The relationship of the Yukaghir languages with other language families is uncertain, though it has been suggested that they are distantly related to the
Uralic languages, thus forming the putative
Uralic–Yukaghir language family.
Michael Fortescue argued that Yukaghir is related to the
Eskimo-Aleut languages along with
Uralic languages, forming the
Uralo-Siberian language family. Tundra and Kolyma Yukaghir are the only two remnants of what used to be one of the dominant languages/language families of northeastern Siberia, spreading from the
River Anadyr in the east to the
River Lena in the west. On the basis of the evidence of early sources, it can be assumed that there existed a Yukaghir dialect continuum, with what is today Tundra Yukaghir and Kolyma Yukaghir at the extremes. These two languages share only a relatively small part of the vocabulary and are not mutually intelligible. The basic grammatical structures, however, are very similar. Both languages have residual
vowel harmony and a complex
phonotactics of consonants. Both have rich
agglutinative morphology and are strictly
head-final. There is practically no finite subordination and very few
coordinate structures. The most spectacular feature of TY and KY grammar is the
split intransitive alignment system based on discourse-pragmatic features. In absence of
narrow focus, the system is organised on the
nominative–accusative basis; when focused,
direct objects and subjects of
intransitive verbs are co-aligned (special focus case, special focus agreement). ==Members==