Page "Altaic languages" Paragraph 18

: Generally, the more carefully the areal factor has been investigated, the smaller the size of the residue open to the genetic explanation has tended to become.

According to many scholars it only comprises a small number of monosyllabic lexical roots, including the personal pronouns and a few other deictic and auxiliary items.

For these, other possible explanations have also been proposed.

Most importantly, the ' Altaic ' languages do not seem to share a common basic vocabulary of the type normally present in cases of genetic relationship.