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37-658: The Paleo-Siberian languages are several language isolates and small language families spoken in parts of Siberia . They are not known to have any genetic relationship to each other; their only common link is that they are held to have antedated the more dominant languages, particularly Tungusic and latterly Turkic languages , that have largely displaced them. Even more recently, Turkic (at least in Siberia) and especially Tungusic have been displaced in their turn by Russian . Four small language families and isolates are usually considered to be Paleo-Siberian languages: On

74-489: A common ancestral language. This is what makes up a language family , which is a set of languages for which sufficient evidence exists to demonstrate that they descend from a single ancestral language and are therefore genetically related. For example, English is related to other Indo-European languages and Mandarin Chinese is related to other Sino-Tibetan languages . By this criterion, each language isolate constitutes

111-882: A dozen sign languages of the hill tribes in Thailand including the Ban Khor Sign Language . These and more are all presumed isolates or small local families, because many deaf communities are made up of people whose hearing parents do not use sign language, and have manifestly, as shown by the language itself, not borrowed their sign language from other deaf communities during the recorded history of these languages. Some languages once seen as isolates may be reclassified as small families because their genetic relationship to other languages has been established. This happened with Japanese and Ryukyuan languages , Korean and Koreanic languages , Atakapa and Akokisa languages , Tol and Jicaque of El Palmar languages, and

148-446: A family of its own. In some situations, a language with no ancestor can arise. This frequently happens with sign languages —most famously in the case of Nicaraguan Sign Language , where deaf children with no language were placed together and developed a new language. Caution is required when speaking of extinct languages as language isolates. Despite their great age, Sumerian and Elamite can be safely classified as isolates, as

185-450: A few remaining native speakers, with no new acquisition, highly restricted use, and near-universal multilingualism. "Extinct" languages have no native speakers, but are sufficiently documented to be classified as isolates. With few exceptions, all of Africa's languages have been gathered into four major phyla: Afroasiatic , Niger–Congo , Nilo-Saharan and Khoisan . However, the genetic unity of some language families, like Nilo-Saharan ,

222-422: A full glottal stop that interrupts the vowel. Georg's 2007 description of Ket tone is similar to the above, but reduces the basic number of tonemes to four, while moving the rising high-falling tone plus a variant to a class of tonemes only found in multisyllabic words. With some exceptions caused by certain prefixes or clitics, the domain of tones in a multisyllabic word is limited to the first two syllables. In

259-702: A grouping of convenience for a variety of unclassifiable language isolates located in Northeast Eurasia. Some proposals for the relationship of languages located within the Paleo-Siberian group have been made by some scholars, including Edward Vajda , who suggests them to be related to the Na-Dené and Eskimo–Aleut families of Alaska and northern Canada . This would correlate with the widespread idea that North America's aboriginal peoples migrated from present-day Siberia and other regions of Asia when

296-526: A language previously considered an isolate may no longer be considered one, as happened with the Yanyuwa language of northern Australia , which has been placed in the Pama–Nyungan family. Since linguists do not always agree on whether a genetic relationship has been demonstrated, it is often disputed whether a language is an isolate. A genetic relationship is when two different languages are descended from

333-589: A language to classify it as either a language isolate or as a part of another language family. Unclassified languages are different from language isolates in that they have no demonstrable genetic relationships to other languages due to a lack of sufficient data. In order to be considered a language isolate, a language needs to have sufficient data for comparisons with other languages through methods of historical-comparative linguistics to show that it does not have any genetic relationships. Many extinct languages and living languages today are very poorly attested, and

370-571: Is a Siberian language long thought to be an isolate , the sole surviving language of a Yeniseian language family . It is spoken along the middle Yenisei basin by the Ket people . The language is threatened with extinction—the number of ethnic Kets that are native speakers of the language dropped from 1,225 in 1926 to 537 in 1989. According to the UNESCO census, this number has since fallen to 150. A 2005 census reported 485 native speakers, but this number

407-403: Is a tonal language is debatable, although recent works by Ket specialists Edward Vajda and Stefan Georg defend the existence of tone. In tonal descriptions, Ket does not employ a tone on every syllable but instead uses one tone per word. Following Vajda's description of Southern Ket, the five basic tones are as follows: The glottalized tone features pharyngeal or laryngeal constriction, or

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444-640: Is not limited to nouns, and can also include verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and bound morphemes found only in the role of incorporated elements. Incorporation also occurs as both a lexicalized process – the combination of verb and incorporate being treated as a distinct lexical element, with a meaning often based around the incorporated element – and a paradigmatic one, where the incorporation is performed spontaneously for particular semantic and pragmatic effect Forms of incorporation include: Ket has many loanwords from Russian, such as mora 'sea'; there are also loanwords from other languages such as Selkup , for example:

481-530: Is of Ezāfe -type, the same as in predication . Nouns have nominative basic case (subjects and direct objects) and a system of secondary cases for spatial relations. The three noun classes are: masculine, feminine and inanimate. Unlike neighbouring languages of Siberia, Ket makes use of verbal prefixes. Ket has two verbal declensions, one prefixed with d- and one with b- . The second-person singular prefixes on intransitive verbs are [ku-, ɡu-] . Ket makes significant use of incorporation . Incorporation

518-470: Is one of the few languages to lack both /p/ and /ɡ/ , along with Arapaho , Goliath , Obokuitai , Palauan , and Efik , as well as classical Arabic and some modern Arabic dialects. There is much allophony , and the phonetic inventory of consonants is essentially as below. This is the level of description reflected by the Ket alphabet. Furthermore, all nasal consonants in Ket have voiceless allophones at

555-665: Is questionable, and so there may be many more language families and isolates than currently accepted. Data for several African languages, like Kwisi , are not sufficient for classification. In addition, Jalaa , Shabo , Laal , Kujargé , and a few other languages within Nilo-Saharan and Afroasiatic -speaking areas may turn out to be isolates upon further investigation. Defaka and Ega are highly divergent languages located within Niger–Congo -speaking areas, and may also possibly be language isolates. Current research considers that

592-442: Is suspected to be inflated. According to a local news source, the number of remaining Ket speakers is around 10 to 20. Another Yeniseian language, Yugh , has recently become extinct. The earliest observations about the language were published by Peter Simon Pallas in 1788 in a travel diary ( Путешествия по разным провинциям Русского Государства , Puteshestviya po raznim provintsiyam Russkogo Gosudarstva ). Matthias Castrén

629-408: Is that they arose independently in isolation and thus do not share a common linguistic genesis with any other language but themselves. This explanation mostly applies to sign languages that have developed independently of other spoken or signed languages. Some languages once seen as isolates may be reclassified as small families if some of their dialects are judged to be sufficiently different from

666-536: Is the Nicaraguan Sign Language , a well documented case of what has happened in schools for the deaf in many countries. In Tanzania, for example, there are seven schools for the deaf, each with its own sign language with no known connection to any other language. Sign languages have also developed outside schools, in communities with high incidences of deafness, such as Kata Kolok in Bali, and half

703-584: The "Papuasphere" centered in New Guinea includes as many as 37 isolates. (The more is known about these languages in the future, the more likely it is for these languages to be later assigned to a known language family.) To these, one must add several isolates found among non- Pama-Nyungan languages of Australia : Ket language The Ket ( / ˈ k ɛ t / KET ) language, or more specifically Imbak and formerly known as Yenisei Ostyak ( / ˈ ɒ s t i æ k / OSS -tee-ak ),

740-705: The Samguk sagi reflect the original language of the Korean peninsula and a component in the formation of both Korean and Japanese. It is suggested that this language was related to Nivkh in some form. Juha Janhunen suggests the possibility that similar consonant stop systems in Koreanic and Nivkh may be due to ancient contact. Martine Robbeets suggests that Proto-Korean had a Nivkh substrate influence. Further parallel developments in their sound inventory (Old to Middle Korean and Proto-Nivkh to Nivkh) as well as commonalities in

777-521: The Uralo-Siberian languages . However, these hypotheses are controversial and not universally accepted. Below are selected basic vocabulary items in proto-languages reconstructed for Paleo-Siberian languages and language families. Proto-Eskimo , Proto-Uralic , Proto-Ainu, Ainu , Proto-Korean and Proto-Japanese are also given for comparison. Notes : C = Proto-Chukotian; I = Proto-Inuit Language isolate One explanation for

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814-537: The Xincan Guatemala language family in which linguists have grouped the Chiquimulilla , Guazacapán , Jumaytepeque , and Yupiltepeque languages. Below is a list of known language isolates, arranged by continent, along with notes on possible relations to other languages or language families. The status column indicates the degree of endangerment of the language, according to the definitions of

851-430: The 1930s a Latin-based alphabet was developed and used : In the 1980s a new, Cyrillic-based, alphabet was created: Ket is classified as a synthetic language . Verbs use prefixes , while suffixes are rare. Nevertheless, incorporation is well-developed. The division between morphemes is based on fusion . Sandhi are common as well. The basic word order is subject-object-verb SOV . The name marking

888-559: The Ket were mistaken for a tribe of the Finno-Ugric Khanty . A. Karger in 1934 published the first grammar ( Кетский язык Ketskij jazyk ), as well as a Ket primer ( Букварь на кетском языке Bukvar' na ketskom jazyke ), and a new treatment appeared in 1968, written by A. Kreinovich. Ket people were subjected to collectivization in the 1930s. In the 1950s and 1960s, according to the recollections of informants, they were sent to Russian-only boarding schools, which led to

925-604: The UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger . "Vibrant" languages are those in full use by speakers of every generation, with consistent native acquisition by children. "Vulnerable" languages have a similarly wide base of native speakers, but a restricted use and the long-term risk of language shift . "Endangered" languages are either acquired irregularly or spoken only by older generations. "Moribund" languages have only

962-416: The basis of morphological, typological, and lexical evidence, Michael Fortescue suggests that Chukotko-Kamchatkan and Nivkh (Amuric) are related, forming a larger Chukotko-Kamchatkan–Amuric language family. Fortescue does not consider Yeniseian and Yukaghir to be genetically related to Chukotko-Kamchatkan–Amuric. The purpose of the existence of Paleo-Siberian itself lies in its practicability and remains

999-533: The ceasing of language transmission between generations. Now, Ket is taught as a subject in some primary schools, but only older adults are fluent and few are raising their children with the language. Kellog , Russia, is the only place where Ket is still taught in schools. Special books are provided for grades second through fourth but after those grades there is only Russian literature to read that describes Ket culture. There are no known monolingual speakers as of 2006. A children's book, A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton,

1036-591: The dialects are very similar to each other and Kets from different groups are able to understand each other. The most common southern dialect was used for the standardized written Ket. The three remaining Ket-majority localities natively speak different dialects. Southern Ket is spoken in Kellog , Central Ket in Surgutikha and Northern Ket in Maduika . Vajda analyses Ket as having only 12 consonant phonemes: It

1073-530: The end of a monosyllabic word with a glottalized or descending tone (i.e. [m, n, ŋ] turn into [m̥, n̥, ŋ̥] ), likewise, [ɮ] becomes [ɬ] in the same situation. Alveolars are often pronounced laminal and possibly palatalized , though not in the vicinity of a uvular consonant. /q/ is normally pronounced with affrication, as [𐞥χ] . Descriptions of Ket vary widely in the number of contrastive tones they report: as many as eight and as few as zero have been counted. Given this wide disagreement, whether or not Ket

1110-564: The existence of language isolates is that they might be the last remaining member of a larger language family, said language possibly could have had relatives in the past that have since disappeared without being documented leaving it an orphaned language much like the Ket language spoken in central Siberia who belongs to the wider Yeniseian language family, had it been discovered in recent times independently from its now extinct relatives such as Yugh and Kott it would have been classified as an isolate. Another explanation for language isolates

1147-678: The fact that they cannot be linked to other languages may be a reflection of our poor knowledge of them. Hattic , Gutian , and Kassite are all considered unclassified languages, but their status is disputed by a minority of linguists. Many extinct languages of the Americas such as Cayuse and Majena may likewise have been isolates. Several unclassified languages could also be language isolates, but linguists cannot be sure of this without sufficient evidence. A number of sign languages have arisen independently, without any ancestral language, and thus are language isolates. The most famous of these

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1184-527: The languages are well enough documented that, if modern relatives existed, they would be recognizably related. A language thought to be an isolate may turn out to be related to other languages once enough material is recovered, but this is unlikely for extinct languages whose written records have not been preserved. Many extinct languages are very poorly attested, which may lead to them being considered unclassified languages instead of language isolates. This occurs when linguists do not have enough information on

1221-636: The standard to be seen as different languages. Examples include Japanese and Georgian : Japanese is now part of the Japonic language family with the Ryukyuan languages , and Georgian is the main language in the Kartvelian language family. There is a difference between language isolates and unclassified languages , but they can be difficult to differentiate when it comes to classifying extinct languages . If such efforts eventually do prove fruitful,

1258-476: The syntax between Koreanic and Nivkh specifically have been observed. The Ob-Ugric and Samoyedic languages predate the spread of Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic languages, but are part of the well established larger Uralic family, thus not Paleo-Siberian. Yukaghir has often been suggested as a more distant relative of Uralic as part of the Uralic-Yukaghir languages , as well as Eskimo-Aleut as part of

1295-603: The two continents were joined during the last ice age. Ket, or more precisely the now largely extinct Yeniseian family, has been linked to the Na-Dené languages of North America. Dené–Yeniseian has been called "the first demonstration of a genealogical link between Old World and New World language families that meets the standards of traditional comparative-historical linguistics". In the past, attempts to connect it to Sino-Tibetan , North Caucasian and Burushaski have been made. Kim Bang-han proposed that placename glosses in

1332-551: Was one of the last known to study the Kott language . Castrén lived beside the Kan river with five people of Kott, in which is believed were the last remaining people who spoke the language. In 1858, Castrén published the first grammar and dictionary ( Versuch einer jenissei-ostjakischen und Kottischen Sprachlehre ), which also included material on the Kott language. During the 19th century,

1369-454: Was translated into the language in 2013. Alexander Kotusov was a Ket folk singer and poet who died in 2019. Only three localities, Kellog, Surgutikha and Maduika , retain a native Ket-speaking population in the present day. Other villages such as Serkovo and Pakulikha were destroyed in the second half of the 20th century, dispersing the local Ket population to nearby towns. Ket has three dialects: Southern, Central and Northern. All

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