Yukaghir languages
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| Yukaghir | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: | Russian Far East |
| Genetic classification: | Uralic-Yukaghir? |
| Subdivisions: | |
| ISO 639-2 and 639-5: | — |
The Yukaghir languages (also Yukagir, Jukagir) are a small family of two closely related languages spoken by the Yukaghir in the Russian Far East living in the basin of the Kolyma River. The entire family is regarded as moribund,[1] with a total of fewer than 200 speakers reported in the 1989 Russian census.
At the time of the advent of the Russian colonisers in the first half of the 17th century, Yukaghir languages were spoken in a much larger area, from the Anadyr River in the east all the way to the Lena River in the west.[2],[3]
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Classification
The two extant varieties of Yukaghir are grammatically close to each other, so that they were often considered dialects of a single language. However, their vocabularies differ to an extent which prevents mutual intellegibility, so that they can safely be regarded as different languages. Their relationship with other language families is uncertain, though it has been suggested that they are distantly related to the Uralic languages, thus forming the Uralic-Yukaghir languages.
Members
The two extant varieties of Yukaghir are:
- Tundra Yukaghir (ykg; Northern Yukaghir language, also known as Wadul): 30 to 150 speakers as of 1989. Last spoken in the tundra belt extending between the lower Indigirka to the lower Kolyma basin (69°N 154°E / 69°N 154°E). Formerly spoken in a much wider area extending to the Lena basin in the west.
- Kolyma Yukaghir (yux; Forest Yukaghir, Southern Yukaghir language, also known as Odul): 5 speakers as of 2008. Last spoken in the forest zone near the sources of the Kolyma, divided between the Sakha Republic and the Magadan Oblast (around 65°N 153°E / 65°N 153°E), previously in the wider area of the upper Kolyma region.
See also
Further reading
- Björn Collinder. 1965. An Introduction to the Uralic Languages. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press
- Krejnovich, Eruhim A. 1958. Jukagirskij jazyk ('The Yukaghir Language'). Moscow and Leningrad: Nauka.
- Maslova, Elena. 2003. A Grammar of Kolyma Yukaghir. Mouton Grammar Library 27.
- Maslova, Elena. 2003. Tundra Yukaghir. LINCOM Europa. Languages of the World/Materials 372.
- Vakhtin, N.B. 1991. The Yukagir language in sociolinguistic perspective Steszew, Poland: International Institute of Ethnolinguistic and Oriental Studies.
References
- ^ http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/nasia_report.html
- ^ B. O. Dolgikh. (1960) Rodovoj i plemennoj sostav narodov Sibiri v XVII v. Moskva: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR
- ^ B. Collinder. (1965). An Introduction to the Uralic Languages. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press
External links
- The Yukaghir Languages
- Northern Yukaghir text sample - Declaration of Human Rights
- Online Documentation of Kolyma Yukaghir
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