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The Yukaghir languages (also Yukagir, Jukagir) are a small family of two closely related languages spoken in the Russian Far East
Russian Far East

Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Siberia and the Pacific Ocean....
 by the Yukaghir
Yukaghir

The Yukaghir, or Yukagirs are a people in East Siberia, living in the drainage basin of the Kolyma River....
, an indigenous people of Eastern Siberia, living in the basin of the Kolyma River
Kolyma River

The Kolyma River is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia....
. The entire family is regarded as moribund, with a total of less 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
Lena River

The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean: the Ob River, the Yenisei River and the Lena. It is the 10th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest drainage basin....
 in the west" (Collinder 1965:30).

two extant varieties of Yukagir are close enough to often be considered dialects of a single language.






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Uralic Yukaghir
The Yukaghir languages (also Yukagir, Jukagir) are a small family of two closely related languages spoken in the Russian Far East
Russian Far East

Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Siberia and the Pacific Ocean....
 by the Yukaghir
Yukaghir

The Yukaghir, or Yukagirs are a people in East Siberia, living in the drainage basin of the Kolyma River....
, an indigenous people of Eastern Siberia, living in the basin of the Kolyma River
Kolyma River

The Kolyma River is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia....
. The entire family is regarded as moribund, with a total of less 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
Lena River

The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean: the Ob River, the Yenisei River and the Lena. It is the 10th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest drainage basin....
 in the west" (Collinder 1965:30).

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
Uralic languages

The Uralic languages constitute a language families of 39 languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian language, Finnish language, Estonian language, Mari language and Udmurt language....
. (See Uralic-Yukaghir languages
Uralic-Yukaghir languages

Uralic?Yukaghir is a proposed language family composed of Uralic languages and Yukaghir languages. It is also known as Uralo-Yukaghir.Uralic is a large and diverse language family....
.)

Members

The two extant varieties of Yukagir are:
  • Northern Yukaghir
    Northern Yukaghir language

    The Northern or Tundra Yukaghir language is one of only two Yukaghir languages.Last spoken in the tundra belt extending between the lower Indigirka to the lower Kolyma River basin ....
     (; "Tundra Yukaghir", also known as Odul, Tundra, Tundre): 30 to 150 speakers as of 1989. Last spoken in the tundra
    Tundra

    In physical geography, tundra is an biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tund?r, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra....
     belt extending between the lower Indigirka to the lower Kolyma
    Kolyma River

    The Kolyma River is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia....
     basin . Formerly spoken in a much wider area extending to the Lena
    Lena River

    The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean: the Ob River, the Yenisei River and the Lena. It is the 10th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest drainage basin....
     basin in the west.


  • Southern Yukaghir
    Southern Yukaghir language

    The Southern, Kolyma or Forest Yukaghir language is one of only two Yukaghir languages.Last spoken in the forest zone near the sources of the Kolyma, divided between the Sakha Republic and the Magadan Oblast , previously in the wider area of the upper Kolyma region....
     (; "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
    Sakha Republic

    The Sakha Republic is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . At half the size of the Far Eastern Federal District, it is the list of the largest country subdivisions by area in the world at 3,100,000 km? with a population of less than one million....
     and the Magadan Oblast
    Magadan Oblast

    Magadan Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia in the Far Eastern Federal District federal districts of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Magadan....
     (around ), previously in the wider area of the upper Kolyma region.


See also


  • Paleosiberian languages
    Paleosiberian languages

    Paleosiberian languages or Paleoasian languages is a term of convenience used in linguistics to classify a disparate groupof languages spoken in remote regions of Siberia....
  • Uralic-Yukaghir languages
    Uralic-Yukaghir languages

    Uralic?Yukaghir is a proposed language family composed of Uralic languages and Yukaghir languages. It is also known as Uralo-Yukaghir.Uralic is a large and diverse language family....
  • Yukaghirs


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.


External links