Langenesis

Sino-Tibetan family

Classical Chinese

c. 500 BCE – 1920 CE Classical

Classical Chinese (c. 500 BCE – 1920 CE) is a classical Sino-Tibetan language. Lineage: Proto-Sino-Tibetan → Proto-Sinitic → Old Chinese → Classical Chinese.

See Classical Chinese on the interactive map
ISO 639-3
lzh

Written language of the Warring States and Han classics, used as the literary standard (Literary Chinese) across China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam until the early 20th c. May Fourth vernacular movement.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Sino-Tibetanc. 4,000 BCE – 2,500 BCE
  2. Proto-Siniticc. 1,500 BCE – 1,250 BCE
  3. Old Chinese1,250 BCE – 25 CE
  4. Classical Chinesec. 500 BCE – 1920 CE

Sister languages 2

Also descended from Old Chinese.

Sources