Serbi–Mongolic languages explained

Serbi–Mongolic
Also Known As:	Xianbei–Mongolic Mongolic–Khitan
Acceptance:	tentative
Region:	Mongolia, northern China, Lake Baikal region
Familycolor:	Altaic
Family:	proposed language family
Child1:	Mongolic
Glotto:	mong1349
Glottorefname:	Mongolic - Khitan

Serbi–Mongolic is a proposed group of languages that includes the Mongolic languages as well as the Para-Mongolic languages, a proposed extinct sister branch of the Mongolic languages.^[1]

Names

Serbi (*serbi) is Shimunek's reconstruction for the historical ethnonym Xianbei (鮮卑).^[1]

In Glottolog 4.4, the languages are referred to as Mongolic–Khitan.^[2]

Languages

Below is a preliminary classification of the Serbi–Mongolic languages in Shimunek (2017:35):^[1]

• Serbi–Mongolic
  • Mongolic
    • Central Mongolic languages
      • Eastern Central Mongolic
        • Khalkha Mongolian
        • Khorchin Mongolian
        • Chakhar Mongolian
      • Oirat
        • Kalmyk
      • Ordos Mongolian
    • Southern Mongolic languages
      • Shirongolic
        • Mongour
        • Dongxiang
        • Bonan
        • Santa
        • Kangjia
      • Shira Yugur
    • Daur
      • • Moghol Serbi–Awar (= Juha Janhunen's "Para-Mongolic"^[3])
    • Awar (Avar) (Wuhuan 烏桓 or Wuwan 烏丸)
    • Old Serbi (Common Serbi)
      • Ch’i-fu/Qifu 乞伏 (northern Early Middle Chinese/NEMC *kʰɨrbuwk)
      • Tuan/Duan 段 (NEMC *dɔr̃)
      • Tabghach
      • Tuyuhun/T’u-yü-hun (Mu-jung/Murong 慕容)
      • Kitanic (Yü-wen/Yuwen 宇文)
        • Old Kitan
        • Qay 奚 (NEMC *ɣay)
        • Shirwi proper 室韋 (*širwi/*širβi < *serbi 鮮卑 'Xianbei')

Sound changes

Phonological innovations from Common Serbi–Mongolic (i.e., Proto-Serbi–Mongolic) to Proto-Mongolic and Proto-Serbi are (Shimunek 2017:415):^[1]

Proto-Mongolic innovations	Proto-Serbi innovations
p > *h	ɔ > *a / _C[dorsal]
ñ > *#n	ze > *ži
Vñ# > *Vi#	se > *ši
z > *s	VbV > *Vw(V)
wə > *ə	wə > *ɔ

See also

• Xianbei

Sources

• Book: Janhunen, Juha . 2006 . Mongolic languages . Brown . K. . The encyclopedia of language & linguistics . Amsterdam . Elsevier . 231–234 .
• Nugteren . Hans . 2011 . Mongolic Phonology and the Qinghai-Gansu Languages . Ph.D. . Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke – LOT .

Notes and References

1. Book: Shimunek, Andrew. Languages of Ancient Southern Mongolia and North China: a Historical-Comparative Study of the Serbi or Xianbei Branch of the Serbi-Mongolic Language Family, with an Analysis of Northeastern Frontier Chinese and Old Tibetan Phonology. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden. 2017. 978-3-447-10855-3. 993110372.
2. https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/mong1349 Mongolic-Khitan
3. Book: Janhunen, Juha . 2003a . The Mongolic languages . limited . Proto-Mongolic . Routledge . 9780700711338 . Janhunen . Juha.