Eskimo–Uralic languages
 | This article maylendundue weightto certain ideas, incidents, or controversies.(September 2023) |
| Eskimo–Uralic | |
|---|---|
| (very highly controversial) | |
| Geographic distribution | northernEurasiaand far northernNorth America |
| Linguistic classification | Proposed language family |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | None |
 Eskimo–Uralic languages[image reference needed] | |
TheEskimo–Uralichypothesis posits that theUralicandEskimo–Aleutlanguage families belong to a commonmacrofamily.It is not generally accepted bylinguistsbecause the similarities can also be merelyareal features,common to unrelated language families. In 1818, the Danish linguistRasmus Raskgrouped together the languages ofGreenlandicandFinnish.The Eskimo–Uralic hypothesis was put forward byKnut Bergslandin 1959.[1][2][3]Ante Aikio stated that it's possible that there exists some connection between the two families, but exact conclusions can't be drawn and the similarities could exist by loaning.[4]
A similar theory was suggested in 1998 byMichael Fortescue,in his bookLanguage Relations across Bering Straitwhere he proposed theUralo-Siberian theory,which, unlike the Eskimo-Uralic hypothesis includes theYukaghir languages,argues that Uralo-Siberian influenced Chukotko-Kamchatkan and some have includedNivkhas a part of the family.[5]
At present the arguments used to defend the Eskimo-Uralic theory are insufficient to even suspect a relationship between the languages, let alone to make an affirmative case for their relationship.[6]
History
[edit]Comparisons between Uralic and Eskimo–Aleut languages were made early. In 1746, the Danish theologianMarcus WøldikecomparedGreenlandictoHungarian.In 1818,Rasmus Raskconsidered Greenlandic to be related to the Uralic languages,Finnishin particular, and presented a list of lexical correspondences (Rask also considered Uralic andAltaicto be related to each other). In 1871, H. Rink had also theorized of a similar theory.[2]In 1959,Knut Bergslandpublished the paperThe Eskimo–Uralic Hypothesis,in which he, like other authors before him, presented a number of grammatical similarities and a small number of lexical correspondences.[7]
In 1998,Michael Fortescuepresented more detailed arguments in his book,Language Relations across Bering Strait.His title evokes Morris Swadesh's 1962 article, "Linguistic relations across the Bering Strait".[8]Besides new proposed linguistic evidence, Fortescue (2016) presents several genetic studies that he argued to support a common origin of the included groups, with a suggested homeland inNortheast Asia.[9]
Proposed Evidence
[edit]A few potential lexical cognates betweenProto-UralicandEskimo–Aleutare pointed out in Aikio (2019: 53–54).[4]These are:
| Proto-Uralic | Proto-Eskimo |
|---|---|
| *ila- ‘place under or below’ | *at(ǝ)- ‘down’; *alaq ‘sole’ |
| *elä- ‘live’ | *ǝt(ǝ)- ‘be’ |
| *tuli- ‘come’ | *tut- ‘arrive, land’; *tulaɣ- |
| *kuda ‘morning, dawn’ | *qilaɣ- ‘sky’ |
| *kuda- ‘weave’ | *qilaɣ- ‘knit, weave’ |
A possible regular sound correspondence with Uralic *-l- and Proto-Eskimo-Aleut *-t can be argued to exist.[4]
According to Ante Aikio The words "morning" and "weave" appear to be completely unrelated, which means there is an instance of coincidental homonymy, which very rarely happens by accident. Aikio thus stated that he believes it to be likely that there exists some connection between the two families, however exact conclusions cannot be drawn and it would not yet prove a direct relationship, as such can happen by loaning.[4]
See also
[edit]- Paleosiberian languages
- Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan language
- Proto-Uralic language
- Classification of indigenous languages of the Americas
- Linguistic areas of the Americas
- Macrofamily
References
[edit]- ^Bergsland, Knut (1959).The Eskimo-Uralic Hypothesis(in German). na.
- ^abRask, Rasmus; Thalbitzer, William (January 1921)."The Aleutian Language Compared with Greenlandic".International Journal of American Linguistics.2(1/2): 40–57.doi:10.1086/463733.ISSN0020-7071.S2CID143810291.
This problem, in reality, had already been taken up earlier, first by the Danish eskimologist H. Rink, later by the French linguist Lucien Adam. The former, in 1871, had referred to the agreement in the dual and plural endings (-k and -t) between the Eskimo language and the Samoyede-Finnish languages The latter had rejected the possibility of classifying the Eskimo either with any American Indian language or with the Uralo-Altaic languages
- ^Caveney, Geoffrey."Uralic-Eskimo initial, first vowel, and medial consonant correspondences with 100 lexical examples".
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^abcd Aikio, Ante (2019)."Proto-Uralic".In Bakró-Nagy, Marianne; Laakso, Johanna; Skribnik, Elena (eds.).Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages.Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
- ^Fortescue, Michael (1998).Language Relations across Bering Strait: Reappraising the Archaeological and Linguistic Evidence.London and New York: Cassell.ISBN0-304-70330-3.
- ^Abondolo, Daniel; Valijärvi, Riitta-Liisa (2023-03-31).The Uralic Languages.Taylor & Francis.ISBN978-1-317-23097-7.
- ^Bergsland, Knut (1959). "The Eskimo–Uralic hypothesis".Journal de la Société Finno-Ougrienne.61:1–29.
- ^Swadesh, Morris (1962)."Linguistic relations across the Bering Strait".American Anthropologist.64(6): 1262–1291.doi:10.1525/aa.1962.64.6.02a00090.
- ^"Correlating Palaeo-Siberian languages and populations: recent advances in the Uralo-Siberian hypothesis".ResearchGate.Retrieved2019-03-22.
- Bergsland, Knut (1979). "The comparison of Eskimo-Aleut and Uralic".Fenno-Ugrica Suecana.2:7–18.
- Georg, Stefan; Seefloth, Uwe (2020)."Uralo-Eskimo?".Academia.edu.San Francisco, California: Academia, Inc.
- Seefloth, Uwe (2000). "Die Entstehung polypersonaler Paradigmen im Uralo-Sibirischen".Zentralasiatische Studien.30:163–191.
- Künnap, A. 1999.Indo-European-Uralic-Siberian Linguistic and Cultural Contacts.Tartu, Estonia: University of Tartu, Division of Uralic Languages.