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There have been various classification schemes for Southeast Asian languages (see the articles for the respective language families). Language families include:
Contents
A number of language groups in Arunachal Pradesh traditionally considered to be Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) may in fact constitute independent language families or isolates (Roger Blench 2011). (See Language isolates and independent language families in Arunachal)
Macrofamilies
Austro-Tai links the Austronesian and Tai-Kadai languages. Austric links the languages of Southeast Asia apart from Sino-Tibetan. Sagart proposes instead Sino-Austronesian, linking Austronesian and Sino-Tibetan; Starosta proposed a family called East Asian that covered both this and Austric. Genetic similarities between the peoples of East and Southeast Asia have led some to speculate about "Haplogroup O" languages. In a different direction, the Dené–Caucasian hypothesis links Sino-Tibetan to languages of Siberia (Dene–Yeniseian) and the Caucasus.
Proto-languages
Comparison
The following table compares the phonemic inventories of various recently reconstructed proto-languages of Southeast Asia.