How far west into Asia have Eskimo languages been spoken, and which ones?
It has long been suggested by archaeologists that Eskimo-speaking groups were present along the coasts of northeastern Asia much further west than their present confinement to the tip of the Chukotkan Peninsula suggests. However, little linguistic evidence confirming this has been adduced. The pitfa...
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2004
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fterudit:oai:erudit.org:013201ar 2023-05-15T13:24:35+02:00 How far west into Asia have Eskimo languages been spoken, and which ones? Fortescue, Michael 2004 http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/013201ar https://doi.org/10.7202/013201ar en eng Association Inuksiutiit Katimajiit Inc. Centre interuniversitaire d'études et de recherches autochtones (CIÉRA) Érudit Études/Inuit/Studies vol. 28 no. 2 (2004) http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/013201ar doi:10.7202/013201ar Tous droits réservés © La revue Études/Inuit/Studies, 2004 text 2004 fterudit https://doi.org/10.7202/013201ar 2022-09-24T23:12:53Z It has long been suggested by archaeologists that Eskimo-speaking groups were present along the coasts of northeastern Asia much further west than their present confinement to the tip of the Chukotkan Peninsula suggests. However, little linguistic evidence confirming this has been adduced. The pitfalls of misinterpretation of early word-list materials is illustrated with an examination of the facts and non-facts concerning the so-called Anadyr Eskimos supposed to have been met in the early 19th century far to the west, speaking what looks like the Naukanski language of East Cape. With the availability of new data on recently extinct Kerek, it is possible to put together from the hitherto sparse phonological and lexical data a plausible hypothesis that explains, among other things, certain prosodic features of coastal Chukotian languages in terms of a relatively recent Yupik Eskimo substratum all the way to the Kamchatkan isthmus. These features largely coincide with the areas where the original Chukotian vowel harmony system has broken down, in an almost contiguous coastal strip cutting across major language boundaries. This is set within a broader scenario for the spread of successive waves of Eskimo languages on the Asian side, back from their focal area around Bering Strait during successive phases of Neo-Eskimo culture. An explanation of the origin of Yupik rhythmical stress—and its relationship to peculiarities of the highly aberrant Sirenikski language and to the nature of adjacent Chukotian prosodies—will fall out from this scenario. Les archéologues ont depuis longtemps suggéré que les groupes parlant l’eskimo étaient présents le long des côtes du Nord-Est de l’Asie bien plus à l’ouest que ne le suggère leur confinement actuel à la pointe de la péninsule des Tchouktches. Peu de preuves linguistiques sont pourtant invoquées pour confirmer cette thèse. On illustre le piège des interprétations erronées des premières listes de mots par un examen des faits et des non-faits de ceux appelés Eskimos Anadyr, un ... Text Anadyr Anadyr' Bering Strait eskimo* Études/Inuit/Studies Sirenik* Tchouktche* Yupik Érudit.org (Université Montréal) Bering Strait Anadyr ENVELOPE(177.510,177.510,64.734,64.734) Anadyr’ ENVELOPE(176.233,176.233,64.882,64.882) East Cape ENVELOPE(-45.183,-45.183,-60.633,-60.633) Cape With ENVELOPE(-82.498,-82.498,79.935,79.935) Études/Inuit/Studies 28 2 159 183 |
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Open Polar |
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Érudit.org (Université Montréal) |
op_collection_id |
fterudit |
language |
English |
description |
It has long been suggested by archaeologists that Eskimo-speaking groups were present along the coasts of northeastern Asia much further west than their present confinement to the tip of the Chukotkan Peninsula suggests. However, little linguistic evidence confirming this has been adduced. The pitfalls of misinterpretation of early word-list materials is illustrated with an examination of the facts and non-facts concerning the so-called Anadyr Eskimos supposed to have been met in the early 19th century far to the west, speaking what looks like the Naukanski language of East Cape. With the availability of new data on recently extinct Kerek, it is possible to put together from the hitherto sparse phonological and lexical data a plausible hypothesis that explains, among other things, certain prosodic features of coastal Chukotian languages in terms of a relatively recent Yupik Eskimo substratum all the way to the Kamchatkan isthmus. These features largely coincide with the areas where the original Chukotian vowel harmony system has broken down, in an almost contiguous coastal strip cutting across major language boundaries. This is set within a broader scenario for the spread of successive waves of Eskimo languages on the Asian side, back from their focal area around Bering Strait during successive phases of Neo-Eskimo culture. An explanation of the origin of Yupik rhythmical stress—and its relationship to peculiarities of the highly aberrant Sirenikski language and to the nature of adjacent Chukotian prosodies—will fall out from this scenario. Les archéologues ont depuis longtemps suggéré que les groupes parlant l’eskimo étaient présents le long des côtes du Nord-Est de l’Asie bien plus à l’ouest que ne le suggère leur confinement actuel à la pointe de la péninsule des Tchouktches. Peu de preuves linguistiques sont pourtant invoquées pour confirmer cette thèse. On illustre le piège des interprétations erronées des premières listes de mots par un examen des faits et des non-faits de ceux appelés Eskimos Anadyr, un ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Fortescue, Michael |
spellingShingle |
Fortescue, Michael How far west into Asia have Eskimo languages been spoken, and which ones? |
author_facet |
Fortescue, Michael |
author_sort |
Fortescue, Michael |
title |
How far west into Asia have Eskimo languages been spoken, and which ones? |
title_short |
How far west into Asia have Eskimo languages been spoken, and which ones? |
title_full |
How far west into Asia have Eskimo languages been spoken, and which ones? |
title_fullStr |
How far west into Asia have Eskimo languages been spoken, and which ones? |
title_full_unstemmed |
How far west into Asia have Eskimo languages been spoken, and which ones? |
title_sort |
how far west into asia have eskimo languages been spoken, and which ones? |
publisher |
Association Inuksiutiit Katimajiit Inc. |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/013201ar https://doi.org/10.7202/013201ar |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(177.510,177.510,64.734,64.734) ENVELOPE(176.233,176.233,64.882,64.882) ENVELOPE(-45.183,-45.183,-60.633,-60.633) ENVELOPE(-82.498,-82.498,79.935,79.935) |
geographic |
Bering Strait Anadyr Anadyr’ East Cape Cape With |
geographic_facet |
Bering Strait Anadyr Anadyr’ East Cape Cape With |
genre |
Anadyr Anadyr' Bering Strait eskimo* Études/Inuit/Studies Sirenik* Tchouktche* Yupik |
genre_facet |
Anadyr Anadyr' Bering Strait eskimo* Études/Inuit/Studies Sirenik* Tchouktche* Yupik |
op_relation |
Études/Inuit/Studies vol. 28 no. 2 (2004) http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/013201ar doi:10.7202/013201ar |
op_rights |
Tous droits réservés © La revue Études/Inuit/Studies, 2004 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7202/013201ar |
container_title |
Études/Inuit/Studies |
container_volume |
28 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
159 |
op_container_end_page |
183 |
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1766380423371292672 |