Languages and Prehistory of Central Siberia: (262 Current Issues in Linguistic Theory)

The twelve articles in this volume describe Yeniseic, Samoyedic and Siberian Turkic languages as a linguistic complex of great interest to typologists, grammarians, diachronic and synchronic linguists, as well as cultural anthropologists. The articles demonstrate how interdependent the disparate languages spoken in this area actually are. Individual articles discuss borrowing and language replacement, as well as compare the development of language subsystems, such as numeral words in Ket and Selkup. Three of the articles also discuss the historical and anthropological origins of the tribes of this area. The book deals with linguistics from the vantage of both historical anthropology as well as diachronic and synchronic linguistic structure. The editor's introduction offers a concise summary of the diverse languages of this area, with attention to both their differences and similarities. A major feature uniting them is their mutual interaction with the unique Yeniseic language family – the only group in North Asia outside the Pacific Rim that does not belong to Uralic or Altaic. Except for the papers by Anderson and Harrison, all of the articles were originally written in Russian and they are made available in English here for the first time.

Table of Contents:
1. Editor's foreword (by Vajda, Edward J.); 2. I. The languages of Central Siberia; 3. Introduction and overview (by Anderson, Gregory D.S.); 4. II. Yeniseic linguistics; 5. Yeniseic counting systems (by Werner, Heinrich); 6. Patterns of plural formation in Kott nouns and adjectives (by Porotova, Telmina I.); 7. On distinguishing loanwords from the original Proto-Yeniseic lexicon (by Timonina, Lyudmila G.); 8. Incorporation and word formation in Ket (by Maksunova, Zoya V.); 9. III. Selkup linguistics; 10. Morphological reanalysis in the Selkup verb (by Kuznetsova, Nadezhda G.); 11. Synonymy, allomorphy, and free variation in Selkup derivational suffixes (by Zyrjanova, E.V.); 12. The Selkup worldview as reflected in basic number words (by Bykonja, Valentina V.); 13. Selkup-Ket parallels in ritual and spiritual terminology (by Kim-Maloney, Alexandra); 14. IV. South Siberian Turkic linguistics; 15. Shaman and bear: Siberian prehistory in two Middle Chulym texts (by Anderson, Gregory D.S.); 16. South Siberian sound symbolism (by Harrison, K. David); 17. Linguistic reflections of Xakas ethnohistory (by Butanaev, Viktor Ja.); 18. V. Archeological perspectives on Central Siberian language groups; 19. Cultural origins of the taiga-dwelling peoples of the Middle Yenisei (by Makarov, N.P.); 20. Sunken earth dwellings as evidence of a Paleoasiatic substrate among the Ket (by Razinkin, A.V.); 21. Prehistoric cultural links along the Yenisei: Revelations from a bronze idol (by Nikolaev, Roman V.); 22. Index

Review :
The volume at issue is just one (and most probably the best) example of how these different perspectives can be put together to draw a more refined picture of the language area conventionally called Central Siberian. In my review, I cannot dwell upon all the extremely valuable and interesting findings documented in the book. This volume holds particular value for anyone interested in the aboriginal languages of central Siberia. For the history of linguistics as a discipline, it is significant for bringing international attention to the legacy of Andreas Dulson. Altogether, this volume contains much of interest to linguists, ethnologists and archaeologists working in Siberia. [...] Equally commendable, this volume provides access to the work of Russian scholars for Western scientists who are unable to read Russian.