Langenesis

Sino-Tibetan family

Jin Chinese

c. 1000 CE – today Living

Jin Chinese (c. 1000 CE – today) is a living Sino-Tibetan language. Lineage: Proto-Sino-Tibetan → Proto-Sinitic → Old Chinese → Middle Chinese → Jin Chinese.

See Jin Chinese on the interactive map
Speakers
63M (63,000,000)
ISO 639-3
cjy
Glottocode
jinc1253

Spoken mainly in Shanxi and Inner Mongolia; distinguished by retention of the Middle Chinese entering tone. Many scholars classify it as a Mandarin subgroup rather than a separate group.

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. Middle Chinese25 CE – 1000 CE
  5. Jin Chinesec. 1000 CE – today

Sister languages 6

Also descended from Middle Chinese.

Sources