Some thoughts on the disappearance of some varieties of Samoyedic

Abstract

Disappearance of some Southern Samoyedic varieties in the course of history has been attributed by some Russian and Western scholars to the assimilation of their speakers to Turkic peoples. It is a historical fact that the last speakers of some Southern Samoyedic varieties lived and died among Turkic peoples. However, the statements of these scholars seem to be superficial as they are failing to notice the historical developments, which had occurred prior to the eventual assimilation of these Samoyedic groups. This study aimed to re-evaluate these judgements in the light of historical events, which had taken place from the 17th century to the 19th century. The examination of historical records of what happened in the course of these centuries has put down to the fact contagious diseases, external and internal confrontations, migrations, alcoholism etc. had inflicted no recoverable blows to Siberian populations bringing Samoyedic groups to an irreversible point. Depredated Samoyedic populations became vulnerable and exposed to language loss and assimilation. Consequently, the last speakers of Southern Samoyedic varieties had been absorbed by their Turkic neighbours. Therefore, assimilation should be regarded as the lattermost among the factors, which caused the disappearance of Southern Samoyedic peoples and varieties.

Keywords

• samoyedic
• southern samoyeds
• assimilation
• language loss
• turkicization
• social dislocation
• migration.