Editing Hunnic language (section)

===Indo-European===
All three words described as "Hunnic" by ancient sources appear to be Indo-European.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|pp=424–426}}

A number of scholars suggest that a Germanic language, possibly [[Gothic language|Gothic]], may have coexisted with another Hunnic language as the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of the Hunnic Empire.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=254}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1997|p=142}}{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=329}} Maenchen-Helfen suggests that the words ''medos'' and ''kamos'' could possibly be of Germanic origin.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|pp=424–426}} He argues that ''Attila'', ''Bleda'', ''Laudaricus'', ''Onegesius'', ''Ragnaris'', and ''Ruga'' are Germanic,{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|pp=386–389}} while Heather also includes the names ''[[Scottas]]'' and ''[[Berichus]]''.{{sfn|Heather|2005|p=329}} Kim questions the Germanic etymologies of ''Ruga'', ''Attila'', and ''Bleda'', arguing that there are "more probable Turkic etymologies."{{sfn|Kim|2013|p=30}} Elsewhere, he argues that the Germanicization of Hunnic names may have been a conscious policy of the Hunnic elite in the Western part of the Empire.{{sfn|Kim|2015|p=111}}

Maenchen-Helfen also classified some names as having roots in [[Iranian languages|Iranian]].{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=390–391}} Christopher Atwood has argued, as one explanation for his proposed etymology of the name ''Hun'' that, "their state or confederation must be seen as the result of [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]]/[[Bactrian language|Baktrian]] [Iranian-speaking] leadership and organization".{{sfn|Atwood|2012|p=47}} Subjects of the Huns included Iranian-speaking [[Alans]] and [[Sarmatians]],{{sfn|Heather|2005|pp=146–167}} Maenchen-Helfen argues that the Iranian names were likely borrowed from the Persians and finds none prior to the 5th century; he takes this to mean that the Alans had little influence inside of Attila's empire.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=443}} Kim, however, argues for a considerable presence of Iranian-speakers among the Huns.{{sfn|Kim|2015|p=4, 8}}

The word ''strava'' has been argued to be of [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] origin and to show a presence of Slavic speakers among the Huns. Peter Heather, however, argues that this word "is certainly a very slender peg upon which to hang the claim that otherwise undocumented Slavs played a major role in Attila's empire".{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=394}} In the 19th century, some Russian scholars argued that the Huns as a whole had spoken a Slavic language.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1945|pp=223}}