Assan language

Assan
kottuen
Native toRussia
RegionKrasnoyarsk Krai
EthnicityAsan people
Extinct1790[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3xss (retired)
xss
Glottologassa1266  (retired)
IETFxss
Map of pre-contact Yeniseian languages.

The Assan language (Russian: Ассанский язык) is an extinct Yeniseian language spoken to the south of Krasnoyarsk in Russia. It went extinct in the 18th century. It is similar enough to the Kott language that it can be regarded as a dialect of it, but the Assan identified as a separate ethnicity from the Kotts.[2]

Before its extinction, in 1735-1740, there were two to three speakers of Assan.[3]

Classification

It has been difficult to properly classify the Yeniseian languages into a larger family. It is only recently that a possible link to the Na-Dené languages, a family of Indigenous language of the Americas spoken in Alaska, Western Canada and the southwestern United States, was suggested by Heinrich Werner. According to this argument, the Yeniseian and Na-Dené languages form two branches of an ancient family represented on both sides of the Bering Strait: the Dené–Yeniseian languages.[4]

Assan itself was very close to Kott, another extinct Yeniseian language, such that Assan is usually represented as a dialect of Kott.[5][6][7] However, due to its poor attestation, its status is unclear.[8]

Phonology

Vowels

Vowels of Assan[9]
Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ (ʌ) ɔ
Open æ a

Consonants

Consonants of Assan[9]
Labial Dental Palatal/
Postalveolar 		Velar Uvular Laryngeal/
Pharyngeal
Plosive voiceless plain p t (tʲ) k q (ʔ)
aspirated (pʰ) (tʰ)
voiced b d (dʲ) g ɢ
Fricative voiceless (s) ʃ x χ h
voiced (v)
Affricate voiceless t͡ʃ
voiced d͡ʒ
Nasal m n ŋ
Lateral l
Approximant j
Trill r

Notes and references

  1. ^ "The ASJP Database - Wordlist Assan". asjp.clld.org. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  2. ^ Vajda, Edward (2024-02-19), Vajda, Edward (ed.), "8 The Yeniseian language family", The Languages and Linguistics of Northern Asia, De Gruyter, pp. 365–480, doi:10.1515/9783110556216-008, ISBN 978-3-11-055621-6, retrieved 2024-06-26
  3. ^ "Исчезающие народы/языки: Ассаны, Ассанский (Assan) | СМДО КубГУ". moodle.kubsu.ru. Retrieved 2025-01-01.
  4. ^ Werner, Heinrich (2004). Zur jenissejisch-indianischen Urverwandtschaft (in German). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-04896-5.
  5. ^ "Glottolog 5.0 - Assan". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  6. ^ "2022-010 | ISO 639-3". iso639-3.sil.org. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  7. ^ Fortescue, Michael D.; Vajda, Edward J. (2022). Mid-holocene language connections between Asia and North America. Brill's studies in the indigenous languages of the Americas. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-43681-7.
  8. ^ Georg, Stefan; Georg, Stefan (2007). Introduction, phonology, morphology. A descriptive grammar of Ket (Yenisei-Ostyak) / Stefan Georg. Folkestone: Global Oriental. ISBN 978-1-901903-58-4.
  9. ^ a b Werner, Heinrich (2005). Die Jenissej-Sprachen des 18. Jahrhunderts. Veröffentlichungen der Societas Uralo-Altaica. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-05239-9.

Sources

  • (ru) Г.К. Вернер (Heinrich Werner), Енисейскиe языки, dans Языки Мира, Палеоазиатские Языки, pp. 169-177, Moscou, Izd. Indrik, 1997 ISBN 5-85759-046-9.
  • (ru) Г.С. Старостин, К.Ю. Решетников, Кетский сборник. Лингвистика, Moscou, Vostotchnaya Literatura RAN, 1995 ISBN 5-88766-023-6.