Proto-Yeniseian or Proto-Yeniseic is the unattested reconstructed proto-language from which all Yeniseian languages are thought to descend. It is uncertain whether Proto-Yeniseian had a similar tone/pitch accent system as Ket. Many studies about Proto-Yeniseian phonology have been done; however, there are still many things unclear about Proto-Yeniseian. The probable location of the Yeniseian homeland is proposed on the basis of geographic names and genetic studies, which suggests a homeland in Southern Siberia.

Phonology

According to Vajda, Proto-Yeniseian had the following phonemes, expressed in IPA symbols.

Consonants

BilabialAlveolarPostalveolarRetroflexPalatalLabiovelarVelarUvular
Nasal*m*n*ŋʷ*ŋ
Plosivevoiceless*p*t*č [t͡ʃ]*tʳ [ʈ]*c*kʷ*k*q
voiced*b*d*ǰ [d͡ʒ]*dʳ [ɖ]*ɟ*ɡʷ*ɡ*ɢ
Fricative*s*š [ʃ](*šʳ [ʂ])*ç*xʷ*x*χ
Lateral*ɬ*tɬ
Approximant*w*j
Rhotic*r

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Close*i *ij *iw*u *uj *uw
Mid*e *ej *ew*o *oj *ow
Open*a *aj *aw

Further reading

  • Anderson, Gregory D. S. (2003). "Yeniseic languages from a Siberian areal perspective". STUF - Language Typology and Universals. 56 (1–2): 12–39. doi:.
  • Bonmann, S.; Fries, S.; Korobzow, N.; Günther, L.; Hill, E. (2023). "Towards a New Reconstruction of the Proto-Yeniseian Sound System. Part I: Word-Initial Consonants". International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics. 5 (1): 39–82. doi:. Hill, Eugen; Fries, Simon; Korobzow, Natalie; Günther, Laura; Bonmann, Svenja (2024). "Towards a New Reconstruction of the Proto-Yeniseian Sound System. Part II: Word-Final Consonants". International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics. 6 (2): 216–293. doi:.
  • Fries, Simon; Bonmann, Svenja (2023). "The Development of Arin kul 'water' ~ Kott ûl, Ket ¹u·l', Yugh ¹ur and Its Typological Background". International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics. 5 (2): 183–198. doi:.
  • de la Fuente, José Andrés Alonso (2010). "Proto-Yeniseian *dïn ~ *dïñ 'Fir Tree'". Central Asiatic Journal. 54 (1): 12–21. JSTOR . Accessed 19 June 2023.
  • Janhunen, Juha (2012). . Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia. 17 (1): 67–87.
  • Starostin, Sergei A.; Ruhlen, Merritt (1994). "Proto-Yeniseian Reconstructions, with Extra-Yeniseian Comparisons". On the Origin of Languages: Studies in Linguistic Taxonomy. Redwood City: Stanford University Press. pp. 70–92. doi:. ISBN 978-1-5036-2235-7.
  • Timonina, Lyudmila G. (2004). "On distinguishing loanwords from the original Proto-Yeniseic lexicon". In Vajda, E. J. (ed.). Languages and Prehistory of Central Siberia. Current Issues in Linguistic Theory. Vol. 262. pp. 135–142. doi:. ISBN 978-90-272-4776-6.
  • Vajda, Edward. "Losing semantic alignment: from Proto-Yeniseic to Modern Ket". In: The typology of semantic alignment. Eds. Tim Donohue & Soeren Wichman. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. pp. 140–161. ISBN 9780199238385.
  • Vajda, Edward (2022). "Yeniseian Languages". Mid-Holocene Language Connections between Asia and North America. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. pp. 246–278. doi:. ISBN 978-90-04-43682-4.
  • Vajda, Edward. "8 The Yeniseian language family". The Languages and Linguistics of Northern Asia: Language Families, edited by Edward Vajda, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2024, pp. 365–480. doi:
  • М. В. Филимонов. "Праенисейская падежная система и некоторые проблемы морфологии имени в енисейских языках" [PROTO-YENISSEAN CASE SYSTEM AND SOME PROBLEM OF NOUN MORPHOLOGY IN YENISSEAN LANGUAGES]. In: Вестник Томского государственного педагогического университета, no. 4 (12), 1999, pp. 64–66. URL: (дата обращения: 19.06.2023). (in Russian)

External links