Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks announce the publication of The Dene-Yeniseian Connection, the unveiling of a far-reaching historical linguistic hypothesis. The 18 papers in this 369-page volume were presented at the February 2008 Dene-Yeniseian Symposium in Alaska or were solicited by the editors. The 67 page lead article by Edward J. Vajda (Western Washington University) presents extensive evidence for Dene-Yeniseian. This hypothesis argues for an ancient genealogical relationship between Ket, the only surviving member of the Yeniseian language family of Central Siberia, and the widespread North-American family of Na-Dene, which contains the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit. Ket has fewer than 100 speakers today, mostly older generation. The 1200 people of Ket nationality live in several isolated villages on the Yenisei River in a sparsely populated area about the size of Oregon. Accompanying Vajda’s paper is primary data on Na-Dene historical phonology by Jeff Leer, along with critiques by several linguistic specialists and articles on a range of topics (archaeology, prehistory, ethnogeography, genetics, kinship, folklore) by experts in these fields.

The process of external scrutiny of Dene-Yeniseian continues with the publication of these papers. The evidence presented by Vajda is considerable, about 115 potential grammatical and lexical cognates plus he has identified numerous systematic sound correspondences. Among the more than ten grammatical affixes are several that mark tense and aspect, some prefixes than classify nouns, and there is a robust noun-forming instrumental suffix. Numerous cognates suggest shared lifeways in the far north (e.g., mosquito, birch, spruce hen), while others include abstract concepts (e.g., old age and shamanism).

**Table of Contents**

Editors Introduction:

-The Dene-Yeniseian Connection: Bridging Asia and North America (James Kari and Ben A. Potter)

Part 1. The Evidence for Dene-Yeniseian

-The Dene-Yeniseian Hypothesis: An Introduction (Bernard Comrie) -A Siberian Link with Na-Dene Languages (Edward J. Vajda) -Yeniseian, Na-Dene, and Historical Linguistics (Edward J. Vajda)

Part 2. The Interdisciplinary Context for Dene-Yeniseian

-Genes across Beringia: A Physical Anthropological Perspective on the Dene-Yeniseian Hypothesis (G. Richard Scott and Dennis O’Rourke) -Archaeological Patterning in Northeast Asia and Northwest North America: An Examination of the Dene-Yeniseian Hypothesis (Ben A. Potter) -The Palatal Series in Athabascan-Eyak-Tlingit, with an Overview of the Basic Sound Correspondences (Jeff Leer) -The Concept of Geolinguistic Conservatism in Na-Dene Prehistory (James Kari) -Dene-Yeniseian and Processes of Deep Change in Kin Terminologies (John W. Ives, Sally Rice, and Edward J. Vajda) -Selecting Separate Episodes of the Peopling of the New World: Beringian–Subarctic–Eastern North American Folklore Links (Yuri E. Berezkin) -Comparison of a Pair of Ket and Diné (Navajo) Myth Motifs (Alexandra Kim-Maloney)

Part 3. Commentaries on the Dene-Yeniseian Hypothesis -On the First Substantial Trans-Bering Language Comparison (Eric P. Hamp) -Proving Dene-Yeniseian Genealogical Relatedness (Johanna Nichols) -Yeniseian: Siberian Intruder or Remnant? (Michael Fortescue) -Transitivity Indicators, Historical Scenarios, and Sundry Dene-Yeniseian Notes (Andrej A. Kibrik) -Dene-Yeniseian, Phonological Substrata and Substratic Place Names (Willem J. de Reuse) -Dene-Yeniseian, Migration and Prehistory (John W. Ives) -The Dene Arrival in Alaska (Don Dumond)

Appendices -Appendix A Orthographic Conventions for Yeniseian and Na-Dene (compiled by James Kari) -Appendix B Symbols and Abbreviations