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Uralo - Siberian languages

Updated: Jul 16, 2021

Hypothetical language family of the Artic

History

Similarities between Uralic and Eskimo–Aleut languages were found early. In 1746 Hungarian was compared to the Greenlandic language by Marcus Woldike. In 1818 Rasmus Rask considered Greenlandic to be an Uralic language. Interesting fact, that according to Rask Uralic and Altaic languages are related to each other. Recently in 2017 British-born linguist Michael Fortescue suggested that the homeland of the included groups is in Northeast Asia.


How similar are these languages in reality?

Of course, as a Hungarian I can confirm that I don't understand the Mari or the Aleut language. However some similarities can be found: e.g.: in many of these language the suffix "-t" means "plural" or the suffix "-m" is used when refered to 1st person.


What about Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages?

Fortescue at first included Chukotko-Kamchatkan in the family, but later concluded that the similarities are due to mutual influence. He also stated that Chukotko-Kamchatkan has more similarities with Nivkh. However Nivkh is usually included in the family which shows the uncertainty of the theory.


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