The Chukotko-Kamchatko-Amuric or Chukotko-Kamchatkan-Amuric languages form a hypothetical language family including

Nivkh Nivkh or Amuric or Gilyak may refer to: * Nivkh people (''Nivkhs'') or Gilyak people (''Gilyaks'') * Nivkh languages or Gilyak languages * Gilyak class gunboat, ''Gilyak'' class gunboat, such as the Russian gunboat Korietz#Second gunboat, second R ...

and Chukotko-Kamchatkan. A relationship between these two language groups was proposed by

Michael Fortescue Michael David Fortescue (born 8 August 1946, Thornbury) is a British-born linguist specializing in Arctic and native North American languages, including Kalaallisut, Inuktun, Chukchi and Nitinaht. Fortescue is known for his reconstructions ...

in a 2011 paper. He theorized that their common ancestor might have been spoken around 4000 years ago. However

Glottolog ''Glottolog'' is an open-access online bibliographic database of the world's languages. In addition to listing linguistic materials ( grammars, articles, dictionaries) describing individual languages, the database also contains the most up-to-d ...

says that the evidence is insufficient to conclude a genealogical relationship between Nivkh and Chukotko-Kamchatkan.

Evidence

Phonological

Proposed sound correspondences Some cognates which include a sound change of Nivkh /ə/ and CK /æ/ are: ''t’əkə'' ‘edge of sleeping platform’ and CK tæγən 'near the edge of'' and Nivkh ''ərŋ'' 'mouth of a river' and CK ''ær'' 'flow out'.

Lexical

Proposed Nivkh-Chukotko-Kamchatkan cognates

Morphological

Chukotko-Kamchatkan and Nivkh have dual/plural distinction, however it has been lost in Chukchi. Chukotko-Kamchatkan also has a "singulative" ending, and traces of a singulative ending in Nivkh might be seen.

Notes

References