Mator language
Extinct Samoyedic language
title: "Mator language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["southern-samoyedic-languages", "extinct-languages-of-asia", "languages-extinct-in-the-19th-century", "indigenous-languages-of-siberia"] description: "Extinct Samoyedic language" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mator_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Extinct Samoyedic language ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Mator |
| states | Russia |
| region | northern Sayan Mountains |
| extinct | 1839 |
| familycolor | Uralic |
| fam2 | Samoyedic |
| dia1 | Mator |
| dia2 | Taygi |
| dia3 | Karagas |
| linglist | mtm |
| linglist2 | ymt |
| glotto | mato1250 |
| glottorefname | Mator-Taigi-Karagas |
| glotto2 | nucl1288 |
| glottorefname2 | Nuclear Mator |
| map | Kamas.png |
| mapalt | map of the Altay region in Siberia |
| mapcaption | Traditional distribution of the extinct Sayan Samoyedic languages including Mator |
| ethnicity | , possibly also Soyots, Karagas |
| altname | Motor, Mator-Taigi-Karagas |
| iso3 | mtm |
| dia4 | Soyot |
| map2 | Lang Status 01-EX.svg |
| mapalt2 | diagram denoting language status as extinct |
| :: |
| name = Mator | nativename = | states = Russia | region = northern Sayan Mountains | extinct = 1839 | familycolor = Uralic | fam2 = Samoyedic | dia1 = Mator | dia2 = Taygi | dia3 = Karagas | linglist = mtm | linglist2 = ymt | glotto = mato1250 | glottorefname = Mator-Taigi-Karagas | glotto2 = nucl1288 | glottorefname2 = Nuclear Mator | map = Kamas.png | mapalt = map of the Altay region in Siberia | mapcaption = Traditional distribution of the extinct Sayan Samoyedic languages including Mator | ethnicity = , possibly also Soyots, Karagas | altname = Motor, Mator-Taigi-Karagas | iso3 = mtm | dia4 = Soyot | map2 = Lang Status 01-EX.svg | mapalt2 = diagram denoting language status as extinct | mapcaption2 =
Mator or Motor is an extinct Samoyedic language, extinct since around 1839. It was spoken in the northern region of the Sayan Mountains in Siberia, close to the Mongolian north border. The speakers of Mator, , lived in a wide area from the eastern parts of the District () along the Yenisei River to the region of LakeBaikal. Three dialects of Mator were recorded: Mator proper as well as Taygi and Karagas (occasionally portrayed as separate languages, but their differences are few). Mator was influenced by Mongolic, Tungusic and Turkic languages before it went extinct, and may have even been possibly influenced by the Iranic languages. It went extinct as a result of the Mator people shifting linguistically to the related Kamas language or nearby Altaic-sprachbund languages, like Buryat, Soyot, Khakas, Evenki and Tatar.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Peoples_Siberia_XVI.jpg" caption="orange}}, near the bottom-center of the map." alt="map of Siberia depicting ethnic distributions"] ::
Today the term "Mator people" is simply a name of a seok of the Koibal, one of the five territorial sub-division groups of the Khakas. (Note that the name "Koibal" likewise derives from the related Samoyedic Koibal language).
Mator has been frequently grouped together with Selkup and Kamassian as "South Samoyedic". This is however a grouping by geographical area, and not considered to constitute an actual sub-branch of the Samoyedic languages.
Phonology
Consonants
::data[format=table title="Mator consonants{{sfn|Helimski|1997|p=70}}"]
| Bilabial | Dental/ | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | Plosive | voiceless | voiced | Fricative | voiceless | voiced | Nasal | Rhotic | Approximant | central | lateral |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| () | |||||||||||||||
| () | () | () | |||||||||||||
| () | |||||||||||||||
| () | () | ||||||||||||||
| :: |
Vowels
::data[format=table title="Mator vowels{{sfn|Helimski|1997|p=70}}"]
| Front | Central | Back | unrounded | rounded | Close | short | long | Mid | short | long | Open | short | long | Reduced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| () | ||||||||||||||
| ()? | ||||||||||||||
| ? | ||||||||||||||
| :: |
Lexicon
Below are some Mator words from Helimski 1997.
References
Bibliography
References
- (2021). "Geographical database of the Uralic languages".
- (2022-06-08). "Best practices for spatial language data harmonization, sharing and map creation—A case study of Uralic". [[PLOS ONE]].
- (2022). "The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages". [[Oxford University Press]].
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