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Altaic

American  
[al-tey-ik] / ælˈteɪ ɪk /
Also Altaian

noun

  1. the Turkic, Mongolian, and Tungusic language families collectively, spoken over a broad expanse of Eurasia, from southeastern Europe to the Pacific: variously considered to be a single, genetically related family, with Japanese and Korean sometimes also included, or a group of languages with shared typologies and histories, but not genetically akin.


adjective

  1. of or belonging to Altaic.

  2. of or relating to the Altai Mountains.

Altaic British  
/ ælˈteɪɪk /

noun

  1. a postulated family of languages of Asia and SE Europe, consisting of the Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic branches, and perhaps also Japanese, Korean, and Ainu See also Ural-Altaic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. denoting, belonging to, or relating to this linguistic family or its speakers

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Altaic

First recorded in 1825–35; Alta(i) + -ic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The Transeurasian languages, sometimes known as Altaic, include the languages of Siberia, Mongolia, Central Asia, and possibly Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

From Science Magazine Nov. 10, 2021

Korean is also often considered to be an isolated member of this family, and within the family Japanese and Korean may be more related to each other than to other Altaic languages.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Moreover, what is specially known to us as the deluge has been claimed as an ancient Altaic myth.

From A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era by Brinkley, F. (Frank)

He showed that these words were identical with the first six digits in the Altaic branch of the Turanian family of speech.

From Atlantis : the antediluvian world by Donnelly, Ignatius

About that time, too, Siam rose to power; and soon afterwards T'ang Taitsong imposed civilization on Tibet.—So there you have the 'Altaic' Race; Altaic, as Mr. Dooley is Anglo-Saxon.

From The Crest-Wave of Evolution A Course of Lectures in History, Given to the Graduates' Class in the Raja-Yoga College, Point Loma, in the College-Year 1918-19 by Morris, Kenneth

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