Yukaghir languages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Yukaghir | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Russian Far East |
| Genetic classification: |
Yukaghir |
| Subdivisions: |
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| ISO 639-2 and 639-5: | — |
The Yukaghir languages (also Yukagir, Jukagir) are a small family of two closely related languages spoken in the Russian Far East by the Yukaghir, an indigenous people of Eastern Siberia, 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 an earlier date, Yukagir languages were "spoken in a vast area, all the way to the Lena River in the west" (Collinder 1965:30).
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[edit] Classification
The two extant varieties of Yukagir are close enough to often be considered dialects of a single language. Their relationship with other language families is uncertain, though it has been suggested that they are distantly related to the Uralic languages. (See Uralic-Yukaghir languages.)
[edit] Members
The two extant varieties of Yukagir are:
- Northern Yukaghir (ykg; "Tundra Yukaghir", also known as Odul, Tundra, Tundre): 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.
- Southern Yukaghir (yux; "Forest Yukaghir", also known as Kolym, Kolyma, Odul): 10 to 50 speakers as of 1989. 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.
[edit] See also
[edit] 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.
