Sino-Tibetan

American  

[sahy-noh-ti-bet-n, sin-oh-] / ˌsaɪ noʊ tɪˈbɛt n, ˌsɪn oʊ- /

noun

1. a family of languages including especially Burmese, Tibetan, and the various local languages and dialects whose speakers share literary Chinese as their standard language.

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Sino-Tibetan British  

/ ˈsaɪnəʊ- /

noun

1. a family of languages that includes most of the languages of China, as well as Tibetan, Burmese, and possibly Thai. Their most noticeable phonological characteristic is the phonemic use of tones

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adjective

1. belonging or relating to this family of languages

Etymology

Origin of Sino-Tibetan

First recorded in 1915–20; Sino- + Tibetan

Example Sentences

Hundreds of Tibetan exiles held a protest far from the summit venue to condemn Chinese participation in the event and urge leaders to discuss Sino-Tibetan relations.

From Seattle Times

Languages as distinct as Sino-Tibetan Chinese and Native American Washo use "baba."

From Salon

Zhang et al. compared the two competing views of where the earliest Sino-Tibetan speakers originated.

From Nature

Dozens of other languages have also been brought into question, including Latin and a language derived from the Sino-Tibetan family.

From National Geographic

At the one extreme, Mandarin and its relatives, which constitute the Chinese subfamily of the Sino-Tibetan language family, are distributed continuously from North to South China.

From Literature