altaic language
noun phrase
Meaning
A proposed language family consisting of several groups of languages spoken across Central and Northern Asia, including Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic branches.
Examples
- The classification of Turkish as an Altaic language remains a subject of intense academic scrutiny.
- Many scholars now view the Altaic language hypothesis as a collection of linguistic areas rather than a single genetic family.
Synonyms: language family, linguistic group, language phylum, macro-family