Editing Hunnic language (section)

{{Short description|Extinct unclassified language of the Huns}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Hunnic
| region           = From [[Eurasian steppe]] into [[Europe]]
| extinct          = after 469
| familycolor      = Unclassified
| family           = [[Unclassified languages|unclassified]]
| iso3             = xhc
| linglist         = xhc
| glotto           = none
| ethnicity        = [[Huns]]
| map              = Huns450.png
| mapcaption       = The extent of the Huns, and a rough map of the extent of the Hunnic language
| states           = [[Huns#Unified Empire under Attila|Hunnic Empire]]
}}

The '''Hunnic language''', or '''Hunnish''', was the language spoken by [[Huns]] in the [[Huns#Unified Empire under Attila|Hunnic Empire]], a heterogeneous, multi-ethnic tribal confederation which invaded Eastern and Central Europe, and ruled most of [[Pannonian Basin|Pannonian]] Central Europe, during the 4th and 5th centuries CE. A variety of languages were spoken within the Hun Empire.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=377}} A contemporary report by [[Priscus]] has that Hunnish was spoken alongside [[Gothic language|Gothic]] and the languages of other tribes subjugated by the Huns.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=382}}

As no inscriptions or whole sentences in the Hunnic language have been preserved, the attested corpus is very limited, consisting almost entirely of [[proper name]]s in Greek and Latin sources.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=376}}

There is no consensus on the classification of the Hunnish language,{{sfn|Ball|2021|p=170}} but due to the origin of these proper names it has been compared with [[Turkic languages|Turkic]],{{sfn|Pronk-Tiethoff|2013|p=58}}{{sfn|Kim|2013|p=30}} [[Mongolic languages|Mongolic]], [[Iranian languages|Iranian]],{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=390–391}} and [[Yeniseian languages]],<ref>Vajda, Edward J. (2013). Yeniseian Peoples and Languages: A History of Yeniseian Studies with an Annotated Bibliography and a Source Guide. Oxford/New York: Routledge.</ref> and with various [[Indo-European languages]].{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|pp=424–426}} Other scholars consider the available evidence inconclusive and the Hunnish language therefore unclassifiable.{{sfnm|1a1=Doerfer|1y=1973|1p=50|2a1=Golden|2y=1992|2pp=88-89|3a1=Sinor|3y=1997|3p=336|4a1=Róna-Tas|4y=1999|4p=208}}