Dené-Yeniseian languages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dené-Yeniseian | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
northwest North America and central Siberia |
| Genetic classification: |
One of the world's major language families. |
| Subdivisions: |
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Dené-Yeniseian is a proposed relationship between the Yeniseian languages of central Siberia and the Na-Dené languages of northwestern North America.
In March 2008, Edward Vajda of Western Washington University summarized ten years of research, based on verbal morphology and reconstructions of the proto-languages, that these two families are related (Vajda 2008). His paper has been favorably reviewed by several specialists of Na-Dene and Yeniseian languages, 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, and Eric Hamp.[1] In addition to finding the link between Yeniseian and Na-Dené compelling, the seminar came to the conclusion that the comparison "shows conclusively that Haida, sometimes associated with Na-Dene, is not related."[1]
Some of the evidence for this relationship resembles less rigorous proposals for a Dené-Caucasian language family, which adds to the proposal Burushaski and the Sino-Tibetan and North Caucasian language families. However, Vajda did not find the kinds of morphological correspondences with these other families that he did with Yeniseian and Na-Dene.
[edit] Evidence
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] References
- Vajda, Edward (2008). A Siberian Link with Na-Dene Languages.
- Dene-Yeniseic Symposium, Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
