Notes on the Typological Prehistory of Ghilyak

Abstract

This paper discusses the typological evolution of Ghilyak (Nivkh), a small “Palaeo-Asiatic” language family also known as Amuric, distributed in the Amur-Sakhalin region of the Russian Far East. In some respects, especially in the phonology, morphophonology, and phonotactics, Ghilyak shows features absent in the other languages of the region, most of which represent the so-called “Altaic” areal-typological complex. At the same time, Ghilyak shares with its neighbours several “Altaic” features, especially in the morphosyntax, including suffixally marked number and case, as well as nominalized and converbialized verbs. An analysis of the data shows that Ghilyak has been affected by at least two processes of typological transformation which have, either successively or in parallel, both “Altaicized” and “de-Altaicized” its linguistic structure. The reasons of these transformations can be sought in the substratal, adstratal, and superstratal impact of the neighbouring “Altaic” and “non-Altaic” languages. This allows us to place the typological prehistory of Ghilyak in a context shared by other languages of the North Pacific Rim, notably Tungusic and Koreanic.

The Unity and Diversity of Altaic

“…There is, indeed, no doubt that these languages show substantial structural differences as compared with Altaic typology. Even so, the circum-Pacific features quoted, in particular, from Ainu (as in Bugaeva et al 2021), are conspicuously shallow and do not favor the assumption of wider historical or areal connections, while Ghilyak seems to have three typological layers, suggesting that its original structure has secondarily undergone both Altaicization and de-Altaicization (Gruzdeva & Janhunen 2020).…”

“…The difference between Khitanic and Mongolic is, however, considerable, which means that the Mongolic branch must have been formed by an early expansion from the Liaoxi region to northwestern Manchuria, probably in the context of the protohistorical Shiwei, a northern branch of the Xianbei. This became the homeland of the historical Mongols ( Janhunen 2008), who after the collapse of the Uighur khaganate (840 AD) filled the political vacuum of Mongolia and created the Mongol empire (eleventh to fourteenth centuries), which ultimately resulted in the expansion and diversification of the modern Mongolic languages ( Janhunen 2020). Recently, epigraphic evidence has been brought forth suggesting that Mongolic, or Para-Mongolic, was present in Mongolia already prior to the historical Mongols (Vovin 2019), but the issue remains unresolved.…”