sino tibetan
/ˌsaɪnoʊ tɪˈbɛtən/
noun
- A large language family that includes Chinese, Tibetan, Burmese, and many other languages spoken in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.
- Mandarin and Cantonese both belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family.
- Linguists study Sino-Tibetan to understand how ancient languages spread across Asia.
- The Sino-Tibetan family has more speakers than any other language family except Indo-European.
adjective
- Relating to the language family that includes Chinese, Tibetan, Burmese, and related languages.
- The Sino-Tibetan languages share some common grammatical features.
- Many Sino-Tibetan languages use tones to distinguish word meanings.
- She is writing a paper on Sino-Tibetan historical linguistics.