Yukaghir languages

The Yukaghir languages (/ˈjuːkəɡɪər/ YOO-kə-geer or /juːkəˈɡɪər/ yoo-kə-GEER; also Yukagir, Jukagir) are a small family of two closely related languages—Tundra and Kolyma Yukaghir—spoken by the Yukaghir in the Russian Far East living in the basin of the Kolyma 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 as moribund.^[4] The Yukaghir have experienced a politically imposed language shift in recent times, resulting in a majority of speakers also speaking Russian and Yakut.

Yukaghir
Geographic distribution	Russian Far East
Ethnicity	Yukaghirs, Chuvans, Anauls
Native speakers	516 (mostly Tundra, 2020 census)[1][2]
Linguistic classification	One of the world's primary language families
Subdivisions	Northern Omok † Chuvan † Southern
Language codes
Glottolog	yuka1259
Extent of Yukaghir languages in the 17th (hatched) and 20th (solid) centuries

In the Russian 2020-2021 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.

Classification and grammatical features

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.^[6]

Michael Fortescue argued that Yukaghir is related to the Eskimo-Aleut languages along with Uralic languages, forming the Uralo-Siberian language family.^[7]

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 the River Anadyr in the east to the River 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 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 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).^[10]

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 (69°N 154°E). 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 65°N 153°E), previously in the wider area of the upper Kolyma region.

Extinct varieties include Omok and Chuvan, which survived until the 19th century.

Lexical differences

Some lexical differences between Kolyma Yukaghir and Tundra Yukaghir:^[11]: 150

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-	sahañeto
kill	kuledə-	puñīto
die	amdə-	jabəto
know	leidī-	kurilīto
drink	ožə-	law-

Text sample (Northern Yukaghir)

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Cyrillic:

Көдэҥ тэн – ньидитэ бандьэ параwааньэрэҥ тудэ чуҥдэн ньилдьилэк эннулҥинь-мэдьуолнуни. Көдэҥ энмун чундэ мэ льэй, таатльэр лукундьии ньинэмдьийилпэ дитэ эннуйуол-мораwньэҥи.

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.

See also

• language portal

• Paleosiberian languages
• Indigenous peoples of Siberia
• Uralic languages
• Uralic–Yukaghir languages
• Yukaghir people