A recent linguistic study jointly conducted by Dr. Svenja Bonmann from the Department of Linguistics at the University of Cologne and Dr. Simon Fries from the Faculties of Classics and of Linguistics, Philology, and Phonetics at the University of Oxford has profoundly reshaped everything previously believed about the ethnic and linguistic origin of the European Huns.
Published in the journal Transactions of the Philological Society, the study demonstrates through a careful analysis of diverse linguistic sources that both the Huns and their Asian predecessors, the Xiongnu, spoke a common language belonging to the Yeniseian language family, a branch of the so-called Paleo-Siberian languages.
The research is based on a variety of linguistic evidence, including lexical borrowings, glosses in Chinese texts, proper names from the Hunnic dynasty, as well as place names and hydronyms which together have allowed for the reconstruction of the core ethnic group’s speech.
Although these elements might seem inconclusive when considered individually, taken together they strongly reinforce the hypothesis that the Arin language, an early form of Yeniseian, was spoken by both the Xiongnu and the European Huns, including the famous warlord Attila.
The finding is particularly significant because it disproves the long-held hypothesis that the Xiongnu—a tribal confederation active in Inner Asia between the 3rd century BCE and the 2nd century CE—and the Huns, who established an influential multiethnic empire in Southeastern Europe between the 4th and 5th centuries CE, were Turkic peoples.
This assumption was based on the fact that starting in the 7th century, Turkic peoples began expanding westward, which led scholars to believe that the Huns spoke an early Turkic variant. However, the comparative analysis conducted by Bonmann and Fries suggests that the Arin language was already in use in Inner Asia long before the emergence of the Turkic languages, and even before their diversification.
In fact, the Arin language not only predates the Turkic languages, but according to the authors, it may have exerted some linguistic influence on them in their early stages, indicating a significant level of prestige in pre-Turkic Inner Asia. This leads Dr. Bonmann to assert that Arin was likely the mother tongue of the ruling Xiongnu dynasty, and therefore also of the leading elite of the European Huns.
Although no written documents in the Hunnic language have survived, the new linguistic evidence makes it possible to trace with greater precision the migratory path of these peoples from Asia to Europe. Thus, it is suggested that a population of Arin speakers set out from the Altai-Sayan region, leaving their linguistic mark on place names and river names along their route, eventually settling on the European continent.
Even the name Attila, traditionally interpreted as a Germanic nickname meaning “little father,” may actually derive from a Yeniseian epithet with an approximate meaning of “swift” or “fast,” which would add a completely new dimension to the understanding of this historical figure.
The linguistic discovery by Bonmann and Fries aligns with previous archaeological and genetic findings that linked the Huns to the Xiongnu, and highlights the importance of the comparative philological approach in the study of human history. According to Dr. Fries, this kind of research not only helps clarify long-standing historical questions, but also promotes a better understanding of the linguistic evolution of humanity, especially concerning lesser-known and poorly documented languages.
SOURCES
Bonmann, S. and Fries, S. (2025), Linguistic Evidence Suggests that Xiōng-nú and Huns Spoke the Same Paleo-Siberian Language. Trans Philologic Soc. doi.org/10.1111/1467-968X.12321
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