Editing Ural-Altaic languages (section)

==Typology==
There is general agreement on several [[linguistic typology|typological]] similarities being widely found among the languages considered under Ural–Altaic:{{sfn|Sinor|1988|pp=711–714}}
* [[Head-directionality parameter|head-final]] and [[subject–object–verb]] word order
* in most of the languages, [[vowel harmony]]
* [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] that is predominantly [[agglutinative]] and [[suffix]]ing
* [[zero copula]]
* [[non-finite clause]]s
* lack of [[grammatical gender]]
* lack of [[consonant cluster]]s in word-initial position
* having a separate verb for [[existential clause]] which is different from ordinary [[Possession (linguistics)|possession verbs like "to have"]]
Such similarities do not constitute sufficient evidence of genetic relationship all on their own, as other explanations are possible. [[Juha Janhunen]] has argued that although Ural–Altaic is to be rejected as a genealogical relationship, it remains a viable concept as a well-defined [[language area]], which in his view has formed through the historical interaction and [[language convergence|convergence]] of four core language families (Uralic, Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic), and their influence on the more marginal Korean and Japonic.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Juha|last=Janhunen|title=Typological Expansion in the Ural-Altaic belt|year=2007|journal=Incontri Linguistici|pages=71–83}}</ref>

Contrasting views on the typological situation have been presented by other researchers. [[Michael Fortescue]] has connected Uralic instead as a part of an [[Uralo-Siberian]] typological area (comprising Uralic, [[Yukaghir languages|Yukaghir]], [[Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages|Chukotko-Kamchatkan]] and [[Eskimo–Aleut languages|Eskimo–Aleut]]), contrasting with a more narrowly defined Altaic typological area;<ref>{{cite book|last=Fortescue|first=Michael|year=1998|title=Language Relations across Bering Strait: Reappraising the Archaeological and Linguistic Evidence|location=London and New York|publisher=Cassell|isbn=0-304-70330-3}}</ref> while Anderson has outlined a specifically Siberian language area, including within Uralic only the [[Ob-Ugric languages|Ob-Ugric]] and [[Samoyedic languages|Samoyedic]] groups; within Altaic most of the Tungusic family as well as [[Siberian Turkic languages|Siberian Turkic]] and [[Buryat language|Buryat]] (Mongolic); as well as Yukaghir, Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Eskimo–Aleut, [[Nivkh language|Nivkh]], and [[Yeniseian languages|Yeniseian]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Gregory D. S.|last=Anderson|chapter=Towards a typology of the Siberian linguistic area|year=2006|title=Linguistic Areas. Convergence in Historical and Typological Perspective|url=https://archive.org/details/linguisticareasc00matr|url-access=registration|editor1-first=Y.|editor1-last=Matras|editor2-first=A.|editor2-last=McMahon|editor3-first=N.|editor3-last=Vincent|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|pages=[https://archive.org/details/linguisticareasc00matr/page/n286 266]–300|isbn=9781403996572}}</ref>