Sinitic languages

Sinitic
Geographic
distribution
China
Linguistic classification

Sino-Tibetan

  • Sinitic
Subdivisions
ISO 639-5 zhx
Glottolog sini1245  (Chinese)[1]
macr1275  (Macro-Bai)[2]

The Sinitic languages,[3] often synonymous with the group of Chinese varieties, are a family of Sino-Tibetan languages. They have frequently been postulated to constitute a primary branch,[4] but this is rejected by an increasing number of researchers. The Bai languages and possible relatives, whose classification is difficult, may also be Sinitic;[5] otherwise Sinitic is equivalent to Chinese, and the term may be used to indicate that the varieties of Chinese are distinct languages rather than dialects of a single language.[6]

References

  1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Sinitic". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Macro-Bai". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Sinitic means relating to China or the Chinese. It is derived from the Greco-Latin word Sīnai ('the Chinese'), probably from Arabic Ṣīn ('China'), from the Chinese dynastic name Qín. (OED)
  4. van Driem (2001), p. 351.
  5. van Driem (2001:403) states "Bái ... may form a constituent of Sinitic, albeit one heavily influenced by Lolo–Burmese."
  6. See, for example, Enfield (2003:69) and Hannas (1997)

Works cited

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