Search

The Proto-Yeniseian ‘Mammoth’ and the Iconography of Okunevo // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2024. Issue 4 (46). P. 127-142

The article examines the ideas of the mammoth in the traditions of the Siberian peoples, with special attention to the image of the mammoth-horned fish known to the Kets, Selkups, Ob-Ugrians, and Evenkis. The word for ‘mammoth fish’ has been reliably reconstructed for the Yenician proto-language (*čer), and the Yeniseian name of this mythological being has been borrowed into the Turkic languages of Southern Siberia and the Evenks. This root has a deeper Proto-Sino-Caucasian etymology with parallels in the meaning ‘worm,’ ‘lizard,’ ‘snail,’ etc. In the mythology of the Sino-Caucasian peoples who are linguistically distantly related to Yeniseian (Chinese, Burish, and their neighbors, etc.), a mythologeme is known about the transformation of an animal from the fish-lizard-snake class into a dragon-like creature. These data are used to reconstruct the appearance of the mammoth-fish image among the speakers of the Proto-Yeniseian language after their advance into Siberia on the basis of older Sino-Caucasian mythological traditions. In the iconography of the Okunev archeological culture, there are images of ichthyomorphs that are structurally, compositionally, and in detail similar to the images of the mammoth fish among the peoples of Siberia, which shows parallels with the above-mentioned mythologems and the development of the image of the mammoth fish in the spiritual culture of the speakers of the Proto-Yeniseian language. In addition, the overall composition of Okunev’s stelae shows striking structural similarities with the composition of the sacred iconography of Ket, including images of lizards, grave signs, and shamanistic symbols. These parallels have no equivalent in the culture of other peoples of Siberia and should be explained in the context of the development of the Proto-Yeniseian language and mythology. Some iconographic parallels exist in the Ket tradition and in the art of other Siberian cultures in the Okunevo region (especially the Samuś culture). In this respect, there is reason to believe that speakers of the early Proto-Yeniseian language were involved in the formation of the Okunevo culture. The data from physical anthropology and genetics confirm the latter thesis.

Keywords: ethnic history, etymology, comparative linguistics, mythology, iconography, Yeniseian languages, Sino-Caucasian languages, Kets, Siberian peoples, archeological culture of Okunevo, mammoth

On Mechanisms and Sources of Permian Denasalization // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2025. Issue 4 (50). P. 53-62

This article reconsiders existing theories about the mechanisms of Permian denasalization, specifically the simplification of inlaut proto-Finno-Ugric clusters of the type “nasal + consonant or affricate,” which led to the emergence of voiced consonants and affricates in the Permian proto-language (*mp > *-b, *nt > *d, *ŋk > *g, *nč > *ǯ, *ńć > *ʒ ́ ). Permian denasalization is a phenomenon linking Permian and Hungarian languages and distinguishing them from other Finno-Ugric languages (such as the development of a system of voiced consonants, sequential reduction of auslaut vowels, and parallels in morphology and vocabulary). Therefore, understanding the nature, mechanisms, and timing of Permian denasalization is important for addressing issues in Permian and Hungarian prehistory. The article demonstrates that the widely accepted earlier explanations (V. Lytkin, K. Rédei, V. Kelmakov, S. Csúcs), which connect this phenomenon to the Permian apocope (the loss of the final vowel in old two-syllable stems and subsequent reduction of the auslaut), do not account for the full range of facts and reveal internal inconsistencies. It is shown that the prevailing view–that the appearance of voiced consonant stops in Proto-Permian followed the spread of inline voiced consonants resulting from denasalization–is chronologically problematic. The occurrence of voiced consonant stops should be considered a fairly early independent phenomenon that developed in Proto-Permian, influenced by Iranian languages. To explain Permian denasalization, the article draws on M. Zhivlov’s idea of a shift in Proto-Permian stress from the first syllable to subsequent syllables, causing the first syllables of old stems to fall into a weak position in terms of rhythmic consonant gradation, as described by E. Helimski. This explanation aligns with the characteristics of Permian denasalization (such as weakening of the first element of the cluster, as in rhythmic gradation, and the absence of denasalization between the second and third syllables) and finds parallels in the phonetic phenomena of the Ossetian language (such as stress shift from the first syllable to the second and beyond).

Keywords: Permic languages, denasalization, historical morphonology, linguistic reconstruction, language contacts, Hungarian language, Finno-Ugric languages, Iranian languages

On the Time and Historical Circumstances of Permian Denasalization // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2026. Issue 1 (51). P. 29-39

This article continues the examination of Permian denasalization, specifically the simplification of medial Proto-Finno-Ugric clusters of ‘nasal + consonant or affricate,’ which resulted in the emergence of voiced consonants and affricates in the Permian proto-language (*-nt- > *-d, *-ŋk- > *-g, *-nč- > *-ǯ, *-ńć- > *-ʒ ́ ). The author attempts to date Permian denasalization and outline its historical context. Earlier theories suggesting that this process continued at the beginning of early Permic-Bulgarian contacts are rejected. Based on the analysis of reconstructed phonetic processes and the stratification of borrowings into the Permian proto-language, the beginning (middle to second half of the 1st millennium BC) and the end (second half of the 1st millennium AD, between the 7th and 9th centuries) of Permian denasalization are proposed. Since this dating coincides with that of a similar phonetic process in Old Hungarian, as established by Hungarian researchers (first half to middle of the 1st millennium AD), the article proposes revisiting the possibility of parallel Permian and Hungarian denasalization during the secondary contact of these languages in the middle of the first millennium AD. It is suggested that these contacts occurred in the territory of modern Bashkiria, in the lower reaches of the Kama River and the Belaya basin, where, in the middle of the first millennium AD, there was close interaction between speakers of the post-Pyanobor cultures of the Belaya River basin and the late Glyadenovo culture of the Middle Kama Region (Proto-Permians) and the bearers of the Kushnarenkovo-Karayakupovo tradition (ancient Hungarians)–along with the southern Permians and ancient Hungarians, speakers of Sarmat-Alanic dialects ancestral to the Ossetian language (the creators of archaeological sites of the Late Sarmatian tradition in the Southern Urals and the Middle Volga region) also played an active role in this interaction. In addition to denasalization, the active interaction of these languages is reflected in the development of common morphological elements and lexical borrowings, whose phonetic features reflect the state of the respective languages during this period.

Keywords: Permic languages, Hungarian language, Ossetian language, denasalization, historical morphonology, linguistic reconstruction, language contacts, prehistory