Ėven is a North Tungusic language spoken over a vast area of northeastern Siberia, from the Lena-Jana watershed in the west to the coast of the Okhotsk Sea, Chukotka, and Kamchatka in the east. There is as yet no consensus on the internal branching of the Tungusic language family, since contact both among Tungusic dialects and languages and with unrelated neighbouring languages has led to the diffusion of features across linguistic boundaries. Without postulating any genealogical classification, the three main branches of Tungusic consist of:

North Tungusic:

Evenki (possibly including Solon and Oroqen)

Negidal

Ėven

South Tungusic (also called Amur Tungusic):

Nanai (possibly including Ulcha and Orok)

Udihe (possibly including Oroch)

Manchu:

Written Manchu and its spoken dialects

Jurchen (extinct)