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Author: Michael Knüppel

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Uralo-jukagirische Probleme (1): zu jukagirisch lep(p)ul ‘Blut’ research-article

Michael Knüppel

Central Asiatic Journal, Volume 62 (2019), Issue 1, Page 9 - 12

One of the earliest attempts to integrate the Uralo-Yukaghirian languages into the mainstream of comparative historical linguistics was embodied in the research by V.I. Iokhelson during the 1890s. Ever since, linguistic studies of the extant Yukaghirian languages (Samoyed, Tundra and Kolyma dialects) were preoccupied with producing general vocabularies rather than in-depth studies. The present paper should therefore be seen as a suggestion where future research could lead. The discussed topic is the etymology of the term ‘blood’ in Siberian languages, both in semantic terms (‘blood’ relationships) or used interchangeably for ‘soul’.

Ein Bericht G. F. Müllers über archäologische Arbeiten und Funde in Sibirien research-article

Michael Knüppel

Central Asiatic Journal, Volume 61 (2018), Issue 2, Page 323 - 337

The present article analyses the archaeological report compiled by Gerhard Friedrich Müller (1705–1783) after his travels through Siberia. Published anonymously in 1770 with the title “On the old tombs of Siberia”, Müller qualifies as one of the first ethnographers. In deducing the social status of interred persons by means of both the location of the grave and of the objects buried with the deceased, Müller adopted a multidisciplinary approach of a character that would almost be acceptable today. Müller also attempted to relate the inscriptions found on stelae and statues belonging to the graves with the two ethnic groups he was most familiar with, namely Mongols and Uighurs (“Igureers”). Only by the late 19th century their nature could firmly be identified as belonging to the Göktürk civilisations of the Yenissei and Orkhon.

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