It has even been suggested that the Xiongnu themselves, who were mentioned in Han dynasty records, were Proto-Turkic speakers.Silk-Road:Xiongnu The Turks may ultimately have been of Xiongnu descent. Although little is known for certain about the Xiongnu language(s), it seems likely that at least a considerable part of Xiongnu tribes spoke a Turkic language.Lebedynsky (2006), p. 59. Some scholars believe they were probably a confederation of various ethnic and linguistic groups.Nicola di Cosmo, Ancient China and its Enemies, S. 163ff. According to a study by Alexander Savelyev and Choongwon Jeong, published in 2020 in the journal Evolutionary Human Sciences by Cambridge University Press, "the predominant part of the Xiongnu population is likely to have spoken Turkic". However, genetic studies found a mixture of western and eastern Eurasian ancestries, suggesting a large genetic diversity within the Xiongnu. The Turkic-related component may be brought by eastern Eurasian genetic substratum.
It has eve,n been suggested that the Xiongnu themselves, who were mentioned in Han dynasty records, were Proto-Turkic speakers.Silk-Road:Xiongnu The Turks may ultimately have been of Xiongnu descent. Although little is known for certain about the Xiongnu language(s), it seems likely that at least a considerable part of Xiongnu tribes spoke a Turkic language.Lebedynsky (2006), p. 59. Some scholars believe they were probably a confederation of various ethnic and linguistic groups.Nicola di Cosmo, Ancient China and its Enemies, S. 163ff. According to a study by Alexander Savelyev and Choongwon Jeong published in 2020 in the journal Evolutionary Human Sciences by Cambridge University Press, "the predominant part of the Xiongnu population is likely to have spoken Turkic". However, genetic studies found a mixture of western and eastern Eurasian ancestries, suggesting a large genetic diversity within the Xiongnu. The Turkic-related component may be brought by eastern Eurasian genetic substratum.