Central Siberian Yupik language

Template:Short description {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other

Central Siberian Yupik<ref name="ISO 639-3/RA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (also known as Siberian Yupik, Bering Strait YupikTemplate:Citation needed, YuitTemplate:Citation needed, YoitTemplate:Citation needed, "St. Lawrence Island Yupik",<ref name="Ethnologue 25">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Census.gov">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in Russia "Chaplinski Yupik" or YukTemplate:Citation needed) is an endangered Yupik language spoken by the Indigenous Siberian Yupik people along the coast of Chukotka in the Russian Far East and in the villages of Savoonga and Gambell on St. Lawrence Island. The language is part of the Eskimo-Aleut language family.

In the United States, the Alaska Native Language Center identified about 400-750 Yupigestun speakers, considering “dormant speakers” who understand but cannot converse.<ref name="ANLC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Russia in 2021, 172 people indicated that they speak the language, while only 92 of them use it in everyday life.<ref name="перепись 2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Thus, the total number of speakers is no more than 550-900 people.

Dialects and subgroups

Siberian Yupik has two dialects: Chaplino (Chaplinski) Yupik (Uŋazigmit) is spoken on the shores of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the Russian Far North, and St. Lawrence Island Yupik (Sivuqaghmiistun) is spoken on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska.

Chaplino, or Uŋazigmit, is the largest Yupik language of Siberia (the second one is Naukan Yupik), and is named after the settlement of Уӈазиӄ (Ungaziq; Template:Ill or Old Chaplino in Russian). The word Ungazighmii / УңазиӷмӣTemplate:Sfn<ref>same suffix for another root Template:Harvtxt</ref> {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (plural Ungazighmiit / Уңазиӷмӣт {{#invoke:IPA|main}}Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn) means "Ungaziq inhabitant(s)". People speaking this language live in several settlements in the southeastern Chukchi PeninsulaTemplate:Sfn (including Novoye Chaplino, Provideniya, and Sireniki), Uelkal, Wrangel Island,Template:Sfn and Anadyr.<ref name=endsib>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The majority of Chaplino Yupik speakers live in the villages of Novoye Chaplino and Sireniki. In another terminology, these people speak Chaplino, and Ungazighmiit people speak one of its dialects, along with other dialects spoken by Avatmit, Imtugmit, Kigwagmit, which can be divided further into even smaller dialects.Template:Sfn

The second dialect, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, is believed to be an offspring of Chaplino with only minor phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactical and lexical differences, and the two dialects are virtually identical.Template:Sfn

Phonology

Consonants

Unlike the Central Alaskan Yupik languages, Siberian Yupik has a series of retroflex fricatives, more similar to the Alaskan Inuit dialects.

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Glottal
						plain	lab.	plain	lab.
Nasal	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Stop		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	lateral		Template:IPA link
Approximant			Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Mid		Template:IPA link
Open		Template:IPA link

Morphosyntax

Morphosyntax is the study of grammatical categories or linguistic units that have both morphological and syntactic properties. Central Siberian Yupik’s structure most resembles this category. In addition, CSY can be described as using both internal and external syntax. Internal syntax is used here to describe the way that postbases are added to a base or added to one another, contrasted with external syntax, which refers to the order of independent words.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Central Siberian Yupik is a polysynthetic language, meaning it is made up of long, structured words containing many separate meaningful parts (morphemes). In fact, a single word can be an entire sentence. CSY is also an ergative-absolutive language, in contrast to the nominative-accusative structure of English and many Indo-European languages.

Most Siberian Yupik words consist of a "base" or "stem", followed by zero or more "postbases", followed by one "ending", followed by zero or more "enclitics":Template:Sfn

Generally, the “base” or “stem” contains the root meaning of the word , while the “postbases,” which are suffixing morphemes, provide additional components of the sentence (see example above). As shown, postbases include items with adjectival and verbal qualities, among other elements. The “ending” (Woodbury’s term) is an inflectional suffix to the right of the postbase that contains grammatical information such as number, person, case, or mood.Template:Sfn Enclitics are bound suffixes that follow the inflectional ending of a word. An attached enclitic affects the meaning of the entire sentence, not just the element to which it is attached. The exception is the enclitic ‘llu,’ shown above, which has a basic meaning of ‘and.’<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Bases

The base forms the lexical core of the word and belongs to one of three main classes: noun bases, verb bases and particle bases.Template:Sfn

• Noun bases (N)
  • Ordinary noun bases (intransitive, transitive)
  • Independent pronoun bases (intransitive)
  • Demonstrative bases (D) (intransitive)
  • Adjectival noun bases
    • Inflecting as ordinary noun bases (intransitive, transitive)
    • Independent relative bases
    • Quantificational bases (Q)
      • Numeral (NM) bases: cardinal (intransitive); ordinal (transitive)
      • Specifier (SP) bases: cardinal (intransitive); partitive (transitive)
  • Locational bases
    • Demonstrative adverb (DA) bases (intransitive)
    • Positional (PS) bases (transitive)
  • Temporal bases
    • Temporal noun bases (intransitive, transitive)
    • Temporal particle bases
• Verb bases (V)
  • Exclusively intransitive (Vi)
  • Exclusively transitive (Vt)
  • Ambivalent
• Particles
  • Independent particles
  • Sentence particles
  • Phrasal participles
  • Enclitics

Noun endings indicate number (singular, dual, or plural), case, and whether or not the noun is possessed. If the noun is possessed, the ending indicates the number and person of the possessor. Siberian Yupik has seven noun cases:

1. absolutive
2. relative (ergative-genitive)
3. ablative-modalis
4. localis
5. terminalis
6. vialis
7. aequalis

Absolutive Case Noun Endings

As in other ergative-absolutive languages, absolutive case is used to mark nouns that are generally the subjects of intransitive verbs or the objects of transitive verbs.

Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

		Singular Noun	Plural Noun	Dual Noun
Unpossessed		Ø	lang}}	lang}}
1st person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
2nd person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
3rd person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
3rd person reflective possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}

Relative/Ergative Case Noun Endings

Ergative case identifies nouns as a subject of a transitive verb and acts as the genitive form in ergative-absolutive languages.

		Singular Noun	Plural Noun	Dual Noun
Unpossessed		lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
1st person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
2nd person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
3rd person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
3rd person reflective possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}

Ablative-Modalis Case Noun Endings

The ablative case is used to indicate the agent in passive sentences, or the instrument, manner, or place of the action described by the verb.

		Single Noun	Plural Noun	Dual Noun
Unpossessed		lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
1st person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
2nd person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
3rd person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
3rd person reflective possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}

The endings of the locative and terminative cases are the same as those of the ablative case except that the locative case has -mi and -ni and the terminative case has -mun and -nun in place of the -meng and -neng at the end of the ablative case endings.

Prolative Case Noun Endings

In grammar, the prolative case, also called the vialis case, is a grammatical case of a noun or pronoun that expresses motion by the referent of the noun it marks.

		Singular Noun	Plural Noun	Dual Noun
Unpossessed		lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
1st person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
2nd person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
3rd person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
3rd person reflective possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}

Equative Noun Case Endings

Equative is a case that expresses the standard of comparison of equal values.

		Singular Noun	Plural Noun	Dual Noun
Unpossessed		lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
1st person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
2nd person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
3rd person possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
3rd person reflective possessor	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	Template:Small	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}

Postbases

Derivation is accomplished in CSY by attaching suffixes called postbases. Productivity in the context of CSY is defined as the free addition of a postbase to any base without an unpredictable semantic result; non-productivity implies that said postbases cannot combine freely but are limited to attaching to only a particular set of bases.Template:Sfn Postbases are either nominal or verbal and select nominal or verbal bases or expanded bases to attach to (an expanded base is a base followed by one or more postbases). There are four kinds of postbases:Template:Sfn

1. VN: postbases deriving nouns from verbs
2. NV: postbases deriving verbs from nouns
3. NN: postbases constructing complex nouns
4. VV: postbases constructing complex verbs

These postbases can indicate a wide variety of meaning, including:Template:Sfn

For nouns:

• quantification,
• adjectival modification,
• being and becoming,
• a type of verbal noun-incorporation

For verbs:

• changes in transitivity,
• adverbial modification,
• evidentially,
• negation,
• tense,
• agent noun formation,
• relative clause formation,
• various types of verbal complementation

It is estimated that CSY has approximately 547 postbases: 75 NN, 55 NV, 30 VN, and 387 VV. It appears that in CSY the large majority of NN, NV, and VN postbases are productive; for the VV postbases, there are approximately 190 non-productive ones and 197 productive ones.Template:Sfn

Characteristics of polysynthetic postbases

There are no clear morphological position classes in CSY.Template:Sfn A position class is the organization of morphemes or a morpheme class into a linear ordering with no apparent connection to syntactic, semantic, or phonological representation.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the example below, it is semantic restrictions that dictate the order.Template:Sfn

Some postbases can be used recursively, as in the example below.Template:Sfn

Recursion can also be used for emphasis.Template:Sfn

There is variability in postbase ordering with no change in semantic outcome.Template:Sfn

Abbreviations: V, verb; PST, past tense; FRUSTR, frustrative (‘but . . ., in vain’); INFER, inferential evidential (often translatable as ‘it turns out’); INDIC, indicative; 3S3S, third-person subject acting on third-person object): (de Reuse 2006) Note: postbases noted in bold.

<section begin="list-of-glossing-abbreviations"/>

V:verb FRUSTR:frustrative aspect (‘but ... in vain’) INFER:inferential evidential (often translatable as ‘it turns out’) 3S3S:third-person subject acting on third-person object

<section end="list-of-glossing-abbreviations"/>

Note: there is a general rule in CSY of semantic scope in which the rightmost postbase will have scope over the left. However, there are many exceptions, as in the example above.Template:Sfn

Enclitics

Following are a brief list and description of enclitics in CSY. The table is recreated from de Reuse (1988).Template:Sfn

1. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: modal function, interrogative
2. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: modal function, optative
3. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: modal function, exhortative or exclamative
4. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: evidential function
5. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: focus marking or conjunction
6. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: can be interrogative; sometimes marks a perlocutionary act
7. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: mark illocutionary acts
8. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: mark the “presupposition that the hearer is unaware that the speaker lacks crucial information”
9. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: shifts the attention of the hearer

1st Position	2nd Position	3rd Position	4th position
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}			{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
	{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
	{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
	{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}

Note: the ‘position’ references above refer to the position of the postbase following the main base.

Other Eskimo languages spoken in Chukotka

Other Yupik languages

Naukan, or Nuvuqaghmiistun, the second largest Yupik language spoken in Chukotka, is spoken in settlements including Uelen, Lorino, Lavrentiya, and Provideniya.<ref name=endsib/>

Debated classifications

Additionally, the Sireniki Eskimo language, locally called Uqeghllistun, was an Eskimo language once spoken in Chukotka. It had many peculiarities. Sometimes it is classified as not belonging to the Yupik branch at all, thus forming (by itself) a stand-alone third branch of the Eskimo languages (alongside Inuit and Yupik).Template:Sfn<ref name=Vakh-Sir/> Its peculiarities may be the result of a supposed long isolation from other Eskimo groups in the past.Template:Sfn

Sireniki became extinct in early January 1997.Template:Sfn<ref name=Vakh-Sir>Linguist List's description about Nikolai Vakhtin Template:Webarchive's book: The Old Sirinek Language: Texts, Lexicon, Grammatical Notes Template:Webarchive. The author's untransliterated (original) name is "Н.Б. Вахтин Template:Webarchive".</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} — see the section on Eskimos Template:Webarchive</ref>

References

English

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Russian

• Template:Cite book
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Further reading

Russian

• Template:Cite book
• Yupik: Bibliographical guide

English

• Badten, Linda Womkon, Vera Oovi Kaneshiro, Marie Oovi, and Steven A. Jacobson. A Dictionary of the St. Lawrence Island/Siberian Yupik Eskimo Language. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, College of Liberal Arts, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 1987. Template:ISBN
• Bass, Willard P., Edward A. Tennant, and Sharon Pungowiyi Satre. Test of Oral Language Dominance Siberian Yupik-English. Albuquerque, N.M.: Southwest Research Associates, 1973.
• Jacobson, Steven A. Reading and Writing the Cyrillic System for Siberian Yupik = Atightuneqlu Iganeqlu Yupigestun Ruuseghmiit Latangitgun. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, College of Liberal Arts, University of Alaska, 1990.
• Template:Cite bookTemplate:Dead link Collection of stories, originally recorded by Меновщиков among Siberian Yupik, then transliterated so that it can be read by Yupik of St. Lawrence Island.
• Template:Cite book