The Yukaghir languages ( or ; also Yukagir, Jukagir) are a small family of two closely related surviving languages—Tundra and Kolyma Yukaghir—spoken by the Yukaghir in the Russian Far East living in the basin of the Kolyma River. Estimates of the number of speakers in the 21st century range from several dozen to about 500 (see below for details). The entire family, as such, is regarded as moribund.
History and geography
Tundra and Kolyma Yukaghir are the only two remnants of what used to be one of the dominant languages (or language families) of northeastern Siberia, spreading from the River Anadyr in the east to the River Lena in the west.Dolgikh, Boris O. (1960) Rodovoj i plemennoj sostav narodov Sibiri v XVII v. Moskva: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR 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.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.
The Yukaghir have experienced a language shift since the early 20th century, with a majority of speakers also speaking Russian and Yakut. In 1993, Juha Janhunen estimated the number of speakers for each Yukaghir language to be less than 50, although the number of persons reporting their Yukaghir ethnicity may be substantially higher. The number of Yukaghir speakers fell from 604 in the 2002 Russian census to 516 who reported speaking it as their native language in 2020–2021.
Members The two extant varieties of Yukaghir are: Tundra Yukaghir (Northern Yukaghir, also known as Wadul): 30 to 150 speakers in 1989. Last spoken in the tundra belt extending between the lower Indigirka to the lower Kolyma basin (). Formerly spoken in a much wider area extending to the Lena basin in the west. Kolyma Yukaghir (Forest Yukaghir, Southern Yukaghir, also known as Odul): 5 to 10 speakers in 2009. Last spoken in the forest zone near the sources of the Kolyma, divided between the Sakha Republic and the Magadan Oblast (around ), previously in the wider area of the upper Kolyma region.
Extinct varieties include Omok and Chuvan, which survived until the 19th century.
Grammatical features The two Yukaghir 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 residual vowel harmony and a complex phonotactics of consonants. Both have rich agglutinative morphology and are strictly head-final. There is practically no finite subordination and very few coordinate structures. The most spectacular feature of TY and KY grammar is the split intransitive alignment system based on discourse-pragmatic features. In the absence of narrow focus, the system is organised on the nominative–accusative basis; when focused, direct objects and subjects of intransitive verbs are co-aligned (special focus case, special focus agreement).
Lexical differences Some lexical differences between Kolyma Yukaghir and Tundra Yukaghir:
{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Kolyma Yukaghir !! Tundra Yukaghir |- ! one | irkēj || mōrqōñ |- ! two | ataqlōj || kijōñ |- ! five | iñhañbōj || imd’ald’añ |- ! many | niŋel || pojōl |- ! all | t’umu || jawnə |- ! day | pod’erqə || t’ajləŋ |- ! sun | jelōd’ə || jerpəjəŋ |- ! water | ōd’ī || lawjəŋ |- ! fish | anil || al’həŋ |- ! reindeer | at’ə || il’eŋ |- ! dog | pubel || laməŋ |- ! person | šoromə || ködeŋ |- ! people | omnī || t’īŋ |- ! eye | aŋd’ə || jȫd’īŋ |- ! tooth | todī || sal’hərīŋ |- ! night | emil || t’iŋit’əl |- ! foot | nojl || t’ohul |- ! name | ñū || kirijəŋ |- ! to sit | modo- || sahañe- |- ! to kill | kuledə- || puñī- |- ! to die | amdə- || jabə- |- ! to know | leidī- || kurilī- |- ! to drink | ožə- || law-
Text sample (Northern Yukaghir) Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Cyrillic:
Latin: 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.
Possible relationship to other language families The relationship of the Yukaghir languages with other language families is uncertain, though it has been suggested that they are distantly related to the Uralic languages, thus forming the putative Uralic–Yukaghir language family.Collinder, Björn (1940) Jukagirisch und Uralisch. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell.
Michael Fortescue argued that Yukaghir is related to the Eskimo-Aleut languages along with Uralic languages, forming the Uralo-Siberian language family.
See also
Paleosiberian languages Indigenous peoples of Siberia Uralic languages Uralic–Yukaghir languages Yukaghir people
References
Further reading
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. 2001. Yukaghir Texts. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. 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.
External links
The Yukaghir Languages Online Documentation of Kolyma Yukaghir Project on Documentation of Tundra Yukaghir Tundra Yukaghir text sample – Declaration of Human Rights Wikimedia in Tundra Yukaghir Siberian languages Yukaghir stories