Yenissei
Characteristics
- Change of Old Turkic *d to /z/, e.g. Western Yugur azaq 'foot', Khakas xuzurux 'tail'.
- Preservation of word-final and preconsonantal */G/, e.g. Western Yugur tʰaɣ 'mountain', Ös aɣrïɣ 'pain'.
Notes
- A Swadesh-list based classification of the Yenissei languages:
Khakas Mrass Shor Ös Fu-yü Gïrgïs Western Yugur Western Yugur 116/160
=72.50%60/80
=75.00%79/123
=64.23%93/128
=72.66%100% Fu-yü Gïrgïs 109/138
=78.99%53/68
=77.94%83/100
=75.45%100% Ös 109/138
=78.99%57/72
=79.17%100% Mrass Shor 78/88
=88.64%100% Khakas 100% - Western Yugur is sufficiently distinct that it may represent yet another primary branch of Common Turkic. The history of the Western Yugurs suggests that they separated from other Turkic peoples at a very early date.
Tree
Yenissei- †Yenisei Kirghiz
- Khakas, with several divergent dialects:
- Kachin
- Sagay
- Xyzyl
- Shor
- The varieties of the Middle Chulym-Mrass-Upper Tom area:
- Fu-yü Gïrgïs
- Western Yugur
References
Ceylan, Emine. 1995. “Orta Çulım, Mrass-Yukarı Tom Ağızları.” Çağdaş Türk Dili 88: 6-13.
Nugteren, Hans and Marti Roos. 2006. “Prolegomena to the Classification of Western Yugur.” In Exploring the Eastern Frontiers of Turkic (Turcologica 60), edited by Marcel Erdal and Irina Nevskaya, 99-130. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Tekin, Talat. 2005. “A New Classification of the Turkic languages.” In Makaleler III: Çağdaş Türk Dilleri, edited by Nurettin Demir and Emine Yılmaz, 405-420. Ankara: Grafiker.