Sino-Tibetan languages - Definition and Overview

Sino-Tibetan languages form a language family of about 250 languages of East Asia, in number of speakers worldwide second only to Indo-European. Many of them are tonal.

• Chinese languages: many of which are 'monosyllabic', analytic languages
• Tibeto-Burman languages: (Refer to Tibeto-Burman languages and their subgrouping (http://stedt.berkeley.edu/html/STfamily.html#TBlg) for more details)
  • Kamarupan
  • Himalayish
  • Qiangic
  • Kachinic
  • Lolo-Burmese
  • Karenic

Some linguists believe the Tai-Kadai languages probably deserve a place within an expanded version of this family, though others favor the Austronesian family to include them.

External links

Tibeto-Burman languages and their subgrouping (http://stedt.berkeley.edu/html/STfamily.html#TBlg)