60: Chukto-Kamchatkan languages and more Chukotkan etymological connections

 

Written by Linden Alexander Pentecost on the 29^th of March 2025. Published in the UK. This article begins with a discussion on the Chukto-Kamchatkan languages, and then goes on to discuss 8 Chukotkan etymologies with their possible connections to words in other languages. Note that this article is completely unconnected to my recently published print-only book, titled: Similarities in Quechua and Finnish language words newly noticed in March 2025 and not previously published, and other connected topics not previously published; book published only in print format and not in other formats; book published in the UK, which is also mentioned at the end of this article. Some of the topics of that aforementioned book do link to the content of this article however, in a sense. This article in front of you/on this page contains 1588 words. A reference is given close to the end of this article, before the final notes, as well as in the text itself.

 

The Chukto-Kamchatkan languages are a fascinating grouping of languages spoken in eastern Siberia. I first started to read into them in 2011, when I bought a book on the Chukchi language. There are some clear similarities between Chukcho-Kamchatkan languages and Eskimo-Aleut languages, but I do not believe that the two families have a common source. The Chukotkan languages are believed to be a sub-branch of the Chukto-Kamchatkan languages, the Chukotkan languages include four main languages, namely Chukchi, Alyutor, Koryak and Kerek. The Kerek language is sadly now extinct, at least officially speaking, although there is some rumours of second language speakers or partial speakers of the Kerek language today. I dearly hope that the Kerek language has not gone extinct. Most Kerek speakers now speak Chukchi, which itself has over 8000 speakers. The Kamchatkan languages, whilst often grouped with the Chukotkan languages into the same language family, are arguably very different from the Chukotkan languages, and I do not personally think that there is enough evidence to say that the Kamchatkan languages can be considered as having the same origins as the Chukotkan languages. The Kamchatkan languages consist of a group of closely related languages, which are named Western Itelmen, Southern Itelmen and Eastern Itelmen. Western Itelmen is the only known Kamchatkan language known to have survived into the present day, and it itself is a highly endangered language. The Kamchatkan Peninsula is a landscape well known for its isolation and wild volcanic landscapes, and the Kamchatkan languages are spoken in the more southern parts of the peninsula, whilst Koryak and Alyutor are spoken in the northern parts. The Chukchi language is spoken further to the north, in the vast open lands as far north as the Chukchi Sea.
I have discussed elsewhere a number of words and etymologies from the Chukto-Kamchatkan languages, and I have sometimes observed word-similarities to some indigenous American and other North-Eurasian indigenous languages. But by and large the etymologies of Chukto-Kamchatkan bare little similarity to etymologies and words I have encountered in other languages, and I have a feeling that, perhaps, the speakers of these languages might represent today what was once a group of cultures and languages spoken over a larger area, in a more ancient world. Below are a small list of 8 Proto-Chukotkan (not Proto-Chukto-Kamchatkan) etymologies which I have not previously discussed, and which bare some similarity to words in other languages. You will see that there are some links I have observed with the Uralic languages (and other language families too), but note that the number of similarities with Uralic, at least to my knowledge, is very small, and minuscule compared for example to the similarities between Uralic and Quechuan languages which I have observed. The 8 numbered Proto-Chukotkan etymologies are listed below, each with following etymological discussions. All words marked with a (1) following them are the Proto-Chukotkan words as reconstructed by Michael Fortescue in his book: Comparative Chukotko–Kamchatkan Dictionary, 2005.

 

1. Proto-Chukotkan *kalal(e) - humpback salmon (1); there are many words for different kinds of fish in the Chukotkan languages, but this particular root word can be said to have a similarity to some of the Uralic words for “fish”, for example Finnish kala – “fish”, Northern Sámi guolli – “fish”, and Meadow Mari kol – “fish”. As I have discussed elsewhere, this word can also be connected to Quechua challwa – “fish”, and also to Aymara challwa or chawlla – “fish”, among many others I have previously discussed (in a different way I have also discussed this root in my recent print-only book, see bottom and tops of this article for the title of that book).

2. Proto-Chukotkan *cəɣæj - grain of sand or pebble (1). This root bares a similarity to Finnish hiekka – “sand or gravel”, Kal’ina (a Cariban language from south America) sakau – “sand”, with a wide number of other cognates I have previously discussed elsewhere.

3. Proto-Chukotkan *ret(ə)- - dream (1). This root bares an obvious similarity to Ancient Egyptian rswt – “dream”, possibly, as I have discussed elsewhere, to the North Germanic words such as Norwegian røst for a tidal current or whirlpool like area of tidal currents, comparable to Old Icelandic röst. This word is likely I think connected to Germanic roots for "rest”, including the English word “rest”, the idea perhaps being that the tidal currents and whirlpools are metaphorically like areas of transition between this world and the underworld, just as “rest” is, and hence why Ancient Egyptian rswt – “dream” may be connected to this. I have discussed some of these roots elsewhere with other information. (Whilst whirlpools can be thought of areas of transition between this world and the underworld, and whilst the act of “dreaming” is metaphorically akin to moving across and through the water, whirlpools in the literal sense are extremely dangerous and nobody should stand or be anywhere near one of them).

4. Proto-Chukotkan *æpæ(j)æpæj – spider (1). There is a rhythmic similarity to be observed between this word and the Finnish word hämähäkki –“spider”, and for example to Quechua apasanka – spider, and to a relatively large number of other words for “spider” in various Eurasian and Indigenous American languages. Before now, as with these other Chukotkan roots in this article, I did not notice any connections between hämähäkki-like root words and any Chukotkan word, so this link with Proto-Chukotkan *æpæ(j)æpæj – spider (1) is sure interesting. Whilst the Chukotkan word has [p] sounds rather than [k] sounds as is more commonly observed in these roots for “spider”, the Chukotkan word nevertheless maintains the essentially rhythm and consonant-vowel balance observed for example in Finnish hämähäkki and Quechua apasanka for example. We can notice also that the Finnish and Chukotkan forms use a reduplication of the vowel [æ], although in the Finnish word it is technically a triplication and in the Chukotkan word a quadruplication.

5. Proto-Chukotkan *arətɣər – ravine (1) bares an interesting similarity to Finnish rotko – gorge or canyon, itself of unknown origin within Finnish. I have come across a few other possible connections to Finnish rotko which I have discussed elsewhere.
6. Proto-Chukotkan *qujvi – glaciar (1) bares some similarity to Finnish kuiva – “dry” and Mongolian Ɣobi “Gobi” as in the Gobi Desert. Perhaps the general implication of an ancient connection between these words, might imply something that is vast, and dry and empty in some way, hence the possible connection with Finnish kuiva – “dry”, and Mongolian Ɣobi as in a dry, vast place, and Proto-Chukotkan *qujvi – glaciar (1) as in being another kind of vast, dry place. We might also see a connection here with words I have discussed elsewhere meaning “gap”, so perhaps the general implication behind this root word is of a place that lacks, and is in a sense a gap or space with little inside, at least seemingly.
7. Proto-Chukotkan *ðilæq(æ) – “spine” bares some similarity to Finnish selkä – ”spine, back”, and for example to Estonian selg – “back” and to Veps sel'g – “back”. If the Finnic and Chukotkan forms are connected, then it would imply that initial Finnic s- might sometimes be cognate to initial Proto-Chukotkan *ð-. Note also that as in the similar Finnish and Proto-Chukotkan words for spider, there are also to some degree similar vowels in the Finnish and Proto-Chukotkan words for “spine”. Could this be an implication that Finnish and Chukotkan languages preserve and contain some kind of earlier vowel-harmony in certain words, as in this example and the “spider” example the Proto-Chukotkan vowels seem to show a similar vowel harmony to the forms of these words in Finnish. Note that elsewhere I have also commented on other aspects of the etymology of Finnish selkä.

8. Proto-Chukotkan *nənnə – name (1) bares an obvious similarity to Indo-European and some Uralic words for ”name”, e.g. English “name” and Finnish nimi – “name” and to various other words for "name" in other language families.

 

Reference (1): Comparative Chukotko–Kamchatkan Dictionary by Michael Fortescue.

 

I can say little further on these possibly etymological connections for now, but I hope that this article was an interesting read and I have indeed discussed them as best I can. Note that this article is completely unconnected to my recently published print-only book and to the material within that book, which is titled: Similarities in Quechua and Finnish language words newly noticed in March 2025 and not previously published, and other connected topics not previously published; book published only in print format and not in other formats; book published in the UK. The URL of the page you are currently on, is: https://www.bookofdunbarra.co.uk/website-articles-56-70/60-chukto-kamchatkan-languages-and-more-chukotkan-etymological-connections, for reference purposes.