#ural altaic

[novakspector]

Ural Altaic linguistic and genetic data

[cerastes]

ural-altaic: is that poland from hetalia?

Hey, Ed?

[possessivesuffix]

Because the results of this journey will adequately demonstrate that the Finnish people are related to the Samoyeds, and because the Finns are, furthermore, probably related to the Turkic and Tatar peoples, then the primary task of this language study is, of course, to endeavor with the aid of Samoyed to find a connection between the Finns and the Tungus. Then from the Tungus the way is open to the Manchu and thence all ways lead to the Mongolians. We are going to have to gradually become accustomed to the idea that we are the offspring of those despised Mongols, but we can, in any case, pose a question for the future: Is there really a clear difference between the Caucasian and Mongolian races? I think not.

M. A. Castrén,  letter to J. V. Snellman on 5th March 1846 (translation by Mikko Korhonen, in Finno-Ugrian Language Studies in Finland 1828-1918).

Conflating linguistic and ethnic relatedness used to lead researchers down weird directions for a long time (even if Castrén’s willingness to follow the evidence where it leads is perhaps inspiring). In particular, “Ural-Altaic” was already from the start an uneven chimera of linguistic and anthropological concepts…