Extent of Yukaghir languages in the 17th (hatched) and 20th (solid) centuries
TheYukaghir languages (/ˈjuːkəɡɪər/YOO-kə-geer or/juːkəˈɡɪər/yoo-kə-GEER; alsoYukagir, Jukagir) are a small family of two closely related surviving languages—Tundra andKolyma Yukaghir—spoken by theYukaghir in theRussian Far East living in the basin of theKolyma River. At the 2002 Russian census, both Yukaghir languages taken together had 604 speakers.[3] More recent reports from the field reveal that this number is far too high:Southern Yukaghir was reported to have had a maximum of 60 fluent speakers in 2009, while the Tundra Yukaghir language had around 60–70. The entire family, as such, is regarded asmoribund.[4] The Yukaghir have experienced a politically imposedlanguage shift in recent times, resulting in a majority of speakers also speakingRussian andYakut.
In the 2020–2021 Russian census, 516 people reported speaking a Yukaghir language as their native language.[5]
Distribution of the Yukaghir languages and internal tribal divisions in the 17th century.
The relationship of the Yukaghir languages with other language families is uncertain, though it has been suggested that they are distantly related to theUralic languages, thus forming the putativeUralic–Yukaghir language family.[6]
Tundra and Kolyma Yukaghir are the only two remnants of what used to be one of the dominant languages/language families of northeastern Siberia, spreading from theRiver Anadyr in the east to theRiver Lena in the west.[8] On the basis of the evidence of early sources, it can be assumed that there existed a Yukaghir dialect continuum, with what is today Tundra Yukaghir and Kolyma Yukaghir at the extremes.[9]
These two languages share only a relatively small part of the vocabulary and are not mutually intelligible. The basic grammatical structures, however, are very similar. Both languages have residualvowel harmony and a complexphonotactics of consonants. Both have richagglutinative morphology and are strictlyhead-final. There is practically no finite subordination and very fewcoordinate structures. The most spectacular feature of TY and KY grammar is thesplit intransitive alignment system based on discourse-pragmatic features. In absence ofnarrow focus, the system is organised on thenominative–accusative basis; when focused,direct objects and subjects ofintransitive verbs are co-aligned (special focus case, special focus agreement).[10]
Ködeng ten – n'idite band'e parawaan'ereng tude chungden n'ild'ilek ennulngin'-med'uolnuni. Ködeng enmun chunde me l'ey, taatl'er lukund'ii n'inemd'iyilpe dite ennuyuol-morawn'engi.
English translation:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
^Dolgikh, Boris O. (1960) Rodovoj i plemennoj sostav narodov Sibiri v XVII v. Moskva: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR
^Nikoleava, Irina (2008) Chuvan and Omok languages? In: A. Lubotsky et al. (Eds.) Evidence and Counter-Evidence. Festschrift Frederik Kortland. Amsterdam: Rodopi, pp. 313–336.
^Georg, Stefan (2017). "Other isolated languages of Asia". In Campbell, Lyle (ed.).Language Isolates. Routledge Language Family Series. Oxford/New York: Routledge. pp. 139–161.ISBN978-1-138-82105-7.
Luobbal Sámmol Sámmol Ánte (Ante Aikio): The Uralic-Yukaghir lexical correspondences: genetic inheritance, language contact or chance resemblance? – Finnisch-Ugrische Forschungen 62, pp. 7–76.Online article
Häkkinen, Jaakko: Early contacts between Uralic and Yukaghir.Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Toimituksia − Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 264, pp. 91–101. Helsinki: Suomalais-ugrilainen seura, 2012.Online article (pdf)
Jochel'son Vladimir I. 1900.Materialy po izucheniju jukagirskogo jazyka i fol’klora. ('Materials for the Study of Yukaghir Language and Folklore'). Sankt-Peterburg: Akademija nauk.
Jochelson, Waldemar. 1926.The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirized Tungus. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, 9, 13. Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition. Leiden: Brill.
Krejnovich, Erukhim A. 1958.Jukagirskij jazyk. ('The Yukaghir Language') Moscow and Leningrad: Nauka.
Krejnovich, Erukhim A. 1982.Issledovanija i materialy po jukagirskomu jazyku. ('Investigations and Materials on the Yukaghir Language') Leningrad: Nauka.
Kurilov, Gavril N. 2001.Jukagirsko-russkij slovar'. ('Yukaghir-Russian Dictionary') Novosibirsk: Nauka.
Maslova, Elena. 2003.A Grammar of Kolyma Yukaghir. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Maslova, Elena. 2003.Tundra Yukaghir. LINCOM Europa. Languages of the World/Materials 372.
Nikolaeva, Irina. 2006.A Historical Dictionary of Yukaghir. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Vakhtin, Nikolaj B. 1991.The Yukagir language in sociolinguistic perspective. Steszew, Poland: International Institute of Ethnolinguistic and Oriental Studies.
Willerslev, Rane 2007. Soul Hunters: Hunting, Animism, and Personhood among the Siberian Yukaghirs. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Willerslev, Rane 2012. On the Run in Siberia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
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