Language Family

Uralic

yoor-AL-ik

Also Known As Finno-Ugric Sometimes used as a loose synonym for Uralic, but more accurately denotes a narrower, disputed subdivision of the Uralic family excluding the Samoyedic languages; not a strict synonym.

Eurasian Language Families

Uralic is a language family of northern Eurasia whose largest members, Hungarian, Finnish and Estonian, are separated from most of their more numerous but smaller relatives, spoken by indigenous peoples across northern Russia and Siberia such as the Sami, Mari and Khanty languages. Uralic's relationship to other language families is a long-running subject of speculation: the Nostratic hypothesis, which would group Uralic with Indo-European, Afro-Asiatic, Dravidian, Altaic languages and others into one ancient superfamily, remains a minority position rejected by most historical linguists for lack of demonstrable regular sound correspondences at that time depth.

Facts

Region

Northern Eurasia, including Finland, Estonia, Hungary and parts of Russia 1

Speaker Count

21,300,000 2

Estimated total native speakers across the whole family.

Proto-Language Status

Proto-Uralic is reconstructed via the comparative method, with the Finnic and Ugric branches most secure. The placement of Samoyedic and the deepest internal branching of the family remain debated among specialists. 3

Uralic

1 entry

Speaker Count Band

In Group

Macro-area