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| Yeniseian | |
|---|---|
| Yeniseic, Yeniseyan | |
| Geographic distribution | today along theYenisei River historically large parts ofSiberia and ofMongolia |
| Ethnicity | Yeniseian people |
Native speakers | 156 (2020)[1][notes 1] |
| Linguistic classification | Dené–Yeniseian?
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Yeniseian |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | yeni1252 |
 Distribution of Yeniseian languages in the 17th century (hatched) and in the end of 20th century (solid).Hydronymic data suggests that this distribution represents a northward migration of original Yeniseian populations from theSayan Mountains and northern Mongolia. | |
 The distribution of individual Yeniseian languages in 1600 | |
TheYeniseian languages (/ˌjɛnɪˈseɪən/YEN-ih-SAY-ən; sometimes known asYeniseic,Yeniseyan, orYenisei-Ostyak;[notes 2] occasionally spelled with -ss-) are a family of languages that are spoken by theYeniseian people in theYenisei River region of centralSiberia. As part of the proposedDene–Yeniseian language family, the Yeniseian languages have been argued to be part of "the first demonstration of agenealogical link between Old World and New World language families that meets the standards of traditionalcomparative-historical linguistics".[2] The only surviving language of the group today isKet.
Fromhydronymic andgenetic data, it is suggested that the Yeniseian languages were spoken in a much greater area in ancient times, including parts of northern China and Mongolia.[3] It has been further proposed that the recorded distribution of Yeniseian languages from the 17th century onward represents a relatively recent northward migration, and that the Yeniseianurheimat lies to the south ofLake Baikal.[4]
The Yeniseians have been connected to theXiongnu confederation, whose ruling elite may have spoken a "southern Yeniseian" language similar to the now extinctPumpokol language.[5] TheJie, who ruled theLater Zhao state of northern China, are likewise believed to have spoken a Pumpokolic language based on linguistic and ethnogeographic data.[6]
For those who argue the Xiongnu spoke a Yeniseian language, the Yeniseian languages are thought to have contributed many ubiquitous loanwords toTurkic andMongolic vocabulary, such asKhan,Tarqan, and the word for 'god',Tengri.[5] This conclusion has primarily been drawn from the analysis of preserved Xiongnu texts in the form ofChinese characters.[7]
The classification of the Yeniseian languages has changed from time to time. A traditional classification is presented below:[8][9]
Georg 2007[11] and Hölzl 2018[12] use a slightly different classification, placing Pumpokol in both branches:
A more recent classification, introduced in Fortescue and Vajda 2022[13] and used in Vajda 2024,[14] is presented below:
It has been suggested that theXiongnu andHunnic languages were Southern Yeniseian. Only two languages of this family survived into the 20th century:Ket (also known asImbat Ket), with around 150 speakers, andYugh (also known asSym Ket), now extinct. The other known members of this family—Arin, Assan, Pumpokol, and Kott—have been extinct for over 150 years. Other groups—theBaikot,Yarin (Buklin),Yastin,Ashkyshtym (BachatTeleuts), andKoibalkyshtym—are identifiable as Yeniseic speaking fromtsarist fur-tax records compiled during the 17th century, but nothing remains of their languages except a few proper names.[15]
Ket, the only extant Yeniseian language, is the northernmost known. Historical sources record a contemporaneous northern expansion of the Ket along the Yenisei during the Russian conquest of Siberia.[16] Today, it is mainly spoken inTurukhansky District ofKrasnoyarsk Krai in far northern Siberia, in villages such asKellog andSulomay [ru]. Yugh, which only recently faced extinction, was spoken fromYeniseysk toVorogovo,Yartsevo, and the upperKet River.
The early modern distributions of Arin, Pumpokol, Kott, and Assan can be reconstructed. The Arin were north ofKrasnoyarsk, whereas the more distantly related Pumpokol was spoken to the north and west of it, along the upper Ket. Kott and Assan, another pair of closely related languages, occupied the area south of Krasnoyarsk, and east to theKan River.[17] From toponyms it can be seen that Yeniseian populations probably lived inBuryatia,Zabaykalsky, and northernMongolia. As an example, the toponymši can be found inZabaykalsky Krai, which is probably related to theProto-Yeniseian word*sēs 'river' and likely derives from an undocumented Yeniseian language. Some toponyms that appear Yeniseian extend as far asHeilongjiang.[4]
Václav Blažek argues, based on hydronymic data, that Yeniseians were once spread out even farther into the west.[of what?] He compares, for example, the wordšet, found in more westerly river names, to Proto-Yeniseian *sēs 'river'.[18]
According to a 2016 study, Yeniseian people and their language originated likely somewhere near theAltai Mountains or nearLake Baikal. According to this study, the Yeniseians are linked toPaleo-Eskimo groups.[19] The Yeniseians have also been hypothesised to be representative of a back-migration fromBeringia to central Siberia, and theDene–Yeniseians a result of a radiation of populations out of the Bering land bridge.[20] The spread of ancient Yeniseian languages may be associated with an ancestry component from the Baikal area (Cisbaikal_LNBA), maximized among hunter-gatherers of the localGlazkovo culture. Affinity for this ancestry has been observed among Na-Dene speakers. Cisbaikal_LNBA ancestry is inferred to be rich inAncient Paleo-Siberian ancestry, and also display affinity to Inner Northeast Asian (Yumin-like) groups.[21]
In Siberia,Edward Vajda observed that Yeniseian hydronyms in the circumpolar region (the recent area of distribution of Yeniseian languages) clearly overlay earlier systems, with the layering of morphemes onto Ugric, Samoyedic, Turkic, and Tungusic place names. It is therefore proposed that the homeland, or dispersal point, of the Yeniseian languages lies in the boreal region between Lake Baikal, northern Mongolia, and the Upper Yenisei basin, referred to by Vajda as a territory "abandoned" by the original Yeniseian speakers.[4] On the other hand,Václav Blažek (2019) argues that based on hydronomic evidence, Yeneisian languages were originally spoken on the northern slopes of theTianshan andPamir Mountains before dispersing downstream via theIrtysh River.[18]
The modern populations of Yeniseians in central and northern Siberia are thus not indigenous and represent a more recent migration northward. This was noted by Russian explorers during the conquest of Siberia: the Ket are recorded to have been expanding northwards along the Yenisei, from the river Yeloguy to the Kureyka, from the 17th century onward.[16] Based on these records, the modern Ket-speaking area appears to represent the very northernmost reaches of Yeniseian migration.
The origin of this northward migration from the Mongolian steppe has been connected to the fall of theXiongnu confederation. It appears from Chinese sources that a Yeniseian group might have been a major part of the heterogeneous Xiongnu tribal confederation,[22] who have traditionally been considered the ancestors of theHuns and other Northern Asian groups. However, these suggestions are difficult to substantiate due to the paucity of data.[23][24]
Alexander Vovin argues that at least parts of the Xiongnu, possibly its core or ruling class, spoke a Yeniseian language.[5] Positing a higher degree of similarity of Xiongnu to Yeniseian as compared to Turkic, he also praisedStefan Georg's demonstration of how the wordTengri (the Turkic and Mongolic word for 'sky' and later 'god') originated from Proto-YeniseiantɨŋVr.[5]
It has been further suggested that the Yeniseian-speaking Xiongnu elite underwent alanguage shift toOghur Turkic while migrating westward, eventually becoming theHuns. However, it has also been suggested that the core of the Hunnic language was a Yeniseian language.[25]
Vajda et al. 2013 proposed that the ruling elite of theHuns spoke a Yeniseian language and influenced other languages in the region.[3]
One sentence of the language of theJie, a Xiongnu tribe who founded theLater Zhao state, appears consistent with being a Yeniseian language.[5] Later studies suggest that Jie is closer toPumpokol than to other Yeniseian languages such as Ket.[6] This has been substantiated with geographical data by Vajda, who states that Yeniseian hydronyms found in northern Mongolia are exclusively Pumpokolic, in the process demonstrating both a linguistic and geographic proximity between Yeniseian and Jie.
The decline of the southern Yeniseian languages during and after the Russian conquest of Siberia has been attributed to language shifts of the Arin and Pumpokol toKhakas orChulym Tatar, and the Kott and Assan to Khakas.[17]
The Yeniseian languages share manycontact-induced similarities with the SouthSiberian Turkic languages,Samoyedic languages, andEvenki. These include long-distancenasal harmony, the development of formeraffricates tostops, and the use ofpostpositions or grammaticalenclitics asclausalsubordinators.[26] Yeniseic nominal enclitics closely approximate thecase systems of geographically contiguous families. Despite these similarities, Yeniseian appears to stand out among the languages of Siberia in severaltypological respects, such as the presence oftone, theprefixing verb inflection, and highly complexmorphophonology.[27]
The Yeniseian languages have been described as having up to four tones or no tones at all. The 'tones' are concomitant withglottalization,vowel length, andbreathy voice,[citation needed] not unlike the situation reconstructed forOld Chinese before the development of true tones in Chinese. The Yeniseian languages have highly elaborateverbal morphology.
| Northern branch | Pumpokolic branch | Arinic branch | Kottic branch | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ket | Yugh | Pumpokol | Arin | Kott dialects | Assan | |
| 1st sg. | āˑ(t) | āt | ad | ai | ai/aj~ja | aj |
| 2nd sg. | ūˑ | ū | ué | au | au | au |
| 3rd sg. | būˑ | bū | ádu *ida (fem.) | au | uju~hatu/xatu (masc.) uja~hata/xata (fem.) | bari |
| 1st pl. | ɤ̄ˑt~ɤ́tn | ɤ́tn | adɨŋ | aiŋ | ajoŋ | ajuŋ |
| 2nd pl. | ɤ́kŋ | kɤ́kŋ | ajaŋ | aŋ | auoŋ~aoŋ | avun |
| 3rd pl. | būˑŋ | béìŋ | — | itaŋ | uniaŋ~xatien | hatin |
The following table exemplifies the basic Yeniseian numerals as well as the various attempts at reconstructing the proto-forms:[8][15][9]
| Gloss | Northern branch | Pumpokolic branch | Arinic branch | Kottic branch | Reconstructions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ket dialects | Yugh | Pumpokol | Arin | Assan | Kott | |||
| SK | Starostin (1982)[28] | Vajda (2024)[29] | ||||||
| 1 | qūˑs/𐞥χɔˀk | χūs/χɔˀk | xúta | qusej | hutʃa/hau- | huːtʃa | *xu-sa | *quç,[30]*qawg[31] |
| 2 | ɯ̄ˑn | ɯ̄n | hínɛaŋ ~hínɛa | kina | ina | iːna | *xɨna | xʷin |
| 3 | dɔˀŋ | dɔˀŋ | dóŋa | tʲoŋa~tʲuːŋa | taŋa | toːŋa | *doʔŋa | *dowŋ |
| 4 | sīˑk | sīk | ciaŋ | tʃaɡa | ʃeɡa | tʃeɡa~ʃeːɡa | *si- | *šejg |
| 5 | qāˑk | χāk | héjlaŋ | qala | keɡa | keɡa~χeːɡa | *qä- | *ɢejVŋʷɬaw[32] |
| 6 | aˀ~à | àː | aɡɡiaŋ ~áɡiang | ɨɡa | ɡejlutʃa | χelutʃa | *ʔaẋV | *jak |
| 7 | ɔˀŋ | ɔˀŋ | ónʲaŋ | ɨnʲa | ɡejlina | χelina | *ʔoʔn- | *on |
| 8 | ɨ́nàmbʌ́nsàŋqōˑ | bosʲim[notes 4] | hinbasiaŋ | kinamančau | gejtaŋaŋ | xeltoŋa~gheltoŋa | ||
| 9 | qúsàmbʌ́nsàŋqōˑ | debit[notes 4] | xutajamosxajaŋ | qusamančau | godžibunagiaŋ | hučabunaga | ||
| 10 | qōˑ | χō | xaiáŋ (xajáŋ) | qau~hioɡa | xaha | haːɡa~haɡa | *ẋɔGa | *qag |
| 20 | ɛˀk | ɛˀk | hédiaŋ | kinthjuŋ | inkukn | iːntʰukŋ | *ʔeʔk~xeʔk | |
| 100 | kiˀ | kiˀ | útamsa | jus | jus | ujaːx | *kiʔ~ɡiʔ/*ʔalVs-(tamsV) | |
The following table exemplifies a few basic vocabulary items as well as the various attempts at reconstructing the proto-forms:[8][15][28][9]
| Gloss | Northern branch | Pumpokolic branch | Arinic branch | Kottic branch | Reconstructions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ket dialects | Yugh | Pumpokol | Arin | Assan | Kott | ||||||
| SK | NK | CK | Vajda | Starostin | Werner | ||||||
| Larch | sɛˀs | sɛˀs | šɛˀš | sɛˀs | tag | čit | čet | šet | *čɛˀç | *seʔs | *sɛʔt / *tɛʔt |
| River | sēˑs | sēˑs | šēˑš | sēs | tat | sat | šet | šet | *cēˑc | *ses | *set / *tet |
| Stone | tʌˀs | tʌˀs | tʌˀš | čʌˀs | kit | kes | šiš | šiš | *cʰɛˀs | *čɨʔs | *t'ɨʔs |
| Finger | tʌˀq | tʌˀq | tʌˀq | tʌˀχ | tok | intoto | – | tʰoχ | *tʰɛˀq | *tǝʔq | *thǝʔq |
| Resin | dīˑk | dīˑk | dīˑk | dʲīk | – | – | – | čik | *čīˑk | *ǯik (~-g, -ẋ) | *d'ik |
| Wolf | qɯ̄ˑt | qɯ̄ˑti | qɯ̄ˑtə | χɯ̄ˑt | xótu | qut | (boru ← Turkic) | *qʷīˑtʰi | *qɨte (˜ẋ-) | *qʌthǝ | |
| Winter | kɤ̄ˑt | kɤ̄ˑti | kɤ̄ˑte | kɤ̄ˑt | lete | lot | – | keːtʰi | *kʷeˑtʰi | *gǝte | *kǝte |
| Light | kʌˀn | kʌˀn | kʌˀn | kʌˀn | – | lum | – | kin | *kʷɛˀn | *gǝʔn- | – |
| Person | kɛˀd | kɛˀd | kɛˀd | kɛˀtʲ | kit | kit | het | hit | *kɛˀt | *keʔt | – |
| Two | ɯ̄ˑn | ɯ̄ˑn | ɯ̄ˑn | ɯ̄n | hin | kin | in | in | *kʰīˑn | *xɨna | *(k)ɨn |
| Water | ūˑl | ūˑl | ūˑl | ūr | ul | kul | ul | ul | *kʰul | *qoʔl (~ẋ-, -r) | – |
| Birch | ùs | ùːse | ùːsə | ùːʰs | uta | kus | uuča | uča | *kʰuχʂa | *xūsa | *kuʔǝt'ǝ |
| Snowsled | súùl | súùl | šúùl | sɔ́ùl | tsɛl | šal | čɛgar | čogar | *tsehʷəl | *soʔol | *sogǝl (~č/t'-ʎ) |
Until 2008, few linguists had accepted connections between Yeniseian and any other language family, though distant connections have been proposed with most of theergative languages of Eurasia.
In 2008,Edward Vajda ofWestern Washington University presented evidence for a genealogical relation between the Yeniseian languages of Siberia and theNa–Dene languages of North America.[33] At the time of publication (2010), Vajda's proposals had been favorably reviewed by several specialists of Na-Dene and Yeniseian languages—although at times with caution—includingMichael Krauss,Jeff Leer,James Kari, andHeinrich Werner, as well as a number of other respected linguists, such asBernard Comrie,Johanna Nichols,Victor Golla,Michael Fortescue,Eric Hamp, and Bill Poser (Kari and Potter 2010:12).[34] One significant exception is the critical review of the volume of collected papers byLyle Campbell[35] and a response by Vajda[36] published in late 2011 that clearly indicate the proposal is not completely settled at the present time. Two other reviews and notices of the volume appeared in 2011 byKeren Rice andJared Diamond.
TheKarasuk hypothesis, linking Yeniseian toBurushaski, has been proposed by several scholars, notably by A.P. Dulson[37] and V.N. Toporov.[38] In 2001,George van Driem postulated that theBurusho people were part of the migration out of Central Asia, that resulted in the Indo-European conquest of the Indus Valley.[39]
Alexei Kassian has suggested a connection betweenHattic,Hurro-Urartian and Karasuk, proposing some lexical correspondences.[40]
As noted by Tailleur[41] and Werner,[42] some of the earliest proposals of genetic relations of Yeniseian, byM.A. Castrén (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[43] and Karl Bouda.[44] A 2008 study found further evidence for a possible relation between Yeniseian and Sino–Tibetan, citing several possiblecognates.[45] Gao Jingyi (2014) identified twelve Sinitic and Yeniseian shared etymologies that belonged to the basic vocabulary, and argued that these Sino–Yeniseian etymologies could not be loans from either language into the other.[46]
The "Sino–Caucasian" hypothesis ofSergei Starostin posits that the Yeniseian languages form aclade with Sino–Tibetan, which he calledSino–Yeniseian. The Sino–Caucasian hypothesis has been expanded by others to "Dene–Caucasian" to include theNa-Dene languages of North America,Burushaski,Basque and, occasionally,Etruscan. A narrower binary Dene–Yeniseian family has recently been well received. The validity of the rest of the family, however, is viewed as doubtful or rejected by nearly allhistorical linguists.[47][48][49] An updated tree byGeorgiy Starostin now groups Na-Dene with Sino–Tibetan and Yeniseian withBurushaski (Karasuk hypothesis).[50]
George van Driem does not believe that Sino–Tibetan (which he calls "Trans–Himalayan") and Yeniseian are related language families. However, he argues that Yeniseian speakers once populated theNorth China Plain and that Proto-Sinitic speakers assimilated them when they migrated to the region. As a result, Sinitic acquired creoloid characteristics when it came to be used as a lingua franca among ethnolinguistically diverse populations.[51]
A 2023 analysis byDavid Bradley using the standard techniques of comparative linguistics supports a distant genetic link between the Sino–Tibetan, Na–Dene, and Yeniseian language families. Bradley argues that any similarities Sino–Tibetan shares with other language families of the East Asia area such asHmong–Mien,Altaic (which is asprachbund),Austroasiatic,Kra–Dai, andAustronesian came through contact; but as there has been no recent contact between the Sino–Tibetan, Na–Dene, and Yeniseian language families, any similarities these groups share must be residual.[52]
Bouda, in various publications in the 1930s through the 1950s, described a linguistic network that (besides Yeniseian and Sino-Tibetan) also includedCaucasian, andBurushaski, some forms of which have gone by the name of Sino-Caucasian. The works of R. Bleichsteiner[53] and O.G. Tailleur,[54] the lateSergei A. Starostin[55] andSergei L. Nikolayev[56] have sought to confirm these connections. Others who have developed the hypothesis, often expanded to Dene–Caucasian, include J.D. Bengtson,[57] V. Blažek,[58]J.H. Greenberg (withM. Ruhlen),[59] and M. Ruhlen.[60]George Starostin continues his father's work in Yeniseian, Sino-Caucasian and other fields.[61]
This theory is very controversial or viewed as doubtful or rejected by other linguists.[62][63][64]
| Chukotko-Kamchatkan |
| .svg) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yeniseian |
| |||||
| Yukaghir | ||||||
| Nivkh | ||||||
| Ainu | ||||||
| Eskaleut | ||||||
| Proposed groupings | ||||||
Italics indicateextinct languages | ||||||
