The Khamnigan language is considered to be the most conservative Mongolic language, because it perserves a lot of features from Middle Mongolian. The Khamnigan people are a Mongolized Evenki people who live in a bilingual society speaking the Khamnigan Mongol language and Evenki. The Khalkhas and Buryats refer to most groups of Tungusic peoples as "Khamnigan", even if they are not from the Khamnigan ethnicity.