The Dene-Kusunda Hypothesis: A Critical Account

The Dene-Yenisseian hypothesis (Vajda 2010a, 2013) linking the Yenisseian languages and
the Na-Dene languages has gained some attention as the first substantial proposal of a
linguistic connection across the Bering Strait. At the same time, morphological material has
been interpreted as evidence for a genealogical relationship between Yenisseian, Burushaski
and Kusunda (van Driem 2001, 2008, 2014). The two hypotheses have been linked under the
name ‘Dene-Yenisseian’ by van Driem (2014: 80) but I hereby introduce the term ‘Dene-
Kusunda’ to designate the hypothesis of a genealogical relationship between Kusunda,
Burushaski, Yenisseian and Na-Dene. This paper aims to review the Dene-Kusunda hypothesis
by presenting a critical evaluation of the morphological data amassed as evidence in van
Driem (2001, 2008, 2014), Vajda (2010a, 2013) and Gerber (2013). The argumentation in
favour of Dene-Kusunda looks promising at first sight, but much of it can be explained by
chance or selective analysis. A more definite evaluation of this proposal must await more
studious work on the individual languages, but it is in fact likely that the putative time depth
inhibits an ultimate verification or falsification.