Re: isolated languages?

rolf_noyer@brown.edu
Wed, 3 Aug 1994 12:33:22 -0400

Regarding Ket, I have collected a bibliography of about 50 works on the
topic. Most are in Russian, some few are in German and appeared in
Zeitschrift fuer Phonetik. My PhD thesis contains a brief overview of Ket
verbal morphology, expanding on the work of Bernard Comrie. There are as
far as I am aware only four English language sources on Ket (1) a
phonemicization by Eric Hamp, based on work by Donner (this is actually a
remarkable piece of work) and (2,3) two pieces by Bernard Comrie, one a
section of his book 'Languages of the Soviet Union.' (4) In G. Corbett's
book 'Gender' there is a section on Ket gender which is clear and useful.
Roman Jakobson also published an article in the 40s called 'The
Paleosiberian languages' which contains a tiny bit on Ket, including the
oft-cited remark that the Kets had only one domesticated animal, the dog.

There is a grammar in Russian of Ket, namely Ketskii Jazyk, by A. Dul'zon.
Although compendious, it is poorly organized and not particularly useful.
E. Krejnovich is (was) the main authority on Ket for some time, his is the
only text collection I am aware of; he also wrote the standard grammar of
Yukaghir I believe. Because of its intricate structure and unknown
origins, Ket attracted much attention from Soviet scholars in the 70s and
80s. There are probably at least 10 doctoral theses on the topic but they
are unpublished and I do not have them. The most recent works and most
insightful as far as I can tell are by Vall & Kanakin, entitled Kategorii
imeni v ketskom jazyke and Kategorii glagola v ketskom jazyke. The best
historical phonology of Ket is S.A. Starostin 1982. "Prajenisejskaja
rekonstrukcija i vneshnie svjazy jenisejskix jazykov." In Ketski Sbornik
III, ed. E.A. Alekseenko et.al. pp. 144-239. Nauka, Moscow. I have
heard (somewhere, can't remember quite) that a dictionary of Ket was in
progress but don't know much more than that. Currently the only published
dictionary I am aware of is by Donner from the 30s.

As far as ethnographic materials, there is also some there, mostly Soviet
but some from before the Revolution. If you wish, please write me directly
for further information.

Rolf Noyer
Rolf_Noyer@brown.edu