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Concept
Samoyedic languages
Summary
The Samoyedic (ˌsæməˈjɛdɪk,-mɔɪ-) or Samoyed languages (ˈsæməˌjɛd,-mɔɪ-) are spoken around the Ural Mountains, in northernmost Eurasia, by approximately 25,000 people altogether. They derive from a common ancestral language called Proto-Samoyedic, and form a branch of the Uralic languages. Having separated perhaps in the last centuries BC, they are not a diverse group of languages, and are traditionally considered to be an outgroup, branching off first from the other Uralic languages.
Samoyedic peoples
The term Samoyedic is derived from the Russian term samoyed (самоед) for some indigenous peoples of Siberia. The term has come to be considered derogatory because it has been interpreted by some ethnologists as originating from Russian samo-yed meaning 'self-eater', i.e. 'cannibal'.
An earlier ethnologist had rejected this etymology, and instead traced the term's origin to the expression saam-edne, meaning the Land of the Sami peoples.
The word Samodeic has been proposed as an alternative by some ethnologists.
Traditionally, Samoyedic languages and peoples have been divided into two major areal groups: Northern Samoyedic (Nenets, Yurats, Enets, Nganasans), and Southern Samoyedic (Selkups) with a further subgroup of Sayan-Samoyedics (Kamasins, Mators) named after the Sayan Mountains. They are however purely geographical, and do not reflect linguistic relations.
Linguistic genealogical classifications point to an early divergence of Nganasan and (perhaps to a lesser degree) Mator, with Enets–Nenets–Yurats and Kamas–Selkup forming internal branches.
Nganasan (Tavgi or Tawgi-Samoyed)
Avam
Vadey/Vadeyev
Core-Samoyedic
Enets-Nenets
Enets (Yenisei-Samoyed)
Tundra Enets
Forest Enets
Yurats †
Nenets (Yurak-Samoyed)
Tundra Nenets
Forest Nenets
Kamas-Selkup
Selkup (Ostyak-Samoyed)
Northern Selkup (Taz)
Central Selkup (Tym)
Southern Selkup (Ket)
Kamassian (Sayan-Samoyed) †
Kamas
Koibal
Mator (Sayan-Samoyed) †
Taigi
Karagass
Soyot
Samoyedic languages are primarily agglutinative. They have postpositions and suffixes and do not use articles or prefixes.
Official source
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