Manchu

Manchu is a Tungusic language spoken in northeastern China, which was the native language of the Manchus and one of the official languages of the Qing dynasty (1636–1912). Today, about 10 million people still speak Manchu, mainly in the Chinese provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang. Manchu is now written in the Cyrillic alphabet, which was introduced by Russian Christian missionaries in the 17th century. Manchu grammar is similar to that of other Tungusic languages, but it has been heavily influenced by Chinese. Manchu has no grammatical gender, but it does have grammatical classifiers. Manchu verbs are conjugated according to person, number, and mood, and they agree with their subjects in person and number. Manchu vocabulary is mostly of Tungusic origin, but it has also been heavily influenced by Chinese. Manchu borrowings from Chinese are often calques of Chinese words, and they often have a different meaning from the original Chinese word. The Manchu alphabet was created in the 17th century by the Manchu ruler Nurhaci. It is an alphabet of 28 letters, most of which are based on the Mongolian alphabet. The Manchu alphabet is written vertically from top to bottom and left to right. Manchu is a tonal language, with two tones: high and low. Manchu words can have one of four different tones: high level, high falling, low level, and low rising. The tones are indicated by different spellings of the same word. Manchu is a fascinating language that has been heavily influenced by Chinese. If you're interested in learning more about Manchu, there are a few resources that can help you get started.