An overview on the languages spoken in Siberia

Whenever we think of Siberia, we imagine a land full of ice and snow but nothing of the languages. The different languages spoken here are rich, full of tones and tell us much about the history of the land and its fascinating people.

Siberia is located in the western regions of the Russian steppes. The Russian language is still very much the dominant language spoken here, but this North Asian land has more than 40 different languages spoken by its different communities. However, preserving, cataloguing and understanding these languages have not been a priority for the government or scholars; this is such a shame as we are gradually losing the opportunity to do so as younger generations are more frequently using the most dominant languages in the country, ignoring their past languages.

There are several language groups in Siberia belonging to what is known as the Paleo-Asiatic or Paleo-Siberian languages. These include the Yukaghir, Nivkh, and Ket.

The Ket language is the most famous and widely known to scholars and the world. It has been known in the past as the Yenisei Ostyak language. Ket is the only spoken language from the Yenisei language family unfortunately. It is spoken by the Ket ethnic group, a people who live along the Yenisei River, running throughout Central Siberia.

The Ket language has managed to survive into this century despite the centuries under Russian rule and their dominating language. However, it is still faces the high risk of extinction. Those who speak the language are quickly diminishing and the younger generation are choosing to speak Russian instead of Ket; by the end of the 20^th century, it was estimated that only 500 people knew and spoke the language.

Yukaghir is also known as Jukagir, a language mixed up of the Tundra and Kolyma dialects. It is spoken in the far east of the Kolyma River by the Yukaghir people.

Nivkh is part of the Paleo-Siberian language group, spoken by the people living the border of what used to be Manchuria. It is what is called an ‘isolate’ language, spoken in the Amur region, possibly down to the north of Sakhalin Island.

Another language spoken in Siberia is the Ainu language. Although closely associated with Japan, the Ainu language is spoken by a few communities in the Kamchatka Peninsula region.

Other language umbrella groups spoken in Siberia include the Chukotko-Kamchatkan. Including in this group are the Chukchi, or Chukot, Chukcha or Luoravetlan, as well as other smaller languages. These are used by the Chukchi people, who live in the far east of the country.

In the late 19^th century and early 20^th century, scholars from Germany, Poland, Hungary, Russia and other nearby countries started to record some of the languages spoken in Siberia. It is only hoped that we continue to do so before time runs out and the languages are dead.