View source for Social:Yeniseian languages

{{Short description|Language family of central Siberia}}
{{Infobox language family
| name = Yeniseian
| region = today along the Yenisei River<br /> historically large parts of Siberia and of Mongolia
| familycolor = Dené–Yeniseian
| glotto = yeni1252
| glottorefname = Yeniseian
| child1 = Northern
| child2 = Southern †
| child3 = 
| child4 = 
| protoname = [[Social:Proto-Yeniseian|Proto-Yeniseian]]
| map = Yeniseian map XVII-XX.png
| mapcaption = Distribution of Yeniseian languages in the 17th century (hatched) and in the end of 20th century (solid). Hydronymic data suggests that this distribution represents a northward migration of original Yeniseian populations from the Sayan Mountains and northern Mongolia.
| ancestor = 
| glottoname = 
| notes = 
| ethnicity = Yeniseian people
| map2 = Yeniseian languages map.svg
| mapcaption2 = The distribution of individual Yeniseian languages in 1600
}}
The '''Yeniseian languages''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|j|ɛ|n|ɪ|ˈ|s|eɪ|ə|n}} {{respell|YEN|ih|SAY|ən}}; sometimes known as '''Yeniseic''' or '''Yenisei-Ostyak''';<ref group=notes>"[[Social:Ostyak|Ostyak]]" is a concept of areal rather than genetic linguistics. In addition to the Yeniseian languages it also includes the [[Social:Uralic languages|Uralic languages]] [[Social:Khanty language|Khanty]] and [[Social:Selkup language|Selkup]].</ref> occasionally spelled with -'''ss'''-) are a family of languages that are spoken by the Yeniseian people in the Yenisei River region of central Siberia. As part of the proposed [[Social:Dené–Yeniseian languages|Dené–Yeniseian language family]], the Yeniseian languages have been argued to be part of "the first demonstration of a genealogical link between Old World and New World language families that meets the standards of traditional comparative-historical linguistics".<ref>Bernard Comrie (2008) "Why the Dene-Yeniseic Hypothesis is Exciting". Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska: Dene-Yeniseic Symposium.</ref> The only surviving language of the group today is [[Social:Ket language|Ket]].

From hydronymic and [[Biology:Genetics|genetic]] data, it is suggested that the Yeniseian languages were spoken in a much greater area in ancient times, including parts of northern China and Mongolia.<ref name="Vajda 2013">Vajda, Edward J. (2013). Yeniseian Peoples and Languages: A History of Yeniseian Studies with an Annotated Bibliography and a Source Guide. Oxford/New York: Routledge.</ref> It has been further proposed that the recorded distribution of Yeniseian languages from the 17th century onward represents a relatively recent northward migration, and that the Yeniseian urheimat lies to the south of [[Earth:Lake Baikal|Lake Baikal]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Vajda|first=Edward|title=Yeniseian and Dene Hydronyms|url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/24847/1/ldc-sp17-10-vajda.pdf|journal=Language Documentation & Conservation Special Publication|volume=17|pages=183–201}}</ref>

The Yeniseians have been connected to the [[Social:Xiongnu|Xiongnu confederation]], whose ruling elite may have spoken a southern Yeniseian language similar to the now extinct [[Social:Pumpokol language|Pumpokol language]].<ref name="Vovin 2000 p87-104" /> The Jie, who ruled the Later Zhao state of northern China, are likewise believed to have spoken a Pumpokolic language based on linguistic and ethnogeographic data.<ref name=vov/>

For those who argue the Xiongnu spoke a Yeniseian language, the Yeniseian languages are thought to have contributed many ubiquitous loanwords to [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]] and [[Social:Mongolic languages|Mongolic]] vocabulary, such as ''Khan'', ''Khagan'', ''Tarqan'', and the word for 'god' and 'sky', ''[[Religion:Tengri|Tengri]]''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Vovin|first=Alexander|title=Did the Xiong Nu Speak a Yeniseian Language?|journal=Central Asiatic Journal|volume=44|issue=1|date=2000|url=https://www.academia.edu/1804191|language=en}}</ref> This conclusion has primarily been drawn from the analysis of preserved Xiongnu texts in the form of [[Social:Chinese characters|Chinese characters]].

==Classification==

{{tree list}}
*[[Social:Proto-Yeniseian|Proto-Yeniseian]] (before 500 BC; split around 1 AD)<ref>Vadja 2007</ref>
** Northern Yeniseian (split around 700 AD)
*** [[Social:Ket language|Ket]] (150 speakers as of a 2020 estimate)
*** [[Social:Yugh language|Yugh]] {{extinct}} (extinct by 1970s)
** Southern Yeniseian {{extinct}}
*** Kott–Assan (split around 1200 AD)
**** [[Social:Kott language|Kott]] {{extinct}} (extinct by the mid-1800s)
**** [[Social:Assan language|Assan]] {{extinct}} (extinct by 1800)
*** Arin–Pumpokol (split around 550 AD)
**** [[Social:Arin language|Arin]] {{extinct}} (extinct by 1800)
**** [[Social:Pumpokol language|Pumpokol]] {{extinct}} (extinct by 1750)
**** ? Jie {{extinct}} (extinct after 4th century)
{{tree list/end}}

It has been suggested that the [[Social:Xiongnu|Xiongnu]] and [[Social:Hunnic language|Hunnic language]]s were Southern Yeniseian. Only two languages of this family survived into the 20th century: [[Social:Ket language|Ket]] (also known as ''Imbat Ket''), with around 200 speakers, and [[Social:Yugh language|Yugh]] (also known as ''Sym Ket''), now extinct. The other known members of this family—Arin, Assan, Pumpokol, and Kott—have been extinct for over two centuries. Other groups—the Buklin, Baikot, Yarin, Yastin, Ash, and Koibal—are identifiable as Yeniseic speaking from [[Social:Tsarist autocracy|tsarist]] fur-tax records compiled during the 17th century, but nothing remains of their languages except a few proper names.

== Distribution ==
[[Social:Ket language|Ket]], the only extant Yeniseian language, is the northernmost known. Historical sources record a contemporaneous northern expansion of the Ket along the Yenisei during the Russian conquest of Siberia.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Georg|first=Stefan|title=The Gradual Disappearance of a Eurasian Language Family|url=https://www.academia.edu/1629984|journal=Language Death and Language Maintenance: Theoretical, Practical and Descriptive Approaches|series=Current Issues in Linguistic Theory |date=January 2003|volume=240 |page=89|doi=10.1075/cilt.240.07geo |isbn=978-90-272-4752-0 |language=en}}</ref> Today, it is mainly spoken in Turukhansky District of [[Place:Krasnoyarsk Krai|Krasnoyarsk Krai]] in far northern Siberia, in villages such as Kellog and Sulomay. Yugh, which only recently faced extinction, was spoken from Yeniseysk to Vorogovo, Yartsevo, and the upper Ket River.

The early modern distributions of Arin, Pumpokol, Kott, and Assan can be reconstructed. The Arin were north of Krasnoyarsk, whereas the closely related Pumpokol was spoken to the north and west of it, along the upper Ket. Kott and Assan, another pair of closely related languages, occupied the area south of Krasnoyarsk, and east to the Kan River.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7s8t81p8m4C|title=Languages and Prehistory of Central Siberia|last=Vajda|first=Edward J.|date=2004-01-01|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|isbn=978-90-272-4776-6|language=en}}</ref> From toponyms it can be seen that Yeniseian populations probably lived in Buryatia, Zabaykalsky, and northern Mongolia. As an example, the toponym ''ši'' can be found in Zabaykalsky Krai, which is probably related to the [[Social:Proto-Yeniseian|Proto-Yeniseian]] word ''sēs'' 'river' and likely derives from an undocumented Yeniseian language. Some toponyms that appear Yeniseian extend as far as Heilongjiang.<ref name=":0"/>

Václav Blažek argues, based on hydronymic data, that Yeniseians were once spread out even farther into the west.{{of what|date=October 2021}} He compares, for example, the word ''šet'', found in more westerly river names, to Proto-Yeniseian ''sēs'' 'river'.<ref name="blazek"/>

== Origins and history ==
[[File:Hsiung-nu-Empire.png|thumb|According to Vovin, the Xiongnu Empire had a Yeniseian-speaking component.]]
According to a 2016 study, Yeniseian people and their language originated likely somewhere near the Altai Mountains or near [[Earth:Lake Baikal|Lake Baikal]]. According to this study, the Yeniseians are linked to Paleo-Eskimo groups.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Flegontov|first1=Pavel|last2=Changmai|first2=Piya|last3=Zidkova|first3=Anastassiya|last4=Logacheva|first4=Maria D.|last5=Altınışık|first5=N. Ezgi|last6=Flegontova|first6=Olga|last7=Gelfand|first7=Mikhail S.|last8=Gerasimov|first8=Evgeny S.|last9=Khrameeva|first9=Ekaterina E.|date=2016-02-11|title=Genomic study of the Ket: a Paleo-Eskimo-related ethnic group with significant ancient North Eurasian ancestry|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=6|pages=20768|arxiv=1508.03097|bibcode=2016NatSR...620768F|doi=10.1038/srep20768|pmc=4750364|pmid=26865217}}</ref> The Yeniseians have also been hypothesised to be representative of a back-migration from [[Earth:Beringia|Beringia]] to central Siberia, and the [[Social:Dené–Yeniseian languages|Dené–Yeniseians]] a result of a radiation of populations out of the Bering land bridge.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sicoli|first1=Mark A.|last2=Holton|first2=Gary|date=2014-03-12|title=Linguistic Phylogenies Support Back-Migration from Beringia to Asia|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=9|issue=3|pages=e91722|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0091722|issn=1932-6203|pmc=3951421|pmid=24621925|bibcode=2014PLoSO...991722S|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In Siberia, Edward Vajda observed that Yeniseian hydronyms in the circumpolar region (the recent area of distribution of Yeniseian languages) clearly overlay earlier systems, with the layering of morphemes onto Ugric, Samoyedic, Turkic, and Tungusic place names. It is therefore proposed that the homeland, or dispersal point, of the Yeniseian languages lies in the boreal region between Lake Baikal, northern Mongolia, and the Upper Yenisei basin, referred to by Vajda as a territory "abandoned" by the original Yeniseian speakers.<ref name=":0" /> On the other hand, Václav Blažek (2019) argues that based on hydronomic evidence, Yeneisian languages were originally spoken on the northern slopes of the Tianshan and Pamir mountains before dispersing downstream via the Irtysh River.<ref name="blazek">{{cite web|last=Blažek|first=Václav|url=https://starling.rinet.ru/confer/Blazhek-2019.pdf|title=Toward the question of Yeniseian homeland in perspective of toponymy}}</ref>

The modern populations of Yeniseians in central and northern Siberia are thus not indigenous and represent a more recent migration northward. This was noted by Russian explorers during the conquest of Siberia: the Ket are recorded to have been expanding northwards along the Yenisei, from the river Yeloguy to the Kureyka, from the 17th century onward.<ref name=":1" /> Based on these records, the modern Ket-speaking area appears to represent the very northernmost reaches of Yeniseian migration. 
[[File:Sixteen Kingdoms 326 AD.jpg|alt=|thumb|The Jie kings of the Later Zhao are likely to have spoke Yeniseian.]]
The origin of this northward migration from the Mongolian steppe has been connected to the fall of the [[Social:Xiongnu|Xiongnu confederation]]. It appears from Chinese sources that a Yeniseian group might have been a major part of the heterogeneous Xiongnu tribal confederation,<ref>See Vovin 2000, Vovin 2002 and Pulleyblank 2002</ref> who have traditionally been considered the ancestors of the [[Social:Huns|Huns]] and other Northern Asian groups. However, these suggestions are difficult to substantiate due to the paucity of data.<ref name="vajd08a">See Vajda 2008a</ref><ref name="Sinor">{{cite book|title=History of Humanity|last1=Sinor|first1=Denis|publisher=[[Organization:UNESCO|UNESCO]]|year=1996|isbn=978-92-3-102812-0|editor1-last=Herrmann|editor1-first=J.|series=Multiple History|volume=III: From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Seventh Century A.D.|page=452|chapter=23.4 The Xiongnu Empire|editor2-last=Zürcher|editor2-first=E.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WGUz01yBumEC&pg=PA452}}</ref>

Alexander Vovin argues that at least parts of the Xiongnu, possibly its core or ruling class, spoke a Yeniseian language.<ref name="Vovin 2000 p87-104">Vovin, Alexander. "Did the Xiongnu speak a Yeniseian language?". Central Asiatic Journal 44/1 (2000), pp. 87–104.</ref> Positing a higher degree of similarity of Xiongnu to Yeniseian as compared to Turkic, he also praised Stefan Georg's demonstration of how the word ''[[Religion:Tengri|Tengri]]'' (the Turkic and Mongolic word for 'sky' and later 'god') originated from Proto-Yeniseian ''tɨŋVr''.<ref name=":3" />

It has been further suggested that the Yeniseian-speaking Xiongnu elite underwent a [[Social:Language shift|language shift]] to [[Social:Oghur languages|Oghur Turkic]] while migrating westward, eventually becoming the [[Social:Huns|Huns]]. However, it has also been suggested that the core of the Hunnic language was a Yeniseian language.<ref>E. G. Pulleyblank, "The consonontal system of old Chinese" [Pt 1], ''Asia Major'', vol. IX (1962), pp. 1–2.</ref>

Vajda (et al. 2013) proposed that the ruling elite of the [[Social:Huns|Huns]] spoke a Yeniseian language and influenced other languages in the region.<ref name="Vajda 2013"/>

One sentence of the language of the Jie, a Xiongnu tribe who founded the Later Zhao state, appears consistent with being a Yeniseian language.<ref name="Vovin 2000 p87-104" /> Later study suggests that Jie is closer to [[Social:Pumpokol language|Pumpokol]] than to other Yeniseian languages such as Ket.<ref name=vov>{{Cite journal|last1=Vovin|first1=Alexander|last2=Vajda|first2=Edward J.|last3=de la Vaissière|first3=Etienne|year=2016|title=Who were the *Kyet (羯) and what language did they speak?|url=https://www.academia.edu/28673935|journal=Journal Asiatique|volume=304|issue=1|pages=125–144}}</ref> This has been substantiated with geographical data by Vajda, who states that Yeniseian hydronyms found in northern Mongolia are exclusively Pumpokolic, in the process demonstrating both a linguistic and geographic proximity between Yeniseian and Jie.

The decline of the southern Yeniseian languages during and after the Russian conquest of Siberia has been attributed to language shifts of the Arin and Pumpokol to [[Social:Khakas language|Khakas]] or Chulym Tatar, and the Kott and Assan to Khakas.<ref name=":2" />

==Family features==
The Yeniseian languages share many contact-induced similarities with the South [[Social:Siberian Turkic languages|Siberian Turkic languages]], [[Social:Samoyedic languages|Samoyedic languages]], and [[Social:Evenki language|Evenki]]. These include long-distance nasal harmony, the development of former affricates to stops, and the use of postpositions or grammatical [[Social:Clitic|enclitics]] as clausal [[Social:Complementizer|subordinators]].<ref>See Anderson 2003</ref> Yeniseic nominal enclitics closely approximate the case systems of geographically contiguous families. Despite these similarities, Yeniseian appears to stand out among the languages of Siberia in several typological respects, such as the presence of [[Social:Tone (linguistics)|tone]], the [[Social:Prefix|prefix]]ing verb inflection, and highly complex morphophonology.<ref>{{cite book|first=Stefan|last=Georg|chapter=Yeniseic languages and the Siberian linguistic area|year=2008|title=Evidence and Counter-Evidence. Festschrift Frederik Kortlandt|location=Amsterdam / New York|series=Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics|volume=33|publisher=Rodopi|pages=151–168}}</ref>

The Yeniseian languages have been described as having up to four tones or no tones at all. The 'tones' are concomitant with glottalization, vowel length, and breathy voice, not unlike the situation reconstructed for [[Social:Old Chinese|Old Chinese]] before the development of true tones in Chinese. The Yeniseian languages have highly elaborate verbal morphology.

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Personal pronouns
|-
! rowspan = 3 |
! colspan = 2 | ''Northern branch'' !! colspan = 4 | ''Southern branch''
|-
! rowspan=2 | <small>''Ket''</small> !! rowspan=2 | <small>''Yugh''</small> !! colspan=2 | <small>''Kott-Assan'' </small>!! colspan=2 | <small>''Arin-Pumpokol''</small>
|-
! <small>Kott dialects</small> !! <small>Assan</small> !! <small>Arin </small>!! <small>Pumpokol </small>
|-
! 1st sg.
| {{IPA|āˑ(t)}} || {{IPA|āt}} || {{IPA|ai}} || {{IPA|aj}} || {{IPA|ai}} || {{IPA|ad}}
|-
! 2nd sg.
| {{IPA|ūˑ}} || {{IPA|ū}} || {{IPA|au}} || {{IPA|au}} || {{IPA|au}} || {{IPA|u}}
|-
! 3rd sg.
| {{IPA|būˑ}} || {{IPA|bū}} || {{IPA|uju ~ hatu}} (masc.) <br /> {{IPA|uja ~ hata}} (fem.) || {{IPA|bari}} || {{IPA|au}} || {{IPA|adu}} 
|-
! 1st pl.
| {{IPA|ɤ̄ˑt ~ ɤ́tn}} || {{IPA|ɤ́tn}} || {{IPA|ajoŋ}} || {{IPA|ajuŋ}} || {{IPA|aiŋ}} || {{IPA|adɨŋ}}
|-
! 2nd pl.
| {{IPA|ɤ́kŋ}} || {{IPA|kɤ́kŋ}} || {{IPA|auoŋ ~ aoŋ}} || {{IPA|avun}} || {{IPA|aŋ}} || {{IPA|ajaŋ}}
|-
! 3rd pl.
| {{IPA|būˑŋ}} || {{IPA|béìŋ}} || {{IPA|uniaŋ ~ hatien}} || {{IPA|hatin}} || {{IPA|itaŋ}} || ?
|-
|}

The following table exemplifies the basic Yeniseian numerals as well as the various attempts at reconstructing the proto-forms:<ref name="refTabs">See Vajda 2007, Starostin 1982 and Werner (???)</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Numerals
|-
! rowspan = 3 | &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;''Gloss''&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
! colspan = 2 | ''Northern branch'' !! colspan = 4 | ''Southern branch''
! rowspan = 2 | Reconstructions
|-
! <small>''Ket dialects''</small> !! rowspan=2 | <small>''Yugh''</small> !! colspan=2 | <small>''Kott-Assan'' </small>!! colspan=2 | <small>''Arin-Pumpokol''</small>
|-
! <small>SK</small> !! <small>Kott</small> !! <small>Assan</small> !! <small>Arin </small>!! <small>Pumpokol </small>!! <small>Starostin</small>
|-
! 1
| {{IPA|qūˑs}} || {{IPA|χūs}} || {{IPA|huːtʃa}} || {{IPA|hutʃa}} || {{IPA|qusej}} || {{IPA|xuta}} || style="text-align: left" |{{IPA|*xu-sa}}
|-
! 2
| {{IPA|ɯ̄ˑn}} || {{IPA|ɯ̄n}} || {{IPA|iːna}} || {{IPA|ina}} || {{IPA|kina}} || {{IPA|hinɛaŋ}} || style="text-align: left" |{{IPA|*xɨna}}
|-
! 3
| {{IPA|dɔˀŋ}} || {{IPA|dɔˀŋ}} || {{IPA|toːŋa}} || {{IPA|taŋa}} || {{IPA|tʲoŋa ~ tʲuːŋa}} || {{IPA|dóŋa}} || style="text-align: left" |{{IPA|*doʔŋa}}
|-
! 4
| {{IPA|sīˑk}} || {{IPA|sīk}} || {{IPA|tʃeɡa ~ ʃeːɡa}} || {{IPA|ʃeɡa}} || {{IPA|tʃaɡa}} || {{IPA|ziang}} || style="text-align: left" |{{IPA|*si-}}
|-
! 5
| {{IPA|qāˑk}} || {{IPA|χāk}} || {{IPA|keɡa ~ χeːɡa}} || {{IPA|keɡa}} || {{IPA|qala}} || {{IPA|hejlaŋ}} || style="text-align: left" |{{IPA|*qä-}}
|-
! 6
| {{IPA|aˀ ~ à}} || {{IPA|àː}} || {{IPA|χelutʃa}} || {{IPA|ɡejlutʃa}} || {{IPA|ɨɡa}} || {{IPA|aɡɡɛaŋ}} || style="text-align: left" |{{IPA|*ʔaẋV}}
|-
! 7
| {{IPA|ɔˀŋ}} || {{IPA|ɔˀŋ}} || {{IPA|χelina}} || {{IPA|ɡejlina}} || {{IPA|ɨnʲa}} || {{IPA|onʲaŋ}} || style="text-align: left" |{{IPA|*ʔoʔn-}}
|-
! 10
| {{IPA|qɔ̄ˑ}} || {{IPA|χɔ̄}} || {{IPA|haːɡa ~ haɡa}} || {{IPA|xaha}} || {{IPA|qau ~ hioɡa}} || {{IPA|hajaŋ}} || style="text-align: left" |{{IPA|*ẋɔGa}}
|-
! 20
| {{IPA|ɛˀk}} || {{IPA|ɛˀk}} || {{IPA|iːntʰukŋ}} || {{IPA|inkukn}} || {{IPA|kinthjuŋ}} || {{IPA|hédiang}} || style="text-align: left" |{{IPA|*ʔeʔk ~ xeʔk}}
|-
! 100
| {{IPA|kiˀ}} || {{IPA|kiˀ}} || {{IPA|ujaːx}} || {{IPA|jus}} || {{IPA|jus}} || {{IPA|útamssa}} || style="text-align: left" |{{IPA|*kiʔ ~ ɡiʔ / *ʔalVs-(tamsV)}}
|-
|}

The following table exemplifies a few basic vocabulary items as well as the various attempts at reconstructing the proto-forms:<ref name="refTabs"/>

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Other vocabulary
|-
! rowspan = 3 | &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;''Gloss''&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
! colspan = 4 | ''Northern branch'' !! colspan = 4 | ''Southern branch''
! rowspan = 2 colspan = 3 | Reconstructions
|-
! colspan=3 | <small>''Ket dialects''</small> !! rowspan=2 | <small>''Yugh''</small> !! colspan=2 | <small>''Kott-Assan''</small> !! colspan=2 | <small>''Arin-Pumpokol''</small>
|-
! <small>SK</small> !! <small>NK</small> !! <small>CK</small> !! <small>Kott</small> !! <small>Assan</small> !! <small>Arin </small>!! <small>Pumpokol</small> !! <small>Vajda</small> !! <small>Starostin</small> !! <small>Werner</small>
|-
! <small>Larch</small>
| sɛˀs || sɛˀs || šɛˀš || sɛˀs || šet || čet || čit || tag || style="text-align: left" | *čɛˀç || style="text-align: left" | *seʔs || style="text-align: left" | *sɛʔt / *tɛʔt
|-
! <small>River</small>
| sēˑs || sēˑs || šēˑš || sēs || šet || šet || sat || tat || style="text-align: left" | *cēˑc || style="text-align: left" | *ses || style="text-align: left" | *set / *tet
|-
! <small>Stone</small>
| tʌˀs || tʌˀs || tʌˀš || čʌˀs || šiš || šiš || kes || kit || style="text-align: left" | *cʰɛˀs || style="text-align: left" | *čɨʔs || style="text-align: left" | *t'ɨʔs
|-
! <small>Finger</small>
| tʌˀq || tʌˀq || tʌˀq || tʌˀχ || tʰoχ || ? || intoto || tok || style="text-align: left" | *tʰɛˀq || style="text-align: left" | *tǝʔq || style="text-align: left" | *thǝʔq
|-
! <small>Resin</small>
| dīˑk || dīˑk || dīˑk || dʲīk || čik || ? || ? || ? || style="text-align: left" | *čīˑk || style="text-align: left" | *ǯik (~-g, -ẋ) || style="text-align: left" | *d'ik
|-
! <small>Wolf</small>
| qɯ̄ˑt || qɯ̄ˑti || qɯ̄ˑtə || χɯ̄ˑt || colspan=2 | (boru ← Turkic) || qut || xotu || style="text-align: left" | *qʷīˑtʰi || style="text-align: left" | *qɨte (˜ẋ-) || style="text-align: left" | *qʌthǝ
|-
! <small>Winter</small>
| kɤ̄ˑt || kɤ̄ˑti || kɤ̄ˑte || kɤ̄ˑt || keːtʰi || ? || lot || lete || style="text-align: left" | *kʷeˑtʰi || style="text-align: left" | *gǝte || style="text-align: left" | *kǝte
|-
! <small>Light</small>
| kʌˀn || kʌˀn || kʌˀn || kʌˀn || kin || ? || lum || ? || style="text-align: left" | *kʷɛˀn || style="text-align: left" | *gǝʔn- || style="text-align: left" | ?
|-
! <small>Person</small>
| kɛˀd || kɛˀd || kɛˀd || kɛˀtʲ || hit || het || kit || kit || style="text-align: left" | *kɛˀt || style="text-align: left" | *keʔt || style="text-align: left" | ?
|-
! <small>Two</small>
| ɯ̄ˑn || ɯ̄ˑn || ɯ̄ˑn || ɯ̄n || in || in || kin || hin || style="text-align: left" | *kʰīˑn || style="text-align: left" | *xɨna || style="text-align: left" | *(k)ɨn
|-
! <small>Water</small>
| ūˑl || ūˑl || ūˑl || ūr || ul || ul || kul || ul || style="text-align: left" | *kʰul || style="text-align: left" | *qoʔl (~ẋ-, -r)&nbsp; || style="text-align: left" | ?
|-
! <small>Birch</small>
| ùs || ùːse || ùːsə || ùːʰs || uča || uuča || kus || uta || style="text-align: left" | *kʰuχʂa || style="text-align: left" | *xūsa || style="text-align: left" | *kuʔǝt'ǝ
|-
! <small>&nbsp; Snowsled&nbsp;</small>
| súùl || súùl || šúùl || sɔ́ùl || &nbsp;čogar&nbsp; || čɛgar || šal || tsɛl || style="text-align: left" | *tsehʷəl &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; || style="text-align: left" | *soʔol || style="text-align: left" | *sogǝl (~č/t'-ʎ)&nbsp;
|-
|}

==Proposed relations to other language families==
Until 2008, few linguists had accepted connections between Yeniseian and any other language family, though distant connections have been proposed with most of the ergative languages of Eurasia.

===Dené–Yeniseian===
{{main|Social:Dené–Yeniseian languages}}
In 2008, Edward Vajda of [[Organization:Western Washington University|Western Washington University]] presented evidence for a genealogical relation between the Yeniseian languages of Siberia and the Na–Dené languages of North America.<ref>See Vajda 2010</ref> At the time of publication (2010), Vajda's proposals had been favorably reviewed by several specialists of Na-Dené and Yeniseian languages—although at times with caution—including Michael Krauss, Jeff Leer, James Kari, and Heinrich Werner, as well as a number of other respected linguists, such as Bernard Comrie, Johanna Nichols, Victor Golla, Michael Fortescue, [[Biography:Eric P. Hamp|Eric Hamp]], and Bill Poser (Kari and Potter 2010:12).<ref>[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=531 Language Log » The languages of the Caucasus]</ref> One significant exception is the critical review of the volume of collected papers by Lyle Campbell<ref>Lyle Campbell, 2011, "Review of ''The Dene-Yeniseian Connection'' (Kari and Potter)," ''International Journal of American Linguistics'' 77:445–451. "In summary, the proposed Dene-Yeniseian connection cannot be embraced at present. The hypothesis is indeed stimulating, advanced by a serious scholar trying to use appropriate procedures. Unfortunately, neither the lexical evidence (with putative sound correspondences) nor the morphological evidence adduced is sufficient to support a distant genetic relationship between Na-Dene and Yeniseian." (pg. 450).</ref> and a response by Vajda<ref>Edward Vajda, 2011, "A Response to Campbell," ''International Journal of American Linguistics'' 77:451–452. "It remains incumbent upon the proponents of the DY hypothesis to provide solutions to at least some of the unresolved problems identified in Campbell's review or in DYC itself. My opinion is that every one of them requires a convincing solution before the relationship between Yeniseian and Na-Dene can be considered settled." (pg. 452).</ref> published in late 2011 that clearly indicate the proposal is not completely settled at the present time. Two other reviews and notices of the volume appeared in 2011 by Keren Rice and [[Biography:Jared Diamond|Jared Diamond]].

===Karasuk===
{{main|Social:Karasuk languages}}
The ''Karasuk'' hypothesis, linking Yeniseian to Burushaski, has been proposed by several scholars, notably by A.P. Dulson<ref name="duls68">See Dulson 1968</ref> and V.N. Toporov.<ref name="topo71">See Toporov 1971</ref> George van Driem, the most prominent current advocate of the Karasuk hypothesis, postulates that the Burusho people were part of the migration out of Central Asia, that resulted in the Indo-European conquest of the Indus Valley.<ref name="drie01">See Van Driem 2001</ref>

===Sino-Tibetan===
{{main|Social:Sino-Tibetan languages}}
As noted by Tailleur<ref name="tail94">See Tailleur 1994</ref> and Werner,<ref name="wern04">See Werner 1994</ref> some of the earliest proposals of genetic relations of Yeniseian, by M.A. Castrén (1856), James Byrne (1892), and G.J. Ramstedt (1907), suggested that Yeniseian was a northern relative of the Sino–Tibetan languages. These ideas were followed much later by Kai Donner<ref name="donn30">See Donner 1930</ref> and Karl Bouda.<ref name="boud36">See Bouda 1963 and Bouda 1957</ref> A 2008 study found further evidence for a possible relation between Yeniseian and Sino–Tibetan, citing several possible cognates.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sedláček|first=Kamil|date=2008|title=The Yeniseian Languages of the 18th Century and Ket and Sino-Tibetan Word Comparisons|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41928491|journal=Central Asiatic Journal|volume=52|issue=2|pages=219–305|doi=10.13173/CAJ/2008/2/6 |jstor=41928491|s2cid=163603829 |issn=0008-9192}}</ref> Gao Jingyi (2014) identified twelve Sinitic and Yeniseian shared etymologies that belonged to the basic vocabulary, and argued that these Sino-Yeniseian etymologies could not be loans from either language into the other.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=高晶一|first=Jingyi Gao|date=2017|title=Xia and Ket Identified by Sinitic and Yeniseian Shared Etymologies // 確定夏國及凱特人的語言為屬於漢語族和葉尼塞語系共同詞源|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13173/centasiaj.60.1-2.0051|journal=Central Asiatic Journal|volume=60|issue=1–2|pages=51–58|doi=10.13173/centasiaj.60.1-2.0051|jstor=10.13173/centasiaj.60.1-2.0051|s2cid=165893686 |issn=0008-9192}}</ref>

The Sino-Caucasian hypothesis of Sergei Starostin posits that the Yeniseian languages form a [[Biology:Clade|clade]] with Sino-Tibetan, which he called '''Sino-Yeniseian'''. The Sino-Caucasian hypothesis has been expanded by others to "[[Social:Dené–Caucasian languages|Dené–Caucasian]]" to include the Na-Dené languages of North America, Burushaski, [[Biography:Basque language|Basque]] and, occasionally, [[Social:Etruscan language|Etruscan]]. A narrower binary Dené–Yeniseian family has recently been well received. The validity of the rest of the family, however, is viewed as doubtful or rejected by nearly all historical linguists.<ref>Goddard, Ives (1996). "The Classification of the Native Languages of North America". In Ives Goddard, ed., "Languages". Vol. 17 of William Sturtevant, ed., ''Handbook of North American Indians''. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. pg. 318</ref><ref>Trask, R. L. (2000). ''The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pg. 85</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sanchez-Mazas |first1=Alicia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1gKF9iWqt0gC&q=%22sino-austronesian%22+%22sino-caucasian%22&pg=RA1-PT151 |title=Past Human Migrations in East Asia: Matching Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics |last2=Blench |first2=Roger |last3=Ross |first3=Malcolm D. |last4=Peiros |first4=Ilia |last5=Lin |first5=Marie |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134149629 |language=en}}</ref> 

A link between the Na–Dené languages and Sino-Tibetan languages, known as '''Sino–Dené''' had also been proposed by Edward Sapir. Around 1920 Sapir became convinced that Na-Dené was more closely related to Sino-Tibetan than to other American families.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ruhlen|first=Merritt|date=1998-11-10|title=The origin of the Na-Dene|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=95|issue=23|pages=13994–13996|doi=10.1073/pnas.95.23.13994|issn=0027-8424|pmid=9811914|pmc=25007|bibcode=1998PNAS...9513994R|doi-access=free}}</ref> Edward Vadja's Dené–Yeniseian proposal renewed interest among linguists such as Geoffrey Caveney (2014) to look into support for the Sino–Dené hypothesis. Caveney considered a link between Sino-Tibetan, Na-Dené, and Yeniseian to be plausible but did not support the hypothesis that Sino-Tibetan and Na-Dené were related to the Caucasian languages (Sino–Caucasian and Dené–Caucasian).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Caveney|first=Geoffrey|date=2014|title=Sino-Tibetan ŋ- and Na-Dene *kw- / *gw- / *xw-: 1st Person Pronouns and Lexical Cognate Sets|journal=Journal of Chinese Linguistics|volume=42|issue=2|pages=461–487|jstor=24774894}}</ref> 

A 2023 analysis by David Bradley using the standard techniques of comparative linguistics supports a distant genetic link between the Sino-Tibetan, Na-Dené, and Yeniseian language families. Bradley argues that any similarities Sino-Tibetan shares with other language families of the East Asia area such as Hmong-Mien, Altaic (which is actually a sprachbund), Austroasiatic, Tai-Kadai, Austronesian came through contact; but as there has been no recent contact between Sino-Tibetan, Na-Dené, and Yeniseian language families then any similarities these groups share must be residual.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bradley |first=David |date=2023-07-24 |title=Ancient Connections of Sinitic |journal=Languages |language=en |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=176 |doi=10.3390/languages8030176 |issn=2226-471X |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Dené–Caucasian===
{{main|Social:Dené–Caucasian languages}}
Bouda, in various publications in the 1930s through the 1950s, described a linguistic network that (besides Yeniseian and Sino-Tibetan) also included [[Social:North Caucasian languages|Caucasian]], and [[Social:Burushaski|Burushaski]], some forms of which have gone by the name of Sino-Caucasian. The works of R. Bleichsteiner<ref name="blei30">See Bleichsteiner 1930</ref> and O.G. Tailleur,<ref name="tail58">See Tailleur 1958 and Tailleur 1994</ref> the late Sergei A. Starostin<ref name="star82">See Starostin 1982, Starostin 1984, Starostin 1991, Starostin & Ruhlen 1994</ref> and Sergei L. Nikolayev<ref name="niko91">See Nikola(y)ev 1991</ref> have sought to confirm these connections. Others who have developed the hypothesis, often expanded to Dené–Caucasian, include J.D. Bengtson,<ref name="beng94">See Bengtson 1994, Bengtson 1998, Bengtson 2008</ref> V. Blažek,<ref name="blazbeng95">See Blažek & Bengtson 1995</ref> J.H. Greenberg (with M. Ruhlen),<ref name="greenruhl92">See Greenberg & Ruhlen, Greenberg & Ruhlen 1997</ref> and M. Ruhlen.<ref name="ruhlrece">See Ruhlen 1997, Ruhlen 1998a, Ruhlen 1998b</ref> George Starostin continues his father's work in Yeniseian, Sino-Caucasian and other fields.<ref name="reshstar95">See Reshetnikov & Starostin 1995a, Reshetnikov & Starostin 1995b, Dybo & Starostin</ref> 
This theory is very controversial or viewed as obsolete by other linguists.<ref>Trask, R. L. (2000). ''The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pg. 85</ref><ref>Dalby, Andrew (1998). ''Dictionary of Languages''. New York: Columbia University Press. pg. 434</ref><ref name="google 1gKF9iWqt0gC">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1gKF9iWqt0gC&q=%22sino-austronesian%22+%22sino-caucasian%22&pg=RA1-PT151|title=Past Human Migrations in East Asia: Matching Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics|last1=Sanchez-Mazas|first1=Alicia|last2=Blench|first2=Roger|last3=Ross|first3=Malcolm D.|last4=Peiros|first4=Ilia|last5=Lin|first5=Marie|date=2008-07-25|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134149629|language=en}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=notes}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
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* <cite id="reshstar95a">Starostin, George S. (1995). [http://starling.rinet.ru/Texts/kott.pdf Morphology of the Kott Verb and Reconstruction of the Proto-Yeniseian Verbal System.] // Originally in: The Ket Volume (Studia Ketica), v. 4. Moscow: Languages of Russian Culture, pp. 122–175.</cite>
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* <cite id="rubietal02">Rubicz, R., Melvin, K.L., Crawford, M.H. 2002. Genetic Evidence for the phylogenetic relationship between Na-Dene and Yeniseian speakers. ''Human Biology'', Dec 1 2002 74 (6) 743–761</cite>
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* <cite id="shaf57">Shafer, Robert. (1957). Note on Athapaskan and Sino-Tibetan. International Journal of American Linguistics 23: 116–117.</cite>
* Stachowski, Marek (1996). Über einige altaische Lehnwörter in den Jenissej-Sprachen. In Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia 1: 91–115.
* Stachowski, Marek (1997). Altaistische Anmerkungen zum “Vergleichenden Wörterbuch der Jenissej-Sprachen”. In Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia 2: 227–239.
* Stachowski, Marek (2004). Anmerkungen zu einem neuen vergleichenden Wörterbuch der Jenissej-Sprachen. In Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia 9: 189–204.
* Stachowski, Marek (2006a). [http://www.filg.uj.edu.pl/StudiaLinguistica/pdf/12311-Stachowski.pdf. Arabische Lehnwörter in den Jenissej-Sprachen des 18. Jahrhunderts und die Frage der Sprachbünde in Sibirien]{{Dead link|date=June 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis 123 (2006): 155–158.
* Stachowski, Marek (2006b). [http://info.filg.uj.edu.pl/zhjij/~stachowski.marek/store/pub/2006%20Persian%20in%20Yeniseic.pdf Persian loan words in 18th century Yeniseic and the problem of linguistic areas in Siberia]. In A. Krasnowolska / K. Maciuszak / B. Mękarska (ed.): In the Orient where the Gracious Light... [Festschrift for A. Pisowicz], Kraków: 179–184.
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* <cite id="star84">(Starostin, Sergei A.) Старостин, Сергей А. (1984). Гипотеза о генетических связях сино-тибетских языков с енисейскими и северокавказскими языками [A hypothesis on genetic relations of the Sino-Tibetan languages to the Yeniseian and the North Caucasian languages]. In: Лингвистическая реконструкция и древнейшая история Востока [Linguistic reconstruction and the prehistory of the East], 4: Древнейшая языковая ситуация в восточной Азии [The prehistoric language situation in eastern Asia], ed. И. Ф. Вардуль (I.F. Varduľ) et al. Москва: Институт востоковедения [Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences], 19–38. [see Starostin 1991]</cite>
* <cite id="star91">Starostin, Sergei A. (1991). On the Hypothesis of a Genetic Connection Between the Sino-Tibetan Languages and the Yeniseian and North Caucasian Languages. In Shevoroshkin (1991): 12–41. [Translation of Starostin 1984]</cite>
* <cite id="starruhl94">Starostin, Sergei A., and Merritt Ruhlen. (1994). Proto-Yeniseian Reconstructions, with Extra-Yeniseian Comparisons. In M. Ruhlen, On the Origin of Languages: Studies in Linguistic Taxonomy. Stanford: Stanford University Press. pp. 70–92. [Partial translation of Starostin 1982, with additional comparisons by Ruhlen.]</cite>
* <cite id="tail94">Tailleur, O.G. (1994). Traits paléo-eurasiens de la morphologie iénisséienne. Études finno-ougriennes 26: 35–56.</cite>
* <cite id="tail58">Tailleur, O.G. (1958). Un îlot basco-caucasien en Sibérie: les langues iénisséiennes [A little Basque-Caucasian island in Siberia: the Yeniseian languages]. Orbis 7.2: 415–427.</cite>
* <cite id="topo71">Toporov, V.N. (1971). Burushaski and Yeniseian Languages: Some Parallels. Travaux linguistiques de Prague 4: 107–125.</cite>
* <cite id="vajd98">Vajda, Edward J. (1998). The Kets and Their Language. Mother Tongue IV.</cite>
* <cite id="vajd00">Vajda, Edward J. (2000). Ket Prosodic Phonology. Munich: Lincom Europa Languages of the World vol. 15.</cite>
* <cite id="vajd02">Vajda, Edward J. (2002). The Origin of Phonemic Tone in Yeniseic. In CLS 37, 2002. (Parasession on Arctic languages: 305–320).</cite>
* <cite id="vajd04a">Vajda, Edward J. (2004). Ket. Lincom Europa, München.</cite>
* <cite id="vajd04b">Vajda, Edward J. (2004). Languages and Prehistory of Central Siberia. Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 262. John Benjamin Publishing Company. (Presentation of the Yeniseian family and its speakers, together with neighboring languages and their speakers, in linguistic, historical and archeological view)</cite>
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* <cite id="vajd08a">Vajda, Edward J. (2008). "Yeniseic" a chapter in the book ''Language isolates and microfamilies of Asia'', Routledge, to be co-authored with Bernard Comrie; 53 pages).</cite>
* <cite id="vajd10">Vajda, Edward J. (2010). "Siberian Link with Na-Dene Languages." ''The Dene–Yeniseian Connection'', ed. by J. Kari and B. Potter, 33–99. ''Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska'', new series, vol. 5. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Anthropology.</cite>
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* <cite id="vovi02">Vovin, Alexander. (2002). 'Did the Xiongnu speak a Yeniseian language? Part 2: Vocabulary', in Altaica Budapestinensia MMII, Proceedings of the 45th Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Budapest, June 23–28, pp. 389–394.</cite>
* <cite id="wern98">Werner, Heinrich. (1998). ''Reconstructing Proto-Yenisseian.'' Mother Tongue IV.</cite>
* <cite id="wern04">Werner, Heinrich. (2004). Zur jenissejisch-indianischen Urverwandtschaft [On the Yeniseian-[American] Indian primordial relationship]. Wiesbaden: Harassowitz.</cite>
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090526221250/http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/dy2008.html Results from the February 2008 Dene–Yeniseic Symposium]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090419084351/http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/docs/vajda-2008.pdf A Siberian Link With Na-Dene Languages] by Edward Vajda, a proponent of the Yeniseian-Na-Dene connection.
* [http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ea210/ket.htm Lecture notes on the Ket people] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406214043/http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ea210/ket.htm |date=2019-04-06 }} by Edward Vajda.
* [http://ehl.santafe.edu/maps34.htm Map of the Yeniseian family] from the [[Organization:Santa Fe Institute|Santa Fe Institute]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110708074324/http://www.merrittruhlen.com/files/1998c.pdf Comparison of Yeniseian and Na-Dene] by Merritt Ruhlen.
* [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/main.cgi?flags=eygtnnl Yenisseian Etymology] by S. A. Starostin.
* [http://starling.rinet.ru/Texts/scc.pdf Sino-Caucasian [comparative phonology<nowiki>]</nowiki>] by S. A. Starostin. 2005.
* [http://starling.rinet.ru/Texts/glossary.pdf Sino-Caucasian [comparative glossary<nowiki>]</nowiki>] by S. A. Starostin. 2005.
* [http://www.philology.ru/linguistics4/verner-97.htm Article on Yeniseian languages] {{in lang|ru}}
* [http://minlang.srcc.msu.ru/index-2.htm Multimedia Database of Ket Language, Moscow State (Lomonosov) University]
* [http://wold.clld.org/vocabulary/18 Ket language vocabulary with loanwords] (from the World Loanword Database)

{{Paleosiberian languages}}
{{Eurasian languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeniseian Languages}}
[[Category:Language families]]

{{Sourceattribution|Yeniseian languages}}