Tuvan and Yakut Languages: Search for Phonetic and Grammatical Correspondences

Abstract

In various classifications, the relations between Siberian Turkic languages are defined in different ways: according to some researchers, these relations are a result of convergence of Turkic groups of varying genesis on Sayan-Altai. Other view the development of Siberian Turkic languages as a ‘tree’; this concept is found in comparative Turkic grammars. On the basis of this concept, we analyze the relations between the Yakut, Tuvan, and Tof languages, which are viewed as a branch of the Siberian Turkic tree in the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Turkic Languages. In this article, we study the formation of the opposition of voiced consonants. We believe that in Tuvan, and especially in Tof, the ancient triple opposition of voiced consonants is preserved. The system of correlations between the qualities of vowels and consonants in Tuvan and Yakut suggests that in Yakut, there used to be a broader system of voiced consonants. The qualities of preceding vowels depended on consonant qualities (strong / weak), and in Yakut, they became stable (as long / short vowels). In Yakut, short vowels correspond to Tuvan pharyngealized vowels, and the presence or absence of pharyngealization depends on the qualities of consonants. In Yakut, consonant qualities were transferred to vowel qualities, and at a certain point, the system of consonants became more simplified, but the ancient triple opposition of consonants may be reconstructed for the Yakut language on the basis of Tuvan and Tof. We also analyze the system of participles and finite forms based on them. In Yakut, the ancient participle forms are mostly preserved, while in Tuvan, they exist at the periphery of the verb system. In Tuvan, there are strong traces of Kipchak languages; for example, the most typical Kipchak affix = ган is completely absent in Yakut. Therefore, we may see that different language levels (phonetic and morphological) develop with varying speed. In Yakut, the phonetic system evolved rapidly, while the morphological system preserved the most important Ancient Turkic forms; in Tuvan, some aspects of the ancient consonat system were preserved, while the system of participles changed in significant ways, absorbing the = ган form.