Yugh

Yugh is a name used in ethnography and linguistics to refer to several related subjects in Siberia, including an indigenous community historically described in early accounts and the language spoken by that community. The term also appears in regional place names, which can lead to confusion without context.

The Yugh people were a small indigenous community reported in historical sources from the 17th to 19th centuries. They are described as living in riverine environments in the central Siberian region and engaging in subsistence activities typical of northern hunter-fisher-gatherer groups. Over time, population decline due to disease, disruption of traditional lifeways, and assimilation with neighboring groups led to the Yugh being largely absorbed into other communities by the 20th century.

The Yugh language is known from only a limited set of field notes and lexical records. It is widely regarded as poorly attested and is typically described as extinct by the late 19th or early 20th century. Its precise genetic classification is debated; many scholars place it within the Yeniseian language group, closely related to Ket or other Yeniseian varieties, while others consider it a divergent or unclassified branch. The limited evidence leaves its exact position within Yeniseian uncertain.

Today, the term Yugh chiefly survives in historical and linguistic discussions rather than as a distinct, current community. Some researchers use Yugh as an ethnonym for a historical grouping or as a descriptor for the language’s remnants in archival materials, rather than as an identifiable contemporary population.

See also: Ket language, Yeniseian languages, Yukaghir.