Tungusic | |
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Geographic distribution | Siberia, Manchuria |
Ethnicity | Tungusic peoples |
Linguistic classification | One of the world's primary language families |
Subdivisions | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-5 | tuw |
Glottolog | tung1282 |
Geographic distribution of the Tungusic languages |
The Tungusic languages /tʊŋˈɡʊsɪk/ (also known as Manchu–Tungus and Tungus) form a language family spoken in Eastern Siberia and Manchuria by Tungusic peoples. Many Tungusic languages are endangered. There are approximately 75,000 native speakers of the dozen living languages of the Tungusic language family. The term "Tungusic" is from an exonym for the Evenk people (Ewenki) used by the Yakuts ("tongus").