I bit off a little more than I can chew and signed up for a course in the Classical Studies department while studying abroad. I'm facing two (and a half) major hurdles: the jargon, German likes to make up its own and I wouldn't know the English terms anyway, and the dialect, somehow Classical Studies department are beacons to those of thick dialects (the half being the echoy room the class is in, makes it a little harder to discern words).
I took the class, though it has nothing to do with my discipline (German Studies, angling towards Medieval Studies and/or Folklore), because it truly fascinates me and I really want to learn what I can (and I really need to insure I pass the class).
The class covers, mainly, the Scythians, Sarmatians, Almani, a group the starts with a 'k' in Greek but a 'g' in Persian (kar-something I think -- that's embarrassing), and the Xiongnu/Huns. I would really appreciate being pointed in the direction of books and/or articles on these folks. I'd ask about them in more detail, but the scope of what I need to know is much too large for an internet forum, I think.
I appreciate your help.
EDIT: I realize now that it could only start with a 'k' in Greek because 'c' was a Roman invention.
A couple of books:
The Perilous Frontier by Thomas Barfield.
The person who wrote this book is an anthropologist. He's probably read every secondary source there is on the Xiongnu particularly. It is a good starting point for jargon, though the book is a little dry.
The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia by René Grousset
This work is old and originally in French. It has a good 40 pages on the Xiongnu, Sarmatians, Scythians, and the Huns. I haven't read it yet, but it looks like it is a compendium of information about each of those groups.
Empires of the Silk Road by Christopher Beckwith
This one has problems, but it is mostly a reader about the Scythians, Sarmatians, Xiongnu, and Xianbe. It has helpful information about those early cultures.
I haven't read this, but it seems like it would be a good resource:
Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes in the Early Iron Age
I hope that helps!
Nomadic Empires by Gerard Chaliand is a fantastic read that covers the steppe empires of the mongolian area - it won't cover a lot of the tribes you're looking for but I believe there is information on both the huns and the Alans.
I would like to recommend History of Civilizations of Central Asia series. In particular second volume(The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 BC to AD 250) deals with nomadic socities of Central Asia, i.e. Xiongnu and Sakas. It's dated(from 1990s), but still provides a lot of useful information. Moreover all of the volumes are freely available: http://www.unesco.org/culture/asia/html_eng/ouvrages.htm