Extended data
The languages spoken by 56 ethnic groups in China belong to five major language families: Sino-Tibetan, Altai, Austronesian, South Asian and Indo-European.
Sino-Tibetan family of languages
Including Chinese, Tibetan-Burmese, Zhuang-Dong and Miao-Yao languages. Chinese is equivalent to the position of a language family in the classification of language families. According to 1990 China census, the number of Chinese speakers exceeded11090,000. About 22 million people in China speak Tibeto-Burman.
Distributed in Xizang Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Including Tibetans, Menba, Barrow, Bo, Jiarong, Qiang, Pumi, Dulong, Tujia, Yi, Lisu, Naxi, hani language, Lahu, Bai, Jino, Nu, Jingpo and Achang. More than 23 million people in China speak Zhuang and Dong languages. Distributed in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangdong, Hainan and other provinces.
Including Zhuang, Buyi, Dai, Dong, Shui, Mulao, Maonan, Raja, Li and gelao language. About 9.4 million people in China speak Miao Yao. Distributed in Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Including Miao language, Bunu language, (Yao) Burmese language and She language.
Altaic language family
Including Mongolian, Turkic and Tungusic-Manchu. About 5.5 million people in China speak Mongolian. Distributed in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Qinghai, Gansu and other provinces. Mongolian includes Mongolian, Daur, Dongxiang, Yugur, Tu and Baoan. More than 8.4 million people in China speak Turkic, which is distributed in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Gansu and Heilongjiang provinces.
Turkic languages in China include Uyghur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Uzbek, Tatar, Salar, Western Yugur and Tuva. Tungusic-Manchu is spoken by about 200,000 people in China. Distributed in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Heilongjiang Province. Tungusic-Manchu language family includes Manchu, Xibe, Hezhe, Ewenki and Oroqen. Chinese is widely used in Manchu.
austronesian family
Also known as the Malay Polynesian language family. Alpine language in Taiwan Province province of China belongs to the Indonesian language family of this language family. Gaoshan people use Paiwan language, Ames language, Bunun language, Rukai language, Penan language, Shao language, Saidek language, Zou language, Sha 'arous Zou language, Kanafu language and other languages. Mainly divided into three language families: Paiwan language family, Zou language family and Atayal language family.
South Asian language family
(Mon-Khmer family) has a population of about 440,000, which is distributed in the southern border area of Yunnan Province. This language family includes Wa, De 'ang and Brown in China.
Indo-European languages
Only Russian belongs to Slavic language family and Tajik belongs to Indo-Iranian language family. Russian 13000 people, Tajik 33000 people, a total of about 46000 people. Language Research In the study of minority languages, some ethnic minorities in China had their own linguists in ancient times. They have made great achievements by studying their own language and writing books.
In the 7th century AD, Tumi Sampza, a Tibetan scholar, made reference to Sanskrit and created Tibetan according to its phonetic structure. He also wrote some grammar works, such as Thirty Odes and Sex into the Law. /kloc-In the middle of the 9th century, Sidu Chaji Jiuzan published Tibetan Grammar. At the latest in the 8th century, Uighurs created the Uighur language with reference to the Sogdian language. A Uighur scholar, Mahmoud Kashigar, investigated the Turkic languages of the Western Regions and Central Asia in 1 1 century and compiled a Dictionary of Turkic Languages. /kloc-Mongolian Enlightenment written by Mongolian scholar Ye Si Jiwo Jier in the early 4th century laid the foundation of Mongolian orthography. Modern linguists in China began to investigate and study minority languages in 1930s.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia -56 Nationalities