Uralo-Siberian | |
---|---|
(not widely accepted) | |
Geographic distribution | Northern Eurasia, the Arctic |
Linguistic classification | Proposed language family |
Subdivisions |
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Glottolog | None |
Uralo-Siberian is a hypothetical language family consisting of Uralic, Yukaghir, and Eskaleut. It was proposed in 1998 by Michael Fortescue,[1] an expert in Eskaleut and Chukotko-Kamchatkan, in his book Language Relations across Bering Strait. Some have attempted to include Nivkh in Uralo-Siberian. Until 2011, it also included Chukotko-Kamchatkan. However, after 2011 Fortescue only included Uralic, Yukaghir and Eskaleut in the theory, although he argued that Uralo-Siberian languages have influenced Chukotko-Kamchatkan.[2]
Connections with the Uralic and other language families are generally seen as speculative,[3] including Fortescue's Uralo-Siberian hypothesis, which has been evaluated by specialists as "inspiring" and "compelling", but still unproven.[4][5]
Structural similarities between Uralic and Eskaleut languages were observed early. In 1746, the Danish theologian Marcus Wøldike (da) compared Greenlandic to Hungarian. In 1818, Rasmus Rask considered Greenlandic to be related to the Uralic languages, Finnish in particular, and presented a list of lexical correspondences (Rask also considered Uralic and Altaic to be related to each other). In 1959, Knut Bergsland published the paper The Eskimo–Uralic Hypothesis, in which he, like other authors before him, presented a number of grammatical similarities and a small number of lexical correspondences. In 1962, Morris Swadesh proposed a relationship between the Eskaleut and Chukotko-Kamchatkan language families. In 1998, Michael Fortescue presented more detailed arguments in his book, Language Relations across Bering Strait. His title evokes Morris Swadesh's 1962 article, "Linguistic relations across the Bering Strait".
Fortescue (1998, pp. 60–95) surveys 44 typological markers and argues that a typological profile uniquely identifying the language families proposed to comprise the Uralo-Siberian family can be established. The Uralo-Siberian hypothesis is rooted in the assumption that this distinct typological profile was, rather than an areal profile common to four unrelated language families, the profile of a single language ancestral to all four: Proto-Uralo-Siberian.
None of the four families shows all of these 17 features; ranging from 12 reconstructible in Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan to 16 in Proto-Uralic. Frequently the modern-day descendant languages have diverged further from this profile — particularly Itelmen, for which Fortescue assumes substrate influence from a language typologically more alike to the non-Uralo-Siberian languages of the region.
Several more widely spread typologically significant features may also instead represent contact influence, according to Fortescue (1998):
Apparently shared elements of Uralo-Siberian morphology include the following:
*-t | plural |
*-k | dual |
*m- | 1st person |
*t- | 2nd person |
*ka | interrogative pronoun |
*-n | genitive case |
Fortescue (1998) lists 94 lexical correspondence sets with reflexes in at least three of the four language families, and even more shared by two of the language families. Examples are *ap(p)a 'grandfather', *kað'a 'mountain' and many others.
Below are some lexical items reconstructed to Proto-Uralo-Siberian, along with their reflexes in Proto-Uralic, Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan (sometimes Proto-Chukchi), and Proto-Eskaleut (sometimes Proto-Eskimo or Aleut). (Source: Fortescue 1998:152–158.)
Proto-Uralo-Siberian | Proto-Uralic | Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan | Proto-Eskaleut |
---|---|---|---|
*aj(aɣ)- 'push forward' | *aja- 'drive, chase' | *aj-tat- 'chase, herd' (PC) | *ajaɣ- 'push, thrust at with pole' |
*ap(p)a 'grandfather' | *appe 'father in law' | *æpæ 'grandfather' | *ap(p)a 'grandfather' |
*el(l)ä 'not' | *elä 'not' | *ællæ 'not' (PC) | *-la(ɣ)- 'not' (A) |
*pit(uɣ)- 'tie up' | *pitV- 'tie' (FU) | *pət- 'tie up' | *pətuɣ- 'tie up' |
*toɣə- 'take' | *toɣe- 'bring, take, give' (FU) | *teɣiŋrə- 'pull out' | *teɣu- 'take' (PE) |
Proposed cognates between the languages:[6][7]
Proto-Yukagir | Proto-Eskaleut |
---|---|
*al 'below' | *atə 'below' |
*amlə 'swallow' | *ama 'suckle' |
*aŋa 'mouth' | *aŋ-va- 'open' |
*cowinə 'spear' | *caviɣ 'knife' |
*kin 'who' | *kina 'who' |
*ləɣ- 'eat' | *iɣa- 'swallow' |
*um 'close' | *uməɣ 'close' |
*n’ə 'get' | *nəɣ 'get' |
*ta 'that' | *ta 'that' |
Uralic | Eskaleut[8] |
---|---|
*ila 'under' | *at(ǝ) 'down' |
*elä 'live' | *ǝt(ǝ) 'be' |
*tuli 'come' | *tut 'arrive, land' |
*kuda 'morning, dawn' | *qilaɣ 'sky' |
*ke 'who' | *kina 'who' |
*to 'that' | *ta 'that' |
*kuda 'weave' | *qilaɣ 'weave' |
According to Ante Aikio (who does not believe that Yukaghir is related to Uralic), the meanings 'weave' and 'morning' are most likely unrelated, which means that these are instances of coincidental homonymy, which only very rarely happens by chance, meaning that some kind of contact most likely happened, but exact conclusions cannot be drawn with modern information.[8][9]
Fortescue suggested the following grammatical similarities to point to a relationship:
Proto-Uralic and Proto-Eskaleut number and case markers:[10]
Proto-Uralic | Proto-Eskaleut | |
---|---|---|
nom./absolutive sing. | Ø | Ø |
dual | *-kə | *k |
plural | *-t | *-t |
locative | *-(kə)na | *-ni |
accusative sing | *-m | – |
plural accusative | *-j/i | *-(ŋ)i |
ablative | *-(kə)tə | *-kənc |
dative/lative | *-kə/-ŋ | *-ŋun |
Yukaghir and Proto-Eskaleut verbal and nominal inflections:[6]
Pronoun | Yukaghir | Eskaleut |
---|---|---|
trans. 1s | *ŋ | *ŋa |
3pl | *ŋi | *ŋi |
3 poss. | *ntə | *n |
vialis | *-(n)kən | *-(n)kən |
abl. | *-(n)kət | *(m/n)əɣ |
all | *(ŋi)n’ | *-(m/n)un / *ŋus/*-ŋun |
adv. loc./lative | *nə | *nə |
Some or all of the four Uralo-Siberian families have been included in more extensive groupings of languages (see links below). Fortescue's hypothesis does not oppose or exclude these various proposals. In particular, he considers that a remote relationship between Uralo-Siberian and Altaic (or some part of Altaic) is likely (see Ural–Altaic languages). However, Fortescue holds that Uralo-Siberian lies within the bounds of the provable, whereas Nostratic may be too remote a grouping to ever be convincingly demonstrated.
The University of Leiden linguist Frederik Kortlandt (2006:1) asserts that Indo-Uralic (a proposed language family consisting of Uralic and Indo-European) is itself a branch of Uralo-Siberian and that, furthermore, the Nivkh language also belongs to Uralo-Siberian. This would make Uralo-Siberian the proto-language of a much vaster language family. Kortlandt (2006:3) considers that Uralo-Siberian and Altaic (defined by him as consisting of Turkic, Mongolian, Tungusic, Korean, and Japanese) may be coordinate branches of the Eurasiatic language family proposed by Joseph Greenberg but rejected by most linguists.
Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uralo-Siberian languages.
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