4 ms·

I'll bet a keg of beer that they are not in fact mutually intelligible.

• batch12 3y ago
  No dog in this fight, but I was nerd sniped into doing some googling. I guess this is what they're referencing: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Den%C3%A9%E2%80%93Yeniseian_languages https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Den%C3%A9%E2%80%93Yeniseian_...
  • yongjik 3y ago
    (Disclaimer: IANAL) Well, it's remarkable if these languages are related, but even so, we're talking about two languages that diverged thousands of years ago, maybe 10k years. Probably in the same ballpark as Proto-Indo-European or even older. That is, these two languages would be about as mutually intelligible as, say, English and Albanian, or less.
• angiosperm 3y ago
  I have doubts as well. "Almost" may be carrying a heavy load there. People are just really good at communicating, face to face, over difficult barriers, particularly when they share cultural underpinnings. But I don't speak any language in the family, and can only go on what they say.