Connections between Uralic and Other Language Families

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the relationship of Uralic languages to other language families. It first discusses areal and typological linguistics, the concepts of ‘lumping’ and ‘splitting’ in relation to the assignment of languages to a language family, and the historical-comparative method. The principles of reliable etymologies as well as the role of basic vocabulary are explained, and examples of inaccurate morphological comparisons are provided. The chapter discusses the proposed relationship of Uralic to other language families, starting with the now-discredited Altaic language family, followed by proposed but erroneous attempts to link Uralic to Indo-European, Eskimo-Aleut, and Yukaghir, as well as to other indigenous languages of Siberia. The Nostratic theory is examined briefly. The chapter concludes with typological comparisons between Uralic and other language families.