Cover not available

Article published In: Diachronica
Vol. 41:4 (2024) ► pp.525–555

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

On the dating of sound changes and its implications for language relationship

The case of Proto-Yeniseian *p- > Ket h-, Yugh f-

ORCiD logo with link | University of Cologne
ORCiD logo with link | University of Würzburg
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Cologne.

Published online: 30 May 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.23030.fri
Abstract
This article seeks to demonstrate how the synopsis of historiographical and lexicographical material allows for the absolute dating of sound changes even in languages with late and imperfect documentation, and how this dating relates to hypotheses concerning the long-range genealogical affiliation of these languages. The languages investigated are Ket and Yugh which belong to the Yeniseian family and have been documented since the 18th century. Two sound changes in these languages will be discussed: Proto-Yeniseian *p- > Ket h-, and Proto-Yeniseian *p- > Yugh f-. It will be argued that the Ket development occurred between 1596/1607 and 1723 AD, and that the Yugh development occurred between 1739 and 1846/1847 AD. The implications of these findings for the Dene-Yeniseian hypothesis linking the Yeniseian family with the Na-Dene family will be discussed. It will be argued that this hypothesis cannot be maintained, and that short-range comparisons are preferable to long-range speculations.
Résumé
Cet article vise à montrer comment la synthèse du matériel historiographique et lexicographique permet la datation absolue de changements phonétiques même dans des langues dont la documentation est tardive et imparfaite, et comment cette datation se rapporte aux hypothèses concernant l’appartenance généalogique la plus reculée de ces langues. Les langues étudiées ici sont le kète et le yug (yugh), qui appartiennent à la famille ienisseïenne et qui sont documentées depuis le XVIIIème siècle. On examinera deux changements phonétiques dans ces langues : le passage du phonème proto-Ienisseïen *p- à h- en kète, et du phonème proto-Ienisseïen *p- à f- en yug. On soutiendra que le processus en kète s’est accompli entre 1596/1607 et 1723 apr. J.-C., et que le processus en yug s’est accompli entre 1739 et 1846/1847 apr. J.-C. On discutera des implications de ces résultats pour l’hypothèse déné-ienisseïenne, selon laquelle les familles ienisseïenne et na-déné seraient apparentées au niveau génétique. On soutiendra que cette hypothèse est indéfendable et que des comparaisons portant sur des changements ayant eu lieu à date récente sont préférables à des spéculations remontant loin dans le passé.
Zusammenfassung
Der vorliegende Aufsatz versucht zu zeigen, wie die Zusammenschau historiographischen und lexikographischen Materials die absolute Datierung von Lautwandeln selbst in Sprachen mit einer späten und unvollkommenen Dokumentation gestattet und wie diese Datierung sich zu Hypothesen über die genetische Verwandtschaft dieser Sprachen in einer großen Zeittiefe verhält. Gegenstand der Untersuchung bilden die beiden Sprachen Ketisch und Jugisch, die zur jenissejischen Sprachfamilie gehören und seit dem 18. Jahrhundert dokumentiert sind. Es werden zwei Lautwandel in diesen Sprachen erörtert: urjenissejisch *p- > ketisch h- und urjenissejisch *p- > jugisch f-. Dabei wird gezeigt, dass der ketische Lautwandel zwischen 1596/1607 und 1723 n. Chr. und der jugische Lautwandel zwischen 1739 und 1846/1847 n. Chr. erfolgt sein muss. Ferner werden die mit diesen Feststellungen einhergehenden Implikationen für die dené-jenissejische Hypothese erwogen, die eine Urverwandtschaft der Familie der Jenissej-Sprachen mit der Familie der Na-Dené-Sprachen behauptet. Hier wird argumentiert, dass diese Hypothese nicht aufrechterhalten und Sprachvergleichen mit geringer Zeittiefe der Vorzug gegenüber Spekulationen mit großer Zeittiefe eingeräumt werden sollte.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The dating of PY *p- > Ket h- and PY *p- > Yugh f-
    • 2.1The reflex of PY *p- in the Yeniseian languages
    • 2.2The dating of PY *p- > Ket h-
    • 2.3The dating of PY *p- > Yugh f-
  • 3.The phoneme *p in long-range comparisons with the Yeniseian languages
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations/glossary
  • References
References (80)
References
Bonmann, Svenja, Simon Fries, Natalie Korobzow, Laura Günther & Eugen Hill. 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bouda, Karl. 1957. Die Sprache der Jenissejer: Genealogische und morphologische Untersuchungen. Anthropos 521. 65–134.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Braune, Wilhelm. 1874. Zur Kenntnis des Fränkischen und zur hochdeutschen Lautverschiebung. Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur 11. 1–56. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Braune, Wilhelm and Frank Heidermanns. 2018. Althochdeutsche Grammatik. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Büsching, Anton. 1785. Beyträge zu der Lebensgeschichte denkwürdiger Personen, vol. 31. Halle, Germany: Curt.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Campbell, Lyle. 2011. The Dene-Yeniseian connection (review). International Journal of American Linguistics 77(3). 445–451. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Castrén, Matthias. 1856. Reiseberichte und Briefe aus den Jahren 1845 – 1848. St. Petersburg: Akademie der Wissenschaften.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1858. Versuch einer jenissei-ostjakischen und kottischen Sprachlehre, nebst Wörterverzeichnissen aus den genannten Sprachen. St. Petersburg: Akademie der Wissenschaften.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dolgix, Boris. 1960. Rodovoj i plemennoj sostav narodov Sibiri v XVII v [Ethnic and tribal composition of the peoples of XVIIth century Siberia]. Moscow: Akademija Nauk SSSR.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dulson, Andreas [Dul’zon, A.]. 1959a. Geografičeskie nazvanija Zapadnoj Sibiri kak istočnik eë drevnej istorii [Toponyms of Western Siberia as a source on its ancient history]. In Nekotorye voprosy drevnej istorii Zapadnoj Sibiri. Tomsk: Tomskij oblastnoj kraevedčeskij muzej. 24–28.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
]. 1959b. Ketskije toponimy Zapadnoj Sibiri [Ket toponyms of Southern Siberia]. Učenye zapiski Tomskogo pedagogičeskogo instituta 181. 91–111.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
]. 1961. Slovarnye materialy XVIII v. po enisejskim narečijam [XVIIIth century dictionary materials on Yeniseian languages]. Učenye zapiski Tomskogo pedagogičeskogo instituta 19(2). 152–189.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
]. 1964. Očerki po grammatike ketskogo jazyka [A grammar sketch of the Ket language], vol. 11. Tomsk: Tomskij universitet.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
]. 1966. Ketskie skazki [Ket fairytales]. Tomsk: Tomskij universitet.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
]. 1968. Ketskij jazyk [The Ket language]. Tomsk: Tomskij universitet.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
]. 1970. Materialy po ketskoj dialektologii [Materials on Ket dialectology]. Jazyki i toponimija Sibiri 31. 81–121.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
]. 1971. Materialy po ketskoj dialektologii [Materials on Ket dialectology]. Jazyki i toponimija Sibiri 41. 119–157.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
]. 1972. Materialy po ketskoj dialektologii [Materials on Ket dialectology]. Jazyki i toponimija Sibiri 51. 104–145.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ėlert, Aleksandr. 1990. Ėkspedicionnye materialy G. F. Millera kak istočnik po istorii Sibiri [Expedition materials of G. F. Müller as a source on the history of Siberia]. Novosibirsk: Nauka.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fries, Simon & Svenja Bonmann. 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Georg, Stefan. 2007. A descriptive grammar of Ket (Yenisei-Ostyak) I. Introduction, phonology, morphology. Kent: Global Oriental. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Helimski, Eugen [Xelimskij, E.]. 1982. Keto-Uralica. In E. Alekseenko (ed.), Ketskij sbornik. Antropologija, ėtnografija, mifologija, lingvistika, 238–250. Leningrad: Nauka.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
]. 1986. Arxivnye materialy XVIII v. po enisejskim jazykam [XVIIIth century archival materials on Yeniseian languages]. In P. Skorik (ed.), Paleo-aziatskie jazyki, 179–213. Leningrad: Nauka.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Helimski, Eugen. 1997. Die matorische Sprache. Wörterverzeichnis, Grundzüge der Grammatik, Sprachgeschichte. Szeged: [n. p.].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Helimski, Eugen [Xelimskij, E.]. 2000. Komparativisika, uralistika. Lekcii i stat’i [Comparative studies, Uralic studies. Lectures and papers]. Moscow: Jazyki russkoj kul’tury.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hill, Eugen. 2008. Lautgesetze und Dialektvariation in den Jenissej-Sprachen: Entwicklung der Labiale im Ketischen und Jugischen. Ural-altaische Jahrbücher 221. 60–93.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jackson, Kenneth. 1953. Language and history in early Britain: A chronological survey of the Brittonic languages, 1st to 12th c. A.D. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Janhunen, Juha. 1977. Samojedischer Wortschatz. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Khabtagaeva, Bayarma. 2019. Language contact in Siberia: Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic loanwords in Yeniseian. Leiden: Brill. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kibrik, Andrej A. 1993. Transitivity increase in Athabaskan languages. In Bernard Comrie & Maria Polinsky (eds.), Causatives and transitivity (Studies in Language Comparison Series 23), 47–68. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1996. Transitivity decrease in Navajo and Athabaskan: Actor-affecting propositional derivations. In Eloise Jelinek, Sally Midgette, Keren Rice, & Leslie Saxon (eds.), Athabaskan language studies: Essays in honor of Robert W. Young, 259–304. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2010. Transitivity indicators, historical scenarios, and sundry Dene-Yeniseian notes. In James Kari & Ben A. Potter (eds.), The Dene-Yeniseian connection (Anthropological papers of the University of Alaska: New series 5(1/2), a special joint publication of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks), 319–322. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska, Alaska Native Language Center.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Ronald. 1999. Observations on the absolute and relative chronology of Tocharian loanwords and sound changes. Tocharian and Indo-European Studies 81. 111–138.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kotorova, Elizaveta & Andrej Nefedov. 2015. Comprehensive dictionary of Ket with Russian, German, and English translations. 21 vols. Munich: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Krauss, Michael E. 1964. Proto-Athapaskan-Eyak and the problem of Na-Dene I: The phonology. International Journal of American Linguistics 30(2). 118–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1965. Proto-Athapaskan-Eyak and the problem of Na-Dene II: Morphology. International Journal of American Linguistics 31(1). 18–28. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Krauss, Michael E. & Jeff Leer. 1981. Athabaskan, Eyak, and Tlingit sonorants (Alaska Native Language Center research papers 5). Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska, Alaska Native Language Center.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kümmel, Martin. 2007. Konsonantenwandel: Bausteine zu einer Typologie des Lautwandels und ihre Konsequenzen für die vergleichende Rekonstruktion. Wiesbaden: Reichert.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leer, Jeff. 1996. Comparative Athabaskan lexicon. Item CA965L1996a. Ms., Alaska Native Language Archive. Online: [URL] (Accessed on 18.06.2023).
. 2010. The palatal series in Athabascan-Eyak-Tlingit, with an overview of the basic correspondences. In James Kari & Ben A. Potter (eds.), The Dene-Yeniseian connection (Anthropological papers of the University of Alaska: New series 5(1/2), a special joint publication of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks), 168–193. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska, Alaska Native Language Center.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maloletko, Aleksej. 1992. Paleotoponimika [Paleotoponymics]. Tomsk: Tomskij gos. universitet.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2000. Drevnije narody Sibiri II. Kety. [Ancient peoples of Siberia II. Kets.] Tomsk: Tomskij universitet.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Messerschmidt, Daniel. 1964. Forschungsreise durch Sibirien 1720 – 1727 II. Tagebuchaufzeichnungen Januar 1723 – Mai 1724. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mikola, Tobor. 1995. Morphologisches Wörterbuch des Enzischen. Szeged, Hungary: Attila József University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, Gerhard Friedrich [Miller, G.]. 1750. Opisanie Sibirskago carstva [A description of the Siberian realm ruled by the tsar]. St. Petersburg: Akademija Nauk.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, Gerhard Friedrich. 1760. Sammlung Rußischer Geschichte 3/5–6. Nachrichten von der Handlung in Sibirien. St. Petersburg: Akademie der Wissenschaften.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1762. Sammlung Rußischer Geschichte 6/6. Sibirische Geschichte 5. St. Petersburg: Akademie der Wissenschaften.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1763. Sammlung Rußischer Geschichte 8/1. Sibirische Geschichte 6. St. Petersburg: Akademie der Wissenschaften.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, Gerhard Friedrich [Miller, G.]. 1937–2005. Istorija Sibiri [History of Siberia]. 31 vols. Moscow/Leningrad: Akademija Nauk/Vostočnaja literatura.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, Gerhard Friedrich. 2003. Nachrichten über Völker Sibiriens (1736–1742). Ed. by Eugen Helimski & Hartmut Katz. Hamburg: Institut für Finnougristik/Uralistik der Universität Hamburg.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, Gerhard Friedrich [Miller, G.]. 2009. Opisanie sibirskix narodov [A description of the Siberian peoples]. Moskva: Pamjatniki Istoričeskoj mysli.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, Gerhard Friedrich. 2010–2018. Ethnographische Schriften. 21 vols. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rice, Keren. 2000. Morpheme order and semantic scope: Word formation in the Athapaskan verb. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ruhlen, Merritt. 1998. The origin of the Na-Dene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 951. 13994–13996. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Seebold, Elmar. 2009. Chronologisches Wörterbuch des deutschen Wortschatzes II. Der Wortschatz des 9. Jahrhunderts. Berlin/New York: De Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Siegel, Florian. 2013. Materials on Forest Enets, an indigenous language of Northern Siberia. Helsinki: Société Finno-Ougrienne.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Starostin, George. 2010. Dene-Yeniseian and Dene-Caucasian: Pronouns and other thoughts. In Siri Tuttle & Justin Spence (eds.), Working papers in Dene languages 81, 107–117. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. Dene-Yeniseian: A critical assessment. Journal of Linguistic Relationship 81. 117–152. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Starostin, Sergej. 1982. Praenisejskaja rekonstrukcija i vnešnie svjazi enisejskix jazykov [Proto-Yeniseian reconstruction and outer relationships of the Yeniseian languages]. In E. Alekseenko (ed.), Ketskij sbornik. Antropologija, ėtnografija, mifologija, lingvistika, 144–237. Leningrad: Nauka.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1983. Gipoteza o genetičeskix svjazjax sinotibetskix jazykov s enisejskimi i severokavkazskimi jazykami [A hypothesis concerning the genetic relationship of Sino-Tibetan languages with Yeniseian and Northern Caucasian languages]. In I. F. Vardu (ed.), Lingvističeskaja rekonstrukcija i drevnejšaja istorija Vostoka, 19–38. Moscow: Akademija nauk, Institut vostokovedenija.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1995. Sravnitel’nyj slovar’ enisejskix jazykov [A comparative dictionary of Yeniseian languages]. In S. Starostin (ed.), Ketskij sbornik. Lingvistika, 176–315. Moskva: Vostočnaja literatura.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vajda, Edward. 2000. Ket prosodic phonology. Munich: Lincom.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. Ket. Munich: Lincom.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. Loanwords in Ket. In Martin Haspelmath & Uri Tadmor (eds.), Loanwords in the world’s languages. A comparative handbook, 471–497. Berlin: De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. A Siberian link with Na-Dene languages. In James Kari & Ben A. Potter (eds.), The Dene-Yeniseian connection (Anthropological papers of the University of Alaska: New series 5(1/2), a special joint publication of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks), 33–99. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska, Alaska Native Language Center.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2022. The Dene-Yeniseian Hypothesis. In Michael Fortescue & Edward Vajda, Mid-Holocene language connections between Asia and North America, 235–480. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vajda, Edward & Heinrich Werner. 2022. Comparative-historical Yeniseian dictionary. München: Lincom.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wagner-Nagy, Beáta. 2019. A grammar of Nganasan. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Werner, Heinrich. 1972. Die Tonität der gegenwärtigen jenisseischen Dialekte. Zeitschrift für Phonetik, Sprachwissenschaft und Kommunikationsforschung 271. 379–386. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1974. Die Akzentuation der mehrsilbigen Wörter in den gegenwärtigen Jenissej-Dialekten. Zeitschrift für Phonetik, Sprachwissenschaft und Kommunikationsforschung 321. 181–185.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1994. Das Klassensystem in den Jenissej-Sprachen. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1996. Vergleichende Akzentologie der Jenissej-Sprachen. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1997a. Das Jugische (Sym-Ketische). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1997b. Die ketische Sprache. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2002. Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Jenissej-Sprachen. 31 vols. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003. M. A. Castrén und die Jenissejistik. Die Jenissej-Sprachen des 19. Jahrhunderts. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. Zur jenissejisch-indianischen Urverwandtschaft. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005. Die Jenissej-Sprachen des 18. Jahrhunderts. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Bonmann, Svenja & Simon Fries
2025. Linguistic Evidence Suggests that Xiōng‐nú and Huns Spoke the Same Paleo‐Siberian Language. Transactions of the Philological Society DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 8 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue