Tocharian is an extinct branch of the Indo-European language family, spoken by the Tocharians of the Tarim Basin, in what is now Xinjiang in northwest China. It is known only from manuscripts dating from the fifth to eighth centuries AD, found in oasis cities on the northern edge of the basin, and comprises two attested languages, Tocharian A and Tocharian B, with a proposed third, Tocharian C, now largely discredited. Its discovery in the early twentieth century surprised linguists because it contradicted the then-prevalent idea of a simple east-west split within Indo-European, since a language this far east showed closer affinities to the western branches than to neighboring Indo-Iranian, prompting renewed study of the whole family.
Facts
RegionThe Tarim Basin, in what is now Xinjiang in northwest China 1 Speaker CountExtinct; no living native speakers. Proto-Language StatusWell established as its own extinct branch of the Indo-European family. Its eastern location alongside western-branch features surprised linguists and reshaped understanding of Indo-European internal branching. 1 Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Tocharian Languages
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
spoken by inhabitants of the Tarim Basin, the Tocharians.
History section
Tocharian probably died out after 840 when the Uyghurs, expelled from Mongolia by the Kyrgyz, moved into the Tarim Basin.
Lead section, classification clause
an extinct branch of the Indo-European language family
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