Manaster-Ramer Alexis, Sidwell Paul. The Altaic Debate and the Question of Cognate Numerals

Article. — Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes — 1997. — Vol. 87. — S. 153-175.In this article, Alexis Manaster-Ramer and Paul Sidwell argue that the finding (and lack of) cognate numerals between the Altaic languages have played an unjustifiable large role in the debate of the possible interrelatedness of said languages (Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic). In this reasonable pro-Altaicist stance, the team point out the lack of common numerals even within other accepted language families such as the Uralic languages and other groups, and that basing the validity of a possible language relationships merely on the existence or not of cognate numerals between compared languages and language groups is an untenable position.