On the other hand, Juha Janhunen proposed that the Tuoba might have spoken an Oghur Turkic language.[3] According to Peter Boodberg, the Tuoba language was essentially Turkic with Mongolic admixture.[4] Chen Sanping noted that the Tuoba language "had both" Turkic and Mongolic elements.[5][6]
Liu Xueyao stated that Tuoba may have had their own language, which should not be assumed to be identical with any other known languages.[7]
Andrew Shimunek (2017) classifies Tuoba (Taghbach) as a "Serbi" (i.e., para-Mongolic) language. Shimunek's Serbi branch also consists of the Tuyuhun and Khitan languages.[1]
Selected basic Taghbach words from Shimunek (2017) are listed below. Forms reconstructed using the comparative method are marked with one asterisk (*), while forms reconstructed according to the Chinese fanqie spellings and/or rhymes of the traditional Chinese philological tradition are marked with two asterisks (**) (originally marked as ✩ by Shimunek 2017).[1]
^ abcdShimunek, Andrew (2017). Languages of Ancient Southern Mongolia and North China: a Historical-Comparative Study of the Serbi or Xianbei Branch of the Serbi-Mongolic Language Family, with an Analysis of Northeastern Frontier Chinese and Old Tibetan Phonology. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN978-3-447-10855-3. OCLC993110372.