Selkup language
- noun
- Children in some Siberian villages are learning the Selkup language at school.
Examples
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Linguists are working to preserve the endangered Selkup language.
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She wrote her thesis on the grammar of the Selkup language.
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The Selkup language is rich in history.
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Many young people are learning the Selkup language today.
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Children in some Siberian villages are learning the Selkup language at school.
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Linguists are working to preserve the endangered Selkup language.
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She wrote her thesis on the grammar of the Selkup language.
Synonyms
A native language of a small people in Siberia
A language spoken by the Selkup people in Siberia
A language that the Selkup people speak in northern Russia
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the Uralic language spoken by the Selkup people' is directly and transparently derived from combining the proper noun 'Selkup' (an ethnic/group name) with 'language' (a named spoken or written system). This straightforward noun + language naming pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Selkup language gets its name from the people called Selkup, who live in northern Siberia. The word 'Selkup' may come from an old name meaning 'people of the north' or 'river people' because they lived near big rivers, so the phrase simply means the language spoken by that people.
