"A special joint publication of the UAF Department of Anthropology and the Alaska Native Language Center: Fairbanks, Alaska, 2011."

The Kets of Central Siberia are perhaps the most enigmatic of Siberia's aboriginal tribes. Today numbering barely 1,100 souls living in several small villages on the middle reaches of the Yenisei, the Kets have retained much of their ancient culture, as well as their unique language. Genetic studies of the Ket hint at an ancient affinity with Tibetans, Burmese, and other peoples of peoples of South East Asia not shared by any other Siberian people. The Ket language, which is unrelated to any other living Siberian tongue, also appears to be a relic of a bygone linguistic landscape of Inner Asia. Because language isolates such as Ket are of special value to scholars of the original peopling of the continents, linguists have recently attempted to link Ket with North Caucasian, Sino- Tibetan, Burushaski, Basque and Na Dene. None of these links have been proved to the satisfaction of all linguists, and the research continues both in Russia and abroad.

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 27. Chapters: Endangered Dene-Yeniseian languages, Na-Dene languages, Yeniseian languages, Jie people, Athabaskan languages, Tlingit language, Carrier language, Na-Dene languages, Ket language, Hupa language, Dene-Yeniseian languages, Eyak language, Dena'ina language, Han language, Babine-Witsuwit'en language, Upper Tanana language, Deg Xinag language, Karasuk culture, Ahtna language, Holikachuk language, Lower Tanana language, Plains Apache language, Yugh language, Kott language, Arin language, Assan language, Pumpokol language. Excerpt: Athabaskan or Athabascan (also Dene, Athapascan, Athapaskan) is a large group of indigenous peoples of North America, located in two main Southern and Northern groups in western North America, and of their language family. The Athabaskan family is the second largest family in North America in terms of number of languages and the number of speakers, following the Uto-Aztecan family which extends into Mexico. In terms of territory, only the Algic language family covers a larger area. The word Athabaskan is an anglicized version of the Woods Cree name for Lake Athabasca (aoapask w, " there are plants one after another") in Canada. The name was assigned by Albert Gallatin in his 1836 (written 1826) classification of the languages of North America. He acknowledged that the name for these related languages was entirely his own individual preference, writing: "I have designated them by the arbitrary denomination of Athabascas, which derived from the original name of the lake." (1836:116-7)Albert Gallatin's arbitrary designation has unfortunate connotations as the term describes a shallow, weedy lake rather than a coherent people with shared language and culture. Most Athabaskans prefer to be identified by their specific language and location, however the general term persists in...

This volume presents the up-to-date results of investigations into the Asian origins of the only two languages families of North America, Eskaleut and Na-Dene, that are widely acknowledged as having likely genetic links in northern Asia.

The Kets of Central Siberia are perhaps the most enigmatic of Siberia's aboriginal tribes. Today numbering barely 1,100 souls living in several small villages on the middle reaches of the Yenisei, the Kets have retained much of their ancient culture, as well as their unique language. Genetic studies of the Ket hint at an ancient affinity with Tibetans, Burmese, and other peoples of peoples of South East Asia not shared by any other Siberian people. The Ket language, which is unrelated to any other living Siberian tongue, also appears to be a relic of a bygone linguistic landscape of Inner Asia. Because language isolates such as Ket are of special value to scholars of the original peopling of the continents, linguists have recently attempted to link Ket with North Caucasian, Sino- Tibetan, Burushaski, Basque and Na Dene. None of these links have been proved to the satisfaction of all linguists, and the research continues both in Russia and abroad.

Linguists and specialists on Siberia are generally familiar with the name Ket, which designates a small ethnic group on the Yenisei and their language, widely regarded as a linguistic enigma in many respects. Ket is a severely endangered language with today less than 500 native speakers. Together with Yugh, Kott, Arin, Assan and Pumpokol, all of which are completely extinct, it forms the Yeniseic family of languages, which has no known linguistic relatives. This Grammar of Ket constitutes the first book of its kind in English and is structured as follows: (1) Introduction; (2) The Kets and their Language; (3) Phonology; (4) Morphology; (5) References. A second volume is planned on Ket syntax, supported by a collection of original texts with translations and annotations.