North Eastern Europe - The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques And Discoveries Of The English Nation - Volume 3 - Collected By Richard Hakluyt
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The Affinity Between The Different Branches Of The Altaic
Stem Is Thus Founded Mainly On Analogy Or Resemblance In The
Construction
of the languages, while the different tongues in the material of language
(both in the words themselves and in
The expression of relations) show a
very limited affinity or none at all. The circumstance that the Samoyeds
for the present have as their nearest neighbours several Finnish-Ugrian
races (Lapps, Syrjaeni, Ostjaks, and Voguls), and that these to a great
extent carry on the same modes of life as themselves, has led some authors
to assume a close affinity between the Samoyeds and the Fins and the
Finnish races in general. The speech of the two neighbouring tribes,
however, affords no ground for such a supposition. Even the language of the
Ostjak, which is the most closely related to that of the Samoyeds, is
separated heaven-wide from it and has nothing in common with it, except a
small number of borrowed words (chiefly names of articles from the Polar
nomad's life), which the Ostjak has taken from the language of his northern
neighbour. With respect to their language, however, the Samoyeds are said
to stand at a like distance from the other branches of the stem in
question. To what extent craniology or modern anthropology can more
accurately determine the affinity-relationship of the Samoyed to other
tribes, is still a question of the future."
At the present day, the Samoyeds dwell in skin tents. They dress
principally in reindeer-skins, and the women's holiday-dress is
particularly showy.
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