Yukaghir languages

Spoken in

Language isolate

  • '

Ykg

The jukagirischen languages ​​were spoken in the north- east of Siberia, especially in Yakutia. According to recent studies, is only one of these languages ​​in use, the actual Jukagirische or Odulische. This language is still spoken by about 120 Yukagirs.

The phylogenetic assignment of jukagirischen languages ​​is not finally resolved. In the discussion even stand a remote relationship to the Uralic languages ​​, on the other hand an isolated position in the circle of further paläosibirischer languages.

Subgroups: Odulisch, Omok and Tschuwanisch

Of these subgroups is now (2009 ) only spoken the Odulische with about 120 speakers in two widely divergent dialects in Yakutia and the Magadan region: the northern tundra dialect (up to 90 speakers, Srednekansk district ) and the southern Kolyma dialect ( max. 30 speakers, Nishnikolymsk district ). The ethnic group of odules - so their self-designation - still includes about 1,000 people, the language is spoken only by the elderly population in a private environment, possibly even younger have a reduced passive language comprehension. Nevertheless, there are efforts to preserve the language. Thus was created a font for the jukagirische language in the 1980s on the basis of the Cyrillic alphabet. In some primary schools Jukagirisch is offered as a subject.

The jukagirischen languages ​​Omok and Tschuwanisch were spoken south and southwest of the present-day language areas and died in the 19th century. At the beginning of the 17th century jukagirische tribes from the lower reaches of the Lena extended in the west to the upper reaches of the Anadyr in the east, from the North Sea to the Verkhoyansk mountains in the south over a vast area of Northeastern Siberia. These tribes were decimated from the 17th to the 19th century, epidemics, war and the Russian colonization, partially assimilated them also the Chukchi, Yakuts, Evens and Russians, where they gave their jukagirischen languages.

Remarks on the speech characteristic

The first systematic studies of Jukagirischen began with W. Jochelson, who had been banished to the Kolyma region, between 1894 and 1896. Important contributions also provided the Jukagire N. Spiridinow in the 1930s. The two dialects of Jukagirischen ( North or Tundra dialect, South or Kolymadialekt ) vary so much that some researchers start from two languages. See below about the possible genetic relationship of Jukagirischen with the Uralic languages. At least typologically the Jukagirische without doubt the Uralic languages ​​is very similar. It also includes the existence of a separate negative conjugation, for example:

  • Ing mer -ai - mek - " You're fired"
  • Ing el -ai - yek - "you have not shot "

A special feature is the morphological focusing parts of a sentence, for example,

  • Met- ek uul - " I went "
  • Met mer - uul -jen - " I went "

In contrast to the other Paleo-Siberian languages ​​that Jukagirische has hardly consonant cluster. Worth mentioning is the idea of writing Yukagirs ( notches in birch bark, see Jensen 1969), Love Letters were sent represented by the route maps or.

The Ural- jukagirische hypothesis

A serious hypothesis is that of the relationship of Jukagirischen with the Ural. After Merritt Ruhlen (1991 ) prove the work of Björn Collinder (1965) and RT Harms ( 1977), "beyond reasonable 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 must be 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. [ ... ] It should be noted that all Finno- Ugric languages ​​in the case inflection differ from Samoyedic more than Jukagirische. "It would be then quite possible to speak of a Ural- jukagirischen language family.

However, it is seen quite critical of sides of the Uralic this possible relationship, so again A. Marcantonio (2002), which proceeds rather by borrowing on the part of Jukagirischen from the Samoyed languages. Plain is Abondolo D. (1998): " The only real and credible candidate for a productive comparison with the Ural is the Jukagirische. [ ... ] Two outstanding analysis (which this relationship investigate ) are the work of Harms (1977) and Nikolaeva (1988 ) on the historical phonology and morphology. These works seem so compelling in some details, there are significant points where they contradict each other, for example in the role and development of the genitive; Perhaps further research will be able to explain these contradictions. "

In the macro families Eurasia table and Nostra table the Jukagirische is summarized as a matter of course with the Ural, either as a third branch next to the Finno - Ugric and Samoyedic ( as the Nostra sufferers, such as Aharon Dolgopolsky ) or as a branch of the Ural- Jukagirischen, of the Ural branch of equal faces ( so the Eurasia sufferers, eg Joseph Greenberg).

  • Uralic Finno - Ugric
  • Samoyed
  • Jukagirisch
  • Ural- Jukagirisch Uralic Finno - Ugric
  • Samoyed
Yukaghir people Eurasiatic languages Nostratic languages
455721
de