Sub-project Ket

Photo: Fridtjof Nansen (1914)

Ket is the only surviving language of the Yenisei language family. It is characterised in particular by the use of lexical tones and an extremely complex verb morphology, including incorporation.

The number of ethnic Ket is estimated at around 1000 people, of whom no more than 60 still speak the language fluently. The language has three dialects, which do not differ greatly: Northern, Central and Southern dialects. The Yughish language, which disappeared in the 1970s, was long regarded as another dialect of Ketish. The other languages of the Yenisei language family - Pumpokolian, Arinic and Kottish (Assanian) - disappeared from use in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Ket are in close contact with the speakers of Selkup, Evenki and Russian. 

As part of the INEL project, texts that have been collected and published by several researchers are being standardised and comprehensively analysed.