Comments on: More on Vajda’s Siberian-Na-Dene Language Link

By: Mai Xue Xiong

Mai Xue Xiong — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:09:28 +0000

i think that it is very cool that you guys put all this information on and how they have their own cculture for their language but how many people speaks it?

By: Knut Holt

Knut Holt — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:23:39 +0000

How long does such complex verb structures as in Na-dene an Yesisseien take to develop. Probably not very long, because something similar has developed in modern european languages lik e Italian and modern Greek, ex:

Italian: glielodato – i have given it to him/her.

Usually virtten: glie l’ho dato and analyzable as:

glie-l-o-d-ato it: to him it-I-perfect- do-perfect

Italian is a mainly vso/svo-language but the verb complex has a petrified osv or ovs order.

My point is this. The connection and that particular structure may not go far back in time and before there could be quite another structure, like for example that of Sino-tibetaanian languages.

By: Blayne B.

Blayne B. — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:14:55 +0000

I am navajo from Northern Arizona, and I have also been very curious as to how the language or people have migrated. I always thought the best way to determine the link would be to bring the two(or many) languages together through individuals who speak their own respective language fluently. This might be off subject from the eastern asian-american link, but my aunt maintains a relationship with the a family of Dene from up north who visit arizona often to exchange cultural and linguistic similarities. more than that they are family friends and when speaking they can both exchange fluently and heavily in deep conversation between the two languages. My aunt has told me that the two languages are parallel, except for a very few adoptions of french words mixed in with the Dene language, where navajos have done the same with a very few spanish words.

The Navajo creation story consists of the people passing through a dark world which leads me to believe this as a possible migration through the north.

I have also tried to do my own internet research regarding a link between Navajo and Native languages that exist down in Mexico and beyond, but there is no reservations and published linguistic links or websites regarding southern tribes. It’s hard when you are using only the computer as a guide.

There are Navajos, and other natives who dispel the migration theory as “propoganda created in an effort to remove our argument of them being ‘Immigrant’ or ‘Invaders’, and instill in us that we ourselves are too.” I disagree, because the similarity in facial features and structure is too obvious to ignore. Also the ‘yurt’ is very similar in structure to the ‘Hogaan’ of the navajo. (I am not sure on the historical origin of the yurt or how far it’s use dates back)

The study intrigues me, if you have any questions or info you can email me b3barlow@srpnet.com

Thanks

By: Kyrgyz

Kyrgyz — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:27:00 +0000

Can someone give me an example of linguisitic similarities between Na-Dene and Yenissean?
My language which is kyrgyz is directly connected to the Yenissean one.So if it’s true then can someone show me where it really is the way as it described.
I’m kinda getting excited here.

By: Jack Fish

Jack Fish — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:27:10 +0000

Is this such a surprise? I’ve surmised for many years now a Na-Dene-Sino-Tibetan connection. I first saw Merritt Ruhlen’s comparison between Na-Dene and Yennisseian (which he mailed me a copy of his rough draft) in 1997. Genetically, male Y chromosome DNA markers have been identified between Na-Dene and many Central Asian peoples. And craniofacial measurements conclude that Na-Dene are “closer to the living Chinese than any other people in either hemisphere.” Many linguists have speculated on these possibilities in the past dating to the late 19th century. They knew all along of these affinities…

By: Kyrgyz

Kyrgyz — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:09:26 +0000

Virgil,I’m kyrgyz national and I speak kyrgyz language which is I would’t say close but it came out from the same tree of siberian languages.
Now,this is quite astonishing to me that navajo could be understood in Mongolia,sounds unbelievable then I think I could too.
As far as I know of general similarities between native american and siberian languages there is one example: Native american word kayak in my kyrgyz language sounds as kayk and has the same meaning.

By: virgil

virgil — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:20:30 +0000

hello it is me again there I have more. I also had an art teacher who went on a teachers trade with Mongolia when she got home sick she called home to the rez “long distance” she started to talk with the operator and told her what she wanted to do . the operator then interupted her and said , i understand what you are saying but I dont recognize where you are from .my teacher then realized that she was speaking Navajo to the operator! hmmm ?

By: virgil

virgil — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:15:10 +0000

hello I am of dene blood. I have a question, has any body that speaks dene bizaad spoken to this man? Also what about the links to ancient turkish and dene? I also had a freind who was in veitnam during the war, he was a white guy who grew up speaking Nav,Apache,dialects of dene. He claimed he could speak freely with out many mistakes on his part, was understood and in turn he understood them. to the point that the dirty jokes had the same punch line.

By: How was the world peopled? « Anthropology.net

How was the world peopled? « Anthropology.net — Mon, 26 May 2008 02:06:58 +0000

[...] on their literature. Any ways, I was talking to Razib about this and he suggested if some sort of Na-Dene phenomenon could be happening. Definately possibly… what do you [...]

By: The Genius of Kinship: Human Kinship Systems and the Search for Human Origins « Anthropology.net

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:08:08 +0000

[...] take Edward Vajda’s recent discovery of a linguistic connection between an isolated Siberian language, Ket, and Na-Dene in North [...]