Definition and Historical Precessors
Middle Mongol is close to Proto-Mongolic, the ancestor language of the modern Mongolic languages, which would to set at the time when Genghis Khan united a number of tribes under his command and formed the Mongol clan federation. The term "Middle Mongol" is somewhat misleading as what would generally by language naming rules be termed "Old Mongolian" in this terminology is actually Proto-Mongolic. The existence of another ("old") Mongol clan federation in Mongolia during the 12th century is historical, but there is no language material from this period. The Khitan language seems to share a common ancestor with Proto-Mongolic, thus is further remote.
Read more about this topic: Middle Mongolian Language
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