Paleosiberian languages

The Paleo-Siberian languages ​​- also called paläoasiatische or Old-Siberian languages ​​- are a group of about ten languages ​​together with not more than 11,000 speakers, which are now spoken mainly in Siberia.

They are the remains of several long-established language families who had settled there before the arrival of the Turkic, Tungusic and Ural- Samoyedic ethnic groups in North and East Siberia. The Paleo-Siberian languages ​​do not form a genetic unit, but genetically disintegrate in five or six groups, of which two ( Giljakisch and Ainu ) according to current knowledge, isolated languages. The term paläosibirisch so called a pure residual category, which summarizes the languages ​​of a given region which can not be classified in the larger language families Uralic, Turkic, Tungusic or Indo-European. All these languages ​​are more or less threatened in their existence.

Reference to paläosibirische sub-groups and languages

The following articles contain information about the individual groups or Paleo-Siberian languages. The present article, however, summarizes the information relating to the entire group of Paleo-Siberian languages.

• Jenisseische languages
• Jukagirische languages
• Tschuktscho - kamtschadalische languages
• Niwchisch or Giljakisch

Some authors also the Ainu and Eskimo- Aleut languages ​​, the Siberia are added to the Paleo-Siberian languages:

• Ainu
• Eskimo - Aleut languages

Classification and numbers of speakers

The Paleo-Siberian languages ​​consist of five or six non- genetically related languages ​​of Siberia units, namely the Jenisseischen, the Jukagirischen, the Tschuktscho - Kamchadal or Luorawetlanischen, and the isolated languages ​​Niwchisch (formerly called Giljakisch ) and the Ainu. A total of 16 languages ​​are known, of which 7 are now extinct. Ket and Jukagirisch can not be regarded as isolated, despite being the only surviving language are their respective family respectively. The numbers of speakers are taken from audited sources by 2005. Kerek is probably already extinct.

• Jenisseisch 6 languages ​​, including 5 † ( 600-1,000 Speaker) Ket -Yug Ket ( Ketisch, Yenisey Ostyak, Inbatsk ) ( 600-1,000 Speaker)
• Jug ( Jugisch, Yugh, Sym - Ketisch ) ( about 1990 †)

• Pumpokol †
• Kott †

• Assan †
• Arin †

• Jukagirisch 3 languages ​​, of which 2 † ( 40-200 Speaker) Jukagirisch ( Odulisch ) ( max 200 ethnically 1,000 speakers) Dialects: North = tundra, South = Kolyma
• Omok †
• Tschuwanisch †

• Tschuktscho - Kamtschadalisch 5 languages ​​(14 thousand speakers) Tschuktscho - Koryak Tschukot Tschuktschi ( Tschukot ) (10 thousand, 15 thousand ethnic Speaker)

• Koryak ( Nymylan ) ( 3.5 thousand, 7 thousand ethnic Speaker)
• Aliutor (200, 2 thousand ethnic Speaker)
• Kerek (almost † † or already )

• Itelmenisch ( Kamtschadalisch ) (Max 100 ethnically 2.5 thousand speakers)

• Niwchisch ( Giljakisch ) Niwchisch ( Giljakisch ) (700, 5 thousand ethnic Speaker) dialects: Amur, Sakhalin, North, East Sakhalin

• Ainu Ainu (15 speakers? ) Dialects: Hokkaido, Sakhalin †, † Kuril (ethnic 15 thousand speakers)

The Ainu is expected not all researchers to Paleo-Siberian languages ​​, although it meets the above definition substantially.

Due to certain typological similarities to the other Siberian languages ​​, some researchers also include the languages ​​spoken in northeastern Siberia and on the ( belonging to the U.S.) Aleutian Eskimo- Aleut languages ​​to the Paleo-Siberian languages.

• Eskimo - Aleut Eskimo Inuit Siberian Inuit dialect Imaklik †

• Chaplino ( Chaplinski ) (1,500 speakers)
• Naukan ( Naukanski ) (100 speakers)
• Sirenik ( Sireniksi ) † 1997

• Aleut (350 speakers)

Unusual is the inclusion of the large Far Eastern languages ​​Korean and Japanese, even if these languages ​​should not belong to the Altaic languages.

History of the Paleo-Siberian languages

Certainly the Paleo-Siberian languages ​​the remains of once larger spread over large parts of Siberia language families that were initially pushed back by the invading Uralic, Turkic and Tungusic tribes and partially absorbed. In the 17th century jenisseische, jukagirische and tschuktschische languages ​​were shown to spread in much larger and more westerly areas than today.

Over the last 400 years, groups of speakers paläosibirischer languages ​​gradually took the Yakut or other Turkic and Tungusic languages. The members of the Uralic language family Samoyed languages ​​are the languages ​​now extinct tribes jenisseischer absorbed. Finally they were reduced by the Russification of the country on their current residual, and forced into remote areas of retreat. This process will end in the near future with the complete loss of these languages ​​and the subsequent task of the ethnic identity of their speakers - well only the Tschuktschische has 10,000 speakers have a slightly longer survival perspective.

Remarks on Language Typology

The grammatical and phonetic structures of five or six Paleo-Siberian groups are quite different, so that one can hardly speak of a Sprachbund. Together they have an agglutinative morphology, extensive possibilities of complex word formations, various forms of vowel harmony (not the Eskimo languages) and consonant alternation and a tendency to consonant clusters (except in Jukagirischen and the Eskimo languages). Almost all Paleo-Siberian languages ​​since 1920 received a written standard, initially on the basis of the Latin, since 1930 the Cyrillic alphabet. These typefaces are used mainly in primary education. The extensive orally transmitted folk literatures were collected and compiled since the last century by Russian and Western researchers.

All linguistic detailed information see the relevant groups or voice name.

Relationships and genetic relationship

Typological similarities

Several attempts have been made to demonstrate kinship between the Paleo-Siberian groups or between them and other language families. None of these proposals could find today the recognition of researchers majority. Mere similarities in grammar (eg the widespread agglutination) or phonetics (eg vowel harmony, Konsonantenstufung ) may be caused by long-term language contacts in common or adjacent habitats and are not evidence of genetic relationships. However, the Paleo-Siberian languages ​​are too different in their structure in order to consider them as a whole as a Sprachbund can.

Loanwords

There are numerous loan words in almost all Paleo-Siberian languages ​​that give an indication of historical contacts. Most older loanwords are from the Tungusic languages, but also the Turkic languages ​​( in particular, the Yakut ) served as the source. The chain has borrowed from the Samoyed Selkup, the Giljakische termini of reindeer breeding of Tungusic languages ​​, other criteria in the Ainu. As the main source of all recent borrowings for the concepts of ' modern ' technology and civilization course is Russian. This Lehnwortmaterial is grammatically and phonetically relatively quickly integrated into most Paleo-Siberian languages.

Jukagirisch and Uralic

A quite serious hypothesis is that of the relationship of Jukagirischen with the Uralic languages. Jukagirisch is spoken by more than 200 people in northeastern Siberia and is closely related to the extinct languages ​​Omok and Tschuwanisch. According to M. Ruhlen 1991, the work of Collinder 1965, Harms 1977 prove beyond doubt the relationship of Jukagirischen with the Uralic languages. Collinder 1965 states: " The similarities of Jukagirischen and Uralic are so numerous and characteristic that they are the remains of an original unit. The case system of Jukagirischen is almost identical to that of the North Samoyedic. The imperative is formed with the same suffixes as in South Samoyedic and the most conservative Finno-Ugric languages. Jukagirisch has half a hundred common words with the Ural, without the loanwords. One should notice that all Finno- Ugric languages ​​in the case inflection more from Samoyedic different than the Jukagirische. "It would be quite possible thereafter, by a " speak Uralic - jukagirischen language family. "

Paläosibirische languages ​​in the context of macro- families

Much fuller ideas postulated by the representatives of the macro Families ( Nostra table, Eurasia table, Dene - Caucasian ). The Eurasian in the definition of Joseph Greenberg (2000) includes - in addition to the Indo-European, Uralic, Altaic, Korean, Japanese and Eskimo languages ​​- almost all Paleo-Siberian languages ​​, with the glaring exception of Jenisseischen. An almost identical " Eurasian " language family postulated H. Koppelmann already in 1933.

The excluded from the " Eurasian " Jenisseische in turn is a candidate for the hypothetical ent - Caucasian family macro that will include among others the Sino-Tibetan, North Caucasian, North American Na - Dene languages ​​, Basque and that is what Jenisseische.

Both theses are accepted until now only by a small group of linguists or even thought to be likely. The main difficulty in their verification is the great age of more than ten thousand years, you would have to start for the common proto- language, and the associated extremely sparse yet tangible common. Thus, one should continue to go out until there are compelling new arguments assume that the Paleo-Siberian groups are either among themselves or with other genetically related languages ​​or language families.