Ostyak-Samoyed language
- noun
- Archaic
- The Ostyak-Samoyed language is classified within the Uralic language family.
Examples
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Several linguists are working to document the grammar and vocabulary of the Ostyak-Samoyed language.
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Few young people today are fluent in the Ostyak-Samoyed language due to increasing use of Russian.
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The Ostyak-Samoyed language is rich in history.
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Many children are learning the Ostyak-Samoyed language today.
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Many children are learning the Ostyak-Samoyed language today to preserve their cultural heritage.
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Linguists are studying the Ostyak-Samoyed language to better understand its unique grammatical structures.
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As fewer speakers remain, the Ostyak-Samoyed language is considered endangered.
Synonyms
A language spoken by the Selkup people in Siberia
A native language of a small people in Siberia
A language that the Selkup people speak in northern Siberia
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward composition of a proper name ('Ostyak-Samoyed') and the noun 'language', so a learner who knows both constituents will readily infer it denotes the language spoken by that group. This attributive noun construction (name + language) is cross-linguistically common and follows a transparent, compositional pattern.
Etymology
Ostyak-Samoyed language is a name made from two older group names, Ostyak and Samoyed, that Russian speakers used for the people. The name simply points to the language of those people and is now more often called 'Selkup', so it means the language spoken by that group.