"Sino-Tibetan languages"的定义和意义

What are "Sino-Tibetan languages"?

Sino-Tibetan languages are a large language family primarily spoken in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of the Himalayan region. This family is divided into two main branches: Sinitic, which includes Chinese languages such as Mandarin, Cantonese, and Wu, and Tibeto-Burman, which includes languages like Tibetan, Burmese, and numerous other languages spoken in the Himalayan region and Northeast India. Sino-Tibetan languages are characterized by tonal distinctions in many of their varieties, particularly in Sinitic languages, and exhibit complex morphological and syntactic features. The study of Sino-Tibetan languages provides insights into the cultural and historical interactions among the diverse communities that speak them, as well as the development of writing systems and linguistic diversity in the region.