Xibe Language - Classification

Classification

Xibe is conventionally viewed as a separate language within the southern group of Tungusic languages, alongside the more well-known Manchu language, with more than 200 years of separate development from the Tungusic-speaking heartland since the Xibe people's exile to Xinjiang in 1764. Some researchers such as Jerry Norman hold that Xibe is a dialect of Manchu, while other Xibologists, such as An Jun, argue that Xibe should be considered the "successor" of Manchu. Ethnohistorically, the Xibe people are not considered Manchu people, since they were excluded from chieftain Nurhaci's 17th century tribal confederation to which the name "Manchu" was later applied.