Manchu is not dead

Listen for yourself:

Posted by Wikitongues, who also provided this explanation:

Manchu is a Tungusic language from Manchuria in Northeast China. Spoken in the Qing Dynasty, it is critically endangered, and its linguistic traditions continue with the Sibe people in the Northwest.

More from Wikipedia: "Manchu (Manchu:ᠮᠠᠨᠵᡠ ᡤᡳᠰᡠᠨ, manju gisun) is a critically endangered East Asian Tungusic language native to the historical region of Manchuria in Northeast China. As the traditional native language of the Manchus, it was one of the official languages of the Qing dynasty (1636–1912) of China, although today the vast majority of Manchus now speak only Mandarin Chinese. The Xibe (or Sibe) are often considered to be the modern custodians of the written Manchu language. The Xibe live in Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County near the Ili valley in Xinjiang, having been moved there by the Qianlong Emperor in 1764. Modern written Xibe is very close to Manchu, although there are slight differences in the writing system which reflect distinctive Xibe pronunciation. More significant differences exist in morphological and syntactic structure of the spoken Xibe language." Ronglu and Shiyu (at the center and left) are both Sibe and from Qapqal. Shihuan (at the right) is Manchu and lives in a village near the Heilong (“Black Dragon”) River, referred to in Manchu as Sahaliyan Ula.

The Manchu Qing dynasty ruled over the whole of China from 1644 to 1912, a total of 268 years, making it one of the longest dynasties in East Asian history.  Three of its emperors ruled for roughly 60 years each.  It expanded Chinese territory to its greatest extent (in 1790, it was the fourth-largest empire in world history), matched only by the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) which preceded it, separated by the ethnic Han Ming dynasty (1368-1644), which was three times smaller and three times less populous than the Manchu Qing.  And yet, in 1912, the Manchu empire collapsed colossally, taking its language with it.

 

Selected readings

• "Sibe and the revival of Manchu" (10/4/21)
• "Manchu, Former Empire’s Language, Hangs On at China’s Edge" (1/11/16)
• "Sibe: a living Manchu language" (9/30/17)
• "Ornamental Manchu: the lengths to which a forger will go" (4/24/21)
• "A confusion of languages and names" (7/8/16)
• "A rebirth for Manchu?" (1/16/16)

[Thanks to Jichang Lulu]