Yeniseian

[yen-uh-sey-uhn]

noun

1. a group of languages spoken in Siberia, the only surviving member of which is Ket.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Yeniseian¹

Yenisei + -an, translation of Russian yeniséĭskiĭ

Example Sentences

In particular, he looked at Yeniseian and Na-Dene verbs, since languages in both groups have a template of fixed positions before and after the verb for specifying various attributes.

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If Yeniseian represents a return migration from Beringia, the question of the source population in Siberia of Native Americans is thrust back into obscurity.

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But in 2008, Edward Vajda, a linguist at Western Washington University, said he had documented a relationship between Yeniseian, a group of mostly extinct languages spoken along the Yenisei River in central Siberia, and Na-Dene.

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Several Yeniseian languages are known only from czarist fur tax records.

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