Yeniseian languages
Encyclopedia
The Yeniseian language family
(sometimes known as Yeniseic or Yenisei-Ostyak; occasionally spelled with -ss-) is spoken in central Siberia
.
Only two languages of this family survived into the 20th century, Ket
(also known as Imbat Ket), with around 1,000 speakers, and Yugh
(also known as Sym Ket), which is now possibly extinct. The other known members of this family, Arin, Assan, Pumpokol, and Kott, have been extinct for over a century. Other groups – Buklin, Baikot, Yarin, Yastin, Ashkyshtym and Koibalkyshtym – are identifiable as Yeniseic-speaking from tsarist fur-tax records compiled during the 17th century, but nothing remains of their languages except a few proper names.
It appears from Chinese sources that a Yeniseian group might have been among the peoples that made up the tribal confederation known as the Xiongnu
, who have traditionally been considered the ancestors of the Huns
, but these suggestions are difficult to substantiate due to the paucity of data. One sentence of the language of the Jie, a Xiongnu tribe who founded the Later Zhao
state, appears consistent with being a Yeniseian language.
In February 2008 a proposal relating Na-Dene (excluding Haida
), one of the major language families of indigenous peoples in North America
, to the Yeniseian languages
of central Siberia
was published and well received by a number of linguists at the Dene-Yeniseic Symposium held in Fairbanks, Alaska
.
n Turkic languages
, Samoyedic languages
, and Evenki. These include long-distance nasal harmony
, deaffrication
, and the use of postpositions or grammatical enclitic
s as clausal
subordinators
. Yeniseic nominal enclitics closely approximate the case
systems of geographically contiguous families.
The Yeniseian languages have been described as having up to four tones or no tones at all. The 'tones' are concomitant with glottalization
, vowel length
, and breathy voice
, not unlike the situation reconstructed for Old Chinese
before the development of true tones in Chinese. The Yeniseian languages have highly elaborate verbal morphology.
of Western Washington University
presented evidence, backed by rigorous methodology, for a genealogical relation between the Yeneisian languages of Siberia and the Na–Dené languages of North America. Published in 2010, Vajda's paper has been favorably reviewed by several experts on Na–Dené and Yeniseian languages, including Michael Krauss, Jeff Leer, James Kari
, and Heinrich Werner, as well as a number of other well-known linguists, including Bernard Comrie
, Johanna Nichols
, Victor Golla, Michael Fortescue
, and Eric Hamp
.
, has been proposed by several scholars, notably by A.P. Dulson and V.N. Toporov. George van Driem, the most prominent current advocate of the Karasuk hypothesis, postulates that the Burusho people were part of the migration out of Central Asia that resulted in the Indo-European conquest of the Indus Valley.
(1856), James Byrne (1892), and G.J. Ramstedt (1907), suggested that Yeniseian was a northern relative of the Sino-Tibetan languages. These ideas were followed much later by Kai Donner and Karl Bouda.
, and Burushaski, some forms of which have gone by the name of Sino-Caucasian. The works of R. Bleichsteiner and O.G. Tailleur, the late Sergei A. Starostin
and Sergei L. Nikolayev have sought to confirm these connections. Others who have developed the hypothesis, often expanded to Dené–Caucasian, include J.D. Bengtson, V. Blažek, J.H. Greenberg
(with M. Ruhlen
), and M. Ruhlen. George Starostin continues his father's work in Yeniseian, Sino-Caucasian and other fields.
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
(sometimes known as Yeniseic or Yenisei-Ostyak; occasionally spelled with -ss-) is spoken in central Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
.
Family division
0. Proto-Yeniseian (before 500 BC; split around 1 AD)- 1. Northern Yeniseian (split around 700 AD)
- 1.1. KetKet languageThe Ket language, formerly known as Yenisei Ostyak, is a Siberian language long thought to be an isolate, the sole surviving language of a Yeniseian language family...
(100-500 speakers) - 1.2. YughYugh languageYugh is a Yeniseian language, closely related to Ket, formerly spoken by the Yugh people, one of the southern groups along the Yenisei River in central Siberia. In the past it was regarded as a dialect of the Ket language, which was considered to be a language isolate...
† (2 or 3 non-fluent speakers in 1991)
- 1.1. Ket
- 2. Southern Yeniseian †
- 2.1. Kott–Assan (split around 1200 AD)
- 2.1.1. KottKott languageThe Kott language is an extinct Yeniseian language that was formerly spoken in central Siberia by the banks of Mana River, a tributary of the Yenisei river. It became extinct in the 1850s. Some linguists believe the Assan language was a dialect of Kott...
† (extinct by the mid-1800s) - 2.1.2. AssanAssan languageAssan was a Yeniseian language which became extinct in the 19th century. It was closely related to the Kott language.-External links:*...
† (extinct by 1800)
- 2.1.1. Kott
- 2.2. Arin–Pumpokol (split around 550 AD)
- 2.2.1. ArinArin languageArin was a Yeniseian language spoken in Russia along the Yenisei River between Yeniseysk and Krasnoyarsk. It is classified as a Southern Yeniseian language, along with Kott and Assan....
† (extinct by 1800) - 2.2.2. PumpokolPumpokol languagePumpokol is one of the Yeniseian languages. It has been extinct since the 18th century....
† (extinct by 1750)
- 2.2.1. Arin
- 2.1. Kott–Assan (split around 1200 AD)
Only two languages of this family survived into the 20th century, Ket
Ket language
The Ket language, formerly known as Yenisei Ostyak, is a Siberian language long thought to be an isolate, the sole surviving language of a Yeniseian language family...
(also known as Imbat Ket), with around 1,000 speakers, and Yugh
Yugh language
Yugh is a Yeniseian language, closely related to Ket, formerly spoken by the Yugh people, one of the southern groups along the Yenisei River in central Siberia. In the past it was regarded as a dialect of the Ket language, which was considered to be a language isolate...
(also known as Sym Ket), which is now possibly extinct. The other known members of this family, Arin, Assan, Pumpokol, and Kott, have been extinct for over a century. Other groups – Buklin, Baikot, Yarin, Yastin, Ashkyshtym and Koibalkyshtym – are identifiable as Yeniseic-speaking from tsarist fur-tax records compiled during the 17th century, but nothing remains of their languages except a few proper names.
It appears from Chinese sources that a Yeniseian group might have been among the peoples that made up the tribal confederation known as the Xiongnu
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...
, who have traditionally been considered the ancestors of the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, but these suggestions are difficult to substantiate due to the paucity of data. One sentence of the language of the Jie, a Xiongnu tribe who founded the Later Zhao
Later Zhao
The Later Zhao was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity...
state, appears consistent with being a Yeniseian language.
In February 2008 a proposal relating Na-Dene (excluding Haida
Haida
The Haida are an indigenous nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Haida territories lie in both Canada and the United States, as do those of the Tlingit and Tsimshian. The Haida territories comprise the archipelago of Haida Gwaii in British Columbia...
), one of the major language families of indigenous peoples in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, to the Yeniseian languages
Yeniseian languages
The Yeniseian language family is spoken in central Siberia.-Family division:0. Proto-Yeniseian...
of central Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
was published and well received by a number of linguists at the Dene-Yeniseic Symposium held in Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
.
Family features
The Yeniseian languages share many contact-induced similarities with the South SiberiaSiberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n Turkic languages
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
, Samoyedic languages
Samoyedic languages
The Samoyedic languages are spoken on both sides of the Ural mountains, in northernmost Eurasia, by approximately 30,000 speakers altogether....
, and Evenki. These include long-distance nasal harmony
Consonant harmony
Consonant harmony is a type of "long-distance" phonological assimilation akin to the similar assimilatory process involving vowels, i.e. vowel harmony.-Examples:...
, deaffrication
Lenition
In linguistics, lenition is a kind of sound change that alters consonants, making them "weaker" in some way. The word lenition itself means "softening" or "weakening" . Lenition can happen both synchronically and diachronically...
, and the use of postpositions or grammatical enclitic
Clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
s as clausal
Dependent clause
In linguistics, a dependent clause is a clause that augments an independent clause with additional information, but which cannot stand alone as a sentence. Dependent clauses modify the independent clause of a sentence or serve as a component of it...
subordinators
Complementizer
In linguistics , a complementizer is a syntactic category roughly equivalent to the term subordinating conjunction in traditional grammar. For example, the word that is generally called a complementizer in English sentences like Mary believes that it is raining...
. Yeniseic nominal enclitics closely approximate the case
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
systems of geographically contiguous families.
The Yeniseian languages have been described as having up to four tones or no tones at all. The 'tones' are concomitant with glottalization
Glottalization
Glottalization is the complete or partial closure of the glottis during the articulation of another sound. Glottalization of vowels and other sonorants is most often realized as creaky voice...
, vowel length
Vowel length
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...
, and breathy voice
Breathy voice
Breathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise...
, not unlike the situation reconstructed for Old Chinese
Old Chinese
The earliest known written records of the Chinese language were found at a site near modern Anyang identified as Yin, the last capital of the Shang dynasty, and date from about 1200 BC....
before the development of true tones in Chinese. The Yeniseian languages have highly elaborate verbal morphology.
Personal pronouns
| Personal pronouns in Yeniseian languages | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Singular | |Plural | |||||
| 1. | 2. | 3. | 1. | 2. | 3. | |
| Ket | āˑ(t) | ūˑ | būˑ | ɤ̄ˑt ~ ɤ́tn | ɤ́kŋ | būˑŋ |
| Yugh | āt | ū | bū | ɤ́tn | kɤ́kŋ | béìŋ |
| Kott dialects | ai | au | uju ~ hatu (masc.) uja ~ hata (fem.) |
ajoŋ | auoŋ ~ aoŋ | uniaŋ ~ hatien |
| Assan | aj | au | bari | ajuŋ | avun | hatin |
| Arin | ai | au | au | aiŋ | aŋ | itaŋ |
| Pumpokol | ad | u | adu | adɨŋ | ajaŋ | ? |
Numerals
The following table exemplifies the basic Yeniseian numerals as well as the various attempts at reconstructing the proto-forms:| Gloss | | Yeniseian languages and dialects | | Available reconstructions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern branch | | Southern branch | ||||||
| Ket dialects | | Yugh | | Kott-Assan | | Arin-Pumpokol | ||||
| SK | Kott | Assan | Arin | Pumpokol | Starostin | ||
| 1 | qūˑs | χūs | huːtʃa | hutʃa | qusej | xuta | *xu-sa |
| 2 | ɯ̄ˑn | ɯ̄n | iːna | ina | kina | hinɛaŋ | *xɨna |
| 3 | dɔˀŋ | dɔˀŋ | toːŋa | taŋa | tʲoŋa ~ tʲuːŋa | dóŋa | *doʔŋa |
| 4 | sīˑk | sīk | tʃeɡa ~ ʃeːɡa | ʃeɡa | tʃaɡa | ziang | *si- |
| 5 | qāˑk | χāk | keɡa ~ χeːɡa | keɡa | qala | hejlaŋ | *qä- |
| 6 | aˀ ~ à | àː | χelutʃa | ɡejlutʃa | ɨɡa | aɡɡɛaŋ | *ʔaẋV |
| 7 | ɔˀŋ | ɔˀŋ | χelina | ɡejlina | ɨnʲa | onʲaŋ | *ʔoʔn- |
| 10 | qɔ̄ˑ | χɔ̄ | haːɡa ~ haɡa | xaha | qau ~ hioɡa | hajaŋ | *ẋɔGa |
| 20 | ɛˀk | ɛˀk | iːntʰukŋ | inkukn | kinthjuŋ | hédiang | *ʔeʔk ~ xeʔk |
| 100 | kiˀ | kiˀ | ujaːx | jus | jus | útamssa | *kiʔ ~ ɡiʔ / *ʔalVs-(tamsV) |
A few etymologies
The following table exemplifies a few basic vocabulary items as well as the various attempts at reconstructing the proto-forms:| Gloss | | Yeniseian languages and dialects | | Available reconstructions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern branch | | Southern branch | ||||||||||
| Ket dialects | | Yugh | | Kott-Assan | | Arin-Pumpokol | ||||||||
| SK | NK | CK | Kott | Assan | Arin | Pumpokol | Vajda | Starostin | Werner | ||
| LARCH | sɛˀs | sɛˀs | šɛˀš | sɛˀs | šet | čet | čit | tag | *čɛˀç | *seʔs | *sɛʔt / *tɛʔt |
| RIVER | sēˑs | sēˑs | šēˑš | sēs | šet | šet | sat | tat | *cēˑc | *ses | *set / *tet |
| STONE | tʌˀs | tʌˀs | tʌˀš | čʌˀs | šiš | šiš | kes | kit | *cʰɛˀs | *čɨʔs | *t'ɨʔs |
| FINGER | tʌˀq | tʌˀq | tʌˀq | tʌˀχ | tʰoχ | ? | intoto | tok | *tʰɛˀq | *tǝʔq | *thǝʔq |
| RESIN | dīˑk | dīˑk | dīˑk | dʲīk | čik | ? | ? | ? | *čīˑk | *ǯik (~-g, -ẋ) | *d'ik |
| WOLF | qɯ̄ˑt | qɯ̄ˑti | qɯ̄ˑtə | χɯ̄ˑt | (boru < Turkic) | qut | xotu | *qʷīˑtʰi | *qɨte (˜ẋ-) | *qʌthǝ | |
| WINTER | kɤ̄ˑt | kɤ̄ˑti | kɤ̄ˑte | kɤ̄ˑt | keːtʰi | ? | lot | lete | *kʷeˑtʰi | *gǝte | *kǝte |
| LIGHT | kʌˀn | kʌˀn | kʌˀn | kʌˀn | kin | ? | lum | ? | *kʷɛˀn | *gǝʔn- | ? |
| PERSON | kɛˀd | kɛˀd | kɛˀd | kɛˀtʲ | hit | het | kit | kit | *kɛˀt | *keʔt | ? |
| TWO | ɯ̄ˑn | ɯ̄ˑn | ɯ̄ˑn | ɯ̄n | in | in | kin | hin | *kʰīˑn | *xɨna | *(k)ɨn |
| WATER | ūˑl | ūˑl | ūˑl | ūr | ul | ul | kul | ul | *kʰul | *qoʔl (~ẋ-, -r) | ? |
| BIRCH | ùs | ùːse | ùːsə | ùːʰs | uča | uuča | kus | uta | *kʰuχʂa | *xūsa | *kuʔǝt'ǝ |
| SNOWSLED | súùl | súùl | šúùl | sɔ́ùl | čogar | čɛgar | šal | tsɛl | *tsehʷəl | *soʔol | *sogǝl (~č/t'-ʎ) |
Proposed relations to other language families
Until 2008, few linguists had accepted connections between Yeniseian and any other language family, though distant connections have been proposed with most of the ergative languages of Eurasia.Dené–Yenisean
In 2008, Edward VajdaEdward Vajda
Edward Vajda is a historical linguist at Western Washington University. He has become known for his work on the proposed Dené–Yeniseian language family, seeking to establish that the Ket language of Siberia has a common linguistic ancestor with the Na-Dené languages of North America...
of Western Washington University
Western Washington University
Western Washington University is one of six state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Bellingham and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.-History:...
presented evidence, backed by rigorous methodology, for a genealogical relation between the Yeneisian languages of Siberia and the Na–Dené languages of North America. Published in 2010, Vajda's paper has been favorably reviewed by several experts on Na–Dené and Yeniseian languages, including Michael Krauss, Jeff Leer, James Kari
James Kari
James Kari is a linguist and Professor Emeritus with the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks , specializing in Athabascan languages of Alaska. In the past thirty-five years he has done extensive linguistic work in many Athabascan languages including Ahtna, Dena'ina,...
, and Heinrich Werner, as well as a number of other well-known linguists, including Bernard Comrie
Bernard Comrie
Bernard Comrie is a British-born linguist. Comrie is a specialist in linguistic typology and linguistic universals, and on Caucasian languages....
, Johanna Nichols
Johanna Nichols
Linguist Johanna Nichols is a professor emerita on active duty in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests include the Slavic languages, the linguistic prehistory of northern Eurasia, language typology, ancient linguistic...
, Victor Golla, Michael Fortescue
Michael Fortescue
Michael David Fortescue is a British-born linguist specializing in Arctic and native North American languages, including Kalaallisut, Inuktun, Chukchi and Nitinaht. He is professor of General Linguistics at the University of Copenhagen and chairman of the Linguistic Circle of Copenhagen...
, and Eric Hamp
Eric P. Hamp
Eric Pratt Hamp is an American linguist. Born in London, England on November 16, 1920, he grew up in The United States from age 5 onward due to his father's posting by a British shipping firm...
.
Karasuk
The Karasuk hypothesis, linking Yeniseian to BurushaskiBurushaski language
The Burushaski or Burushko language , is a language isolate . It is spoken by some 87,000 Burusho people in the Hunza, Nagar, Yasin, and Ishkoman valleys, and some parts of the Gilgit valley, in Gilgit–Baltistan in Pakistan and by about 300 Burusho people in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, India...
, has been proposed by several scholars, notably by A.P. Dulson and V.N. Toporov. George van Driem, the most prominent current advocate of the Karasuk hypothesis, postulates that the Burusho people were part of the migration out of Central Asia that resulted in the Indo-European conquest of the Indus Valley.
Sino-Tibetan
As noted by Tailleur and Werner, some of the earliest proposals of genetic relations of Yeniseian, by M.A. CastrénMatthias Castrén
Matthias Alexander Castrén was a Finnish ethnologist and philologist.Castrén was born at Tervola, in Northern Finland, on the 20th of November...
(1856), James Byrne (1892), and G.J. Ramstedt (1907), suggested that Yeniseian was a northern relative of the Sino-Tibetan languages. These ideas were followed much later by Kai Donner and Karl Bouda.
Dené–Caucasian
Bouda, in various publications in the 1930s through the 1950s, described a linguistic network that (besides Yeniseian and Sino-Tibetan) also included CaucasianNorth Caucasian languages
North Caucasian languages is a blanket term for two language phyla spoken chiefly in the north Caucasus and Turkey: the Northwest Caucasian family and the Northeast Caucasian family North Caucasian languages (sometimes called simply Caucasic as opposed to Kartvelian, and to avoid confusion with...
, and Burushaski, some forms of which have gone by the name of Sino-Caucasian. The works of R. Bleichsteiner and O.G. Tailleur, the late Sergei A. Starostin
Sergei Starostin
Dr. Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin was a Russian historical linguist and scholar, best known for his work with hypothetical proto-languages, including his work on the reconstruction of the Proto-Borean language, the controversial theory of Altaic languages and the formulation of the Dené–Caucasian...
and Sergei L. Nikolayev have sought to confirm these connections. Others who have developed the hypothesis, often expanded to Dené–Caucasian, include J.D. Bengtson, V. Blažek, J.H. Greenberg
Joseph Greenberg
Joseph Harold Greenberg was a prominent and controversial American linguist, principally known for his work in two areas, linguistic typology and the genetic classification of languages.- Early life and career :...
(with M. Ruhlen
Merritt Ruhlen
Merritt Ruhlen is an American linguist known for his work on the classification of languages and what this reveals about the origin and evolution of modern humans. Amongst other linguists, Ruhlen's work is recognized as standing outside the mainstream of comparative-historical linguistics...
), and M. Ruhlen. George Starostin continues his father's work in Yeniseian, Sino-Caucasian and other fields.
External links
- Results from the February 2008 Dene–Yeniseic Symposium
- A Siberian Link With Na-Dene Languages by Edward Vajda, a proponent of the Yeniseian-Na-Dene connection.
- Lecture notes on the Ket people by Edward Vajda.
- Map of the Yeniseian family from the Santa Fe InstituteSanta Fe InstituteThe Santa Fe Institute is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, including physical, computational, biological, and social systems.The Institute houses a...
. - Comparison of Yeniseian and Na-Dene by Merritt Ruhlen.
- Yenisseian Etymology by S. A. Starostin.
- Sino-Caucasian [comparative phonology
] by S. A. Starostin. 2005. - Sino-Caucasian [comparative glossary
] by S. A. Starostin. 2005. - Article on Yeniseian languages
- Multimedia Database of Ket Language, Moscow State (Lomonosov) University
- Ket language vocabulary with loanwords (from the World Loanword Database)