Yeniseian languages

The Yeniseian languages ( ; sometimes known as Yeniseic, Yeniseyan, or Yenisei-Ostyak; occasionally spelled with -ss-) are a family of languages that are spoken by the Yeniseian people in the Yenisei River region of central Siberia. As part of the proposed Dene–Yeniseian language family, the Yeniseian languages have been argued to be part of "the first demonstration of a genealogical link between Old World and New World language families that meets the standards of traditional comparative-historical linguistics". The only surviving language of the group today is Ket.

From hydronymic and genetic data, it is suggested that the Yeniseian languages were spoken in a much greater area in ancient times, including parts of northern China and Mongolia. It has been further proposed that the recorded distribution of Yeniseian languages from the 17th century onward represents a relatively recent northward migration, and that the Yeniseian urheimat lies to the south of Lake Baikal.

The Yeniseians have been connected to the Xiongnu confederation, whose ruling elite may have spoken a "southern Yeniseian" language similar to the now extinct Pumpokol language. The Jie, who ruled the Later Zhao state of northern China, is likewise believed to have spoken a Pumpokolic language based on linguistic and ethnogeographic data.

For those who argue that the Xiongnu spoke a Yeniseian language, the Yeniseian languages are thought to have contributed many ubiquitous loanwords to Turkic and Mongolic vocabulary, such as Khan, Tarqan, and the word for 'god', Tengri. This conclusion has primarily been drawn from the analysis of preserved Xiongnu texts in the form of Chinese characters.

According to the toponymic evidence, prior to the 17th century Yeniseians occupied vast territories of Western and Central Siberia, from northern Mongolia in the south to the middle Yenisei river in the north, and from the Irtysh river in the west to Angara river in the east.