Yenisei language
- noun
- Specialized
- Few people today can read the surviving texts in the Yenisei language.
Examples
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The Yenisei language is now extinct.
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The Yenisei language is of great interest to linguists studying ancient Siberian cultures.
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Most information about the Yenisei language comes from early explorers' records.
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The Yenisei language was spoken by ancient tribes.
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Most information about the Yenisei language comes from early explorers' records.
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The Yenisei language is of great interest to linguists studying ancient Siberian cultures.
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The Yenisei language was spoken by ancient tribes.
Synonyms
A group of related languages from the Yenisei River area in Siberia
A language no longer spoken by the Yeniseian people in northern Siberia
A language spoken by a small group of people in central Siberia
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward composition of a proper name plus the noun 'language' — it denotes the language spoken by the Yenisei people or in the Yenisei region. This X + language pattern is cross-linguistically common and a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Yenisei language is named after the Yenisei River in Siberia. People who lived by that river used the language, so the name helps us remember it was 'spoken along the Yenisei River' and is now 'extinct'.