SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This book describes the morphological system of modern Yukaghir in a historical perspective, and proposes the first ever systematic reconstruction of the main aspects of Proto‑Yukaghir inflectional morphology and the historical changes it went through. The reconstruction is put into syntactic context, and based on the evidence for earlier linguistic states and general typological plausibility. Yukaghir is shown to be strongly aligned with the grammatical profile of the Uralic and Altaic languages. In addition, the book discusses potential cognates for a number of Yukaghir grammatical morphemes and constructions, primarily from Uralic, evaluates some previous hypotheses in this respect, and proposes a number of new interpretations, while abstaining from general conclusions regarding genetic relatedness. Morphological borrowings and contact-induced grammaticalization processes are also addressed.