|-
| fire
| *mey
| *douʔ
| *ʔuːɕ
| *Sapuy
| *wɤjA
| *fiː
| *puiA
|-
| name
| *r-mi(ŋ/n)
| *mpɔuH
| *ɟmuh, *ɟmɨh
| *ŋajan
| *ɟɤːB
| *pʰaːŋ
| *n(ʒ)iA
|-
| eat
| *m-dz(y)a-k/n/t/s
| ''P-Mienic'' *ɲənC
| *ca(ː)ʔ
| *kaen
| *kɯɲA
| *kʰən
| *kanA
|-
| die
| *səy
| *dəjH
| *kceːt<ref name="SidwellRau2015"/>
| *ma-aCay
| *p.taːjA
| *hlaːwɦ
| *pɣonA
|-
| I
| *ŋa-y ~ *ka
| ''P-Hmongic'' *kɛŋB
| *ʔaɲ
| -ku
| *kuːA
| *ɦuː
| *kuA
|-
| you (sg.)
| *na-ŋ
| *mu̯ei
| *miːˀ, *meːˀ
| -mu
| *mɯŋA
| *C-mɯː
| *məA/B
|}

==Distributions==
{{gallery
|width=225
|File:Lenguas sino-tibetanas.png|Distribution of [[Sino-Tibetan languages]]
|File:Taikadai-en.svg|Distribution of [[Kra–Dai languages]]
|File:Austroasiatic-en.svg|Distribution of [[Austroasiatic languages]]
|File:Hmong-Mien-en.svg|Distribution of [[Hmong–Mien languages]]
|File:Chronological dispersal of Austronesian people across the Pacific (per Benton et al, 2012, adapted from Bellwood, 2011).png|Dispersal of [[Austronesian languages]]
|File:Japanese_dialects-en.png|Distribution of [[Japonic languages]]
|File:Koreanic.svg|Distribution of [[Koreanic languages]]
}}

==See also==
*[[Father tongue hypothesis]]
*[[Classification of Southeast Asian languages]]
**[[Sino-Austronesian languages]]
**[[Austric languages]]
**[[Austro-Tai languages]]
*[[Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area]]
*[[Haplogroup O (Y-DNA)#Languages families and genes|Haplogroup O (Y-DNA)]]
*[[Languages of East Asia]]
*[[Languages of Southeast Asia]]
*[[Languages of China]]

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120206095029/http://www.himalayanlanguages.org/team/george_van_driem/publications Papers on the East Asian languages by George van Driem]}}

{{Sino-Tibetan branches}}
{{Hmong-Mien languages}}
{{Tai-Kadai languages}}
{{Austronesian languages}}
{{Austroasiatic languages}}
{{Language families}}
{{Eurasian languages}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Proposed language families]]

East Asian languages - Revision history

Ajaymodi01 at 13:03, 14 April 2026