Tunguska language. Even language

04.08.2021

Evenki (self-name Evenkil, which became the official ethnonym in 1931; the old name is Tungus from Yakut.toҥuus) - the indigenous people of the Russian Federation (Eastern Siberia). They also live in Mongolia and northeastern China. Separate groups of Evenks were known as Orochens, Birars, Manegrs, Solons. Language - Evenk, belongs to the Tungus-Manchu group of the Altai language family. There are three groups of dialects: northern, southern and eastern. Each dialect is subdivided into dialects.

Geography

They live from the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk in the east to the Yenisei in the west, from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Baikal region and the Amur River in the south: in Yakutia (14.43 thousand people), Evenkia (3.48 thousand people), Dudinsky district of Taimyr Autonomous Okrug, Turukhansk district of Krasnoyarsk Territory (4.34 thousand people), Irkutsk region (1.37 thousand people), Chita region (1.27 thousand people), Buryatia (1.68 thousand people) .), Amur Region (1.62 thousand people), Khabarovsk Territory (3.7 thousand people), Sakhalin Region (138 people), as well as in northeast China (20 thousand people, spurs the Khingan ridge) and in Mongolia (near Lake Buir-Nur and the upper reaches of the Iro River).

Language

They speak the Evenk language of the Tungus-Manchu group of the Altai family. Dialects are divided into groups: northern - north of the lower Tunguska and lower Vitim, southern - south of the lower Tunguska and lower Vitim, and eastern - east of Vitim and Lena. Russian is also widespread (55.7% of Evenki speak fluently, 28.3% consider native), Yakut and Buryat languages.

The Evenk language, along with Manchu and Yakut, belongs to the Tungus-Manchu branch of the Altai language family.

In turn, the Tungus-Manchu language family is something intermediate between the Mongolian (the Mongols belong to it) and the Turkic language family (which, for example, include Tuvinians, although many do not perceive Tuvinians as Turks (such as Tatars, Uighurs, Kazakhs or Turks) , since Tuvans do not profess Islam, but are partly shamanists, like the Yakuts and Evenks, and partly Buddhists, like the Manchus and Mongols, It should be noted that the Manchus also partly profess Buddhism). The Evenks are very close to the Manchus, but unlike them, they did not create the famous state formations. And in this they are similar to the Yakuts close to them.

The Evenks, both in Russia and in China and Mongolia, with the help of scientists from the respective countries, adapted the writing system adopted by the titular peoples of these states to record their language. In Russia, the Evenks use the Cyrillic alphabet, in Mongolia, the Old Mongolian script, and in China, the Old Mongolian script and hieroglyphs. But this also happened recently, in the 20th century. Therefore, in the following extracts from the material of the Chinese foreign broadcasting it is said that the Evenks do not have a written language.

Name

Perhaps it sounds strange, but even the very name of the Evenk people is covered with the spirit of myths and doubts. So, from the time of the development of vast territories occupied by the Evenks by the Russians until 1931, it was customary to call this people (and at the same time the Evens related to them) by the common word "Tungus". At the same time, the origin of the word "Tungus" is still unclear - whether it comes from the Tungus word "kungu", meaning "a short fur coat made of reindeer skins, sewn up with wool", or from the Mongolian "tung" - "forest", then whether from the Yakut "tong uos" - "people with frozen lips", i.e. speaking in an incomprehensible language. One way or another, but the name "Tungus" in relation to the Evenks is still used by a number of researchers, which introduces confusion into the already confused history of the Evenk people.

One of the most widespread self-names of this people - Evenki (also Evenkil) - was recognized as official in 1931 and acquired the form “Evenki”, which is more familiar to the Russian ear. The origin of the word Evenki is even more mysterious than the Tungus. Some scholars argue that it comes from the name of the ancient Trans-Baikal tribe "Uvan" (also "Guvan", "Guy"), from which modern Evenks allegedly have their roots. Others shrug their shoulders altogether, abandoning attempts to interpret this term and pointing out only that it arose about two thousand years ago.

Another very widespread self-name of the Evenks is “Orochon” (also “Orochon”), literally meaning “a person who owns a deer”, “a reindeer” person. This is what the Evenki reindeer herders called themselves in the vast territory from Transbaikalia to the Zeisko-Uchursky region; however, some of the modern Amur Evenks prefer the name “Evenki”, and the word “Orochon” is considered just a nickname. In addition to these names, among various groups of Evenks there were also self-names “manegras” (“kumarchens”), “ile” (Evenks of the Upper Lena and Podkamennaya Tunguska), “kilen” (Evenks from Lena to Sakhalin), “birars” (“birarchens” - that is, living along the rivers), “khundysal” (ie, “owners of dogs” - this is how the beleless Evenks of the Lower Tunguska called themselves), “solons” and many others, which often coincided with the names of individual Evenk clans.

At the same time, not all Evenks were reindeer breeders (for example, the manegres who lived in the south of Transbaikalia and the Amur region also bred horses), and some Evenks were even walking or sedentary and were engaged only in hunting and fishing. In general, until the 20th century, the Evenks were not a single, integral people, but rather were a number of separate tribal groups that sometimes lived at a great distance from each other. And yet, at the same time, they were connected by a lot - a single language, customs and beliefs - which allows us to talk about the common roots of all Evenks. But where do these roots lie?

History

II millennium BC - I millennium AD - human settlement of the valley of the Lower Tunguska. The sites of the ancient people of the Neolithic of the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in the middle reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska.

XII century. - the beginning of the settlement of the Tungus in Eastern Siberia: from the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk in the east to the Ob-Irtysh interfluve in the west, from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Baikal region in the south.

Among the northern peoples not only of the Russian North, but of the entire Arctic coast, the Evenks are the most numerous linguistic group: on

The territory of Russia is home to more than 26,000 people, according to various sources, the same number in Mongolia and Manchuria.

The name “Evenki” with the creation of the Evenk district has become firmly established in social, political and linguistic use. Doctor of Historical Sciences V.A. Tugolukov gave a figurative explanation of the name "Tungus" - going across the ridges.

Since ancient times, the Tunguses have settled from the shores of the Pacific Ocean to the Ob. Their way of life made changes in the name of the genera, not only by geography, but, more often, by everyday life. The Evenks living on the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk were called Evens or, more often, Lamuts from the word "lama" - the sea. The Trans-Baikal Evenks were called Murchens, because they were mainly engaged in horse breeding, not reindeer herding. And the name of the horse is "mur". The Evenki reindeer herders who settled in the interfluve of the three Tungusoks (Upper, Podkamennaya, or Srednaya, and Lower) and the Angars called themselves Orochens - reindeer tungus. And they all talked and speak the same Tungus-Manchu language.

Most Tungus historians consider the Transbaikal and Amur regions to be the ancestral home of the Evenks. Many sources claim that they were supplanted by the more militant steppe dwellers at the beginning of the 10th century. However, there is another point of view. In the Chinese chronicles it is mentioned that even 4000 years before the Evenks were driven out, the Chinese knew about the people, the strongest among the "northern and eastern foreigners". And these Chinese chronicles testify to the coincidences in many characteristics of that ancient people - the sushi - with the later one, known to us as the Tungus.

1581-1583 - the first mention of the Tungus as a nationality in the description of the Siberian kingdom. The first explorers, explorers, travelers spoke highly of the tungus: "helpful without servility, proud and courageous." Khariton Laptev, who explored the shores of the Arctic Ocean between the Ob and Olenek, wrote:

"In courage and humanity, and in meaning, the Tungus surpass all those who roam in yurts." The exiled Decembrist V. Kyukhelbekker called the Tungus "Siberian aristocrats", and the first Yenisei governor A. Stepanov wrote: "Their costumes resemble the camisoles of the Spanish grandees ..." bone ", that they do not have iron dishes, and" tea is brewed in wooden vats with hot stones, and meat is baked only on coals ... "

Second half of the 16th century - the penetration of Russian industrialists and hunters into the basins of the Taza and Turukhan rivers and the mouth of the Yenisei. The proximity of two different cultures was interpenetrating. The Russians learned the skills of hunting, survival in northern conditions, were forced to accept the norms of morality and community of aborigines, especially since the newcomers took local women as wives and created mixed families.

Gradually, the Evenk tribes were driven out by the Yakuts, Russians and Buryats from part of their territory and moved to North China. In the century before last, Evenks appeared on the lower Amur and Sakhalin. By that time, the people were partially assimilated by the Russians, Yakuts, Mongols and Buryats, Dauras, Manchus and Chinese. By the end of the 19th century, the total number of Evenks was 63 thousand people. According to the census of 1926-1927, there were 17.5 thousand of them in the USSR. In 1930, the Ilimpiyskiy, Baikitskiy and Tunguso-Chunskiy national

the districts were united into the Evenk National District. According to the 2002 census, 35,000 Evenks live in Russia.

Life of the Evenks

The main occupation of the "foot" Evenks is hunting. It is conducted mainly for large game deer, elk, roe deer, bear, however, fur hunting for smaller animals (squirrel, arctic fox) is also widespread. Hunting is usually carried out from autumn to spring, in groups of two or three people. Evenki reindeer herders used animals when riding (including for hunting) and under a pack, milked. After the end of the hunting season, several Evenk families usually united and moved to another place. Some groups knew sleds of various types, which were borrowed from the Nenets and Yakuts. The Evenks bred not only deer, but also horses, camels, and sheep. Seal hunting and fishing were common in some places. The traditional occupations of the Evenks were the processing of skins, birch bark, blacksmithing, including to order. In Transbaikalia and the Amur region, the Evenks even switched to sedentary agriculture and cattle breeding. In the 1930s, reindeer herding cooperatives began to be created, and with them stationary settlements. At the end of the last century, the Evenks began to form clan communities.

Food, shelter and clothing

The traditional food of the Evenks is meat and fish. Depending on their occupation, the Evenks also eat berries and mushrooms, and the settled ones eat vegetables grown in their own gardens. The main drink is tea, sometimes with reindeer milk or salt. The national dwelling of the Evenks is chum (du). It consists of a conical frame of poles covered with skins (in winter) or birch bark (in summer). In the center was a hearth, and above it was a horizontal rail on which the boiler was suspended. At the same time, various tribes used semi-dugouts, yurts of various types, and even log buildings borrowed from the Russians as dwellings.

The traditional clothes of the Evenks: cloth natazniks, leggings, a reindeer skin caftan, under which a special bib was worn. The women's bib was decorated with beads and had a straight bottom edge. Men wore a belt with a knife in a scabbard, women - with a pincushion, a tinderbox and a pouch. Clothes were decorated with fur, fringe, embroidery, metal plaques, and beads. Evenk communities usually consist of several kindred families, numbering from 15 to 150 people. Until the last century, there was a custom, according to which the hunter had to give part of the prey to his relatives. The Evenks are characterized by a small family, although earlier in some tribes polygamy was widespread.

Beliefs and folklore

Cults of spirits, trade and clan cults, and shamanism were preserved. There were elements of the Bear Festival - rituals associated with cutting the carcass of a dead bear, eating its meat, burying bones. Christianization of the Evenks has been carried out since the 17th century. In Transbaikalia and the Amur region, the influence of Buddhism was strong. Folklore included improvisational songs, mythological and historical epics, animal tales, historical and everyday legends, etc. The epic was performed

recitative, often the audience took part in the performance, repeating individual lines after the narrator. Separate groups of Evenks had their own epic heroes (soning). There were also regular heroes - comic characters in everyday stories. From musical instruments, the harp, hunting bow, etc. are known, from dances - a round dance (heiro, sadio), performed to the accompaniment of song improvisation. The games were in the nature of competitions in wrestling, shooting, running, etc. Artistic carving on bone and wood, metalworking (men), beadwork, in the Eastern Evenks - with silk, appliqué with fur and fabric, embossing on birch bark (women) were developed.

Evenki of China

Although in Russia it is usually believed that Evenks live in Russian Siberia, on the adjacent territory of China they are represented by four ethnolinguistic groups, the total number of which exceeds the number of Evenks in Russia: 39 534 versus 38 396. These groups are united into two official nationalities living in the Evenki Autonomous Hoshune of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and in neighboring Heilongjiang Province (Nehe County):

Orochons (literally “reindeer herders”, Chinese, pinyin: Èlúnchūn Zú) - 8196 people according to the 2000 census, 44.54% live in Inner Mongolia, and 51.52% - in Heilongjiang province, 1.2% - in Liaoning province. About half speak the Orochon dialect of the Evenk language, sometimes regarded as a separate language; the rest are only in Chinese. Currently, the Evenk reindeer herders in China are a very small ethnic group, numbering only about two hundred people. They speak a dialect of the North Tungus language. The existence of their traditional culture is under great threat.
Evenki (Chinese: 鄂温克族, pinyin: Èwēnkè Zú) - 30,505 for 2000, 88.8% in Hulun Buir, including:
a small group of Evenks proper - about 400 people in the village of Aoluguya (Genhe county), who are now being moved to the suburbs of the county center; they call themselves "yeke", the Chinese call themselves Yakute, since they erected themselves to the Yakuts. According to the Finnish altaist Juhe Yanhunen, this is the only ethnic group in China engaged in reindeer herding;

Khamnigans are a strongly Mongolized group that speaks Mongolian languages - Khamnigan proper and Khamnigan (Old-Baraga) dialect of the Evenk language. These so-called Manchu Hamnigans emigrated from Russia to China for several years after the October Revolution; about 2500 people live in Starobargut khoshun;
Solons - they, together with the Daurs, moved from the basin of the Zeya River in 1656 to the basin of the Nunjiang River, and then in 1732 partly went further west, to the basin of the Hailar River, where the Evenki Autonomous Khoshun was later formed with 9733 Evenks. They speak the Solon dialect, sometimes considered as a separate language.

Since both the Hamningans and the “Yakuts-Evenks” are very small in number (about 2000 of the first and probably about 200 of the second), the overwhelming majority of people assigned to the Evenk nationality in China are Salonians. The Solon population was estimated at 7,200 in 1957, 18,000 in 1982, and 25,000 in 1990.

Great people of the Evenk people

GAUDA

Aguda (Agudai) is the most famous historical figure in the early history of the Tungus, the leader of the Tungus-speaking tribes of the Amur region, who created the powerful state of Aisin Gurun. At the beginning of the second millennium, the Tungus, whom the Chinese called Nuichzhi (Chzhulichzhi) - Chzhurcheni, stopped the domination of the Khitan (Mongolian tribes). In 1115, Aguda declared himself emperor, creating the empire of Aisin Gurun (Anchun Gurun) - the Golden Empire (Chinese "Jin"). In 1119, Aguda decided to start a war with China and in the same year the Jurchens took Kaifeng, the capital of China at that time. The victory of the Jurchen Tungus under the leadership of Aguda was won by a number of 200 thousand soldiers against a million-strong Chinese army. The Aisin Gurun empire existed for over 100 years before the heyday of the Mongol empire of Chinggis Khan.

Bombogor

Bombogor is the leader of the union of the Evenk clans in the Amur region in the struggle against the Manchu conquerors in the 17th century. Under the leadership of Bombogor, the Evenks, Solons and Daurs opposed the Manchus of the Qing dynasty in the mid-1630s. Up to 6 thousand soldiers who fought for several years with the regular Manchu army gathered under his banners. Only 5 years later, the Manchus were able to capture Bombogor and suppress the resistance of the Evenks. Bombogor was captured by the Manchus in 1640, taken to the capital of the Manchu emperor - the city of Mukden and executed there. With the death of Bombogor, the Evenks and all the peoples of the Amur region on the territory of China were subordinated to the emperor and the Qing dynasty.

Nemtushkin A.N.

Nemtushkin Alitet Nikolaevich is a famous Evenk writer and poet. Born in 1939 in the Irishki camp of the Katangsky district of the Irkutsk region in the family of a hunter, brought up in boarding schools and by his grandmother Ogdo-Evdokia Ivanovna Nemtushkina. In 1957 he graduated from the Erbogachen secondary school, in 1961 from the Herzen Leningrad Pedagogical Institute.

After graduation, Alitet Nikolaevich comes to work in Evenkia as a correspondent for the Krasnoyarsk Rabochy newspaper. In 1961 he became the editor of the Evenki radio and worked in journalism for over 20 years. His first book - a collection of poems "Tymani agidu" (Morning in the taiga) was published when Alitet Nikolaevich was still a student in 1960. Since then, more than 20 books have been published from under the pen of Nemtushkin, which were published in Krasnoyarsk, Leningrad, Moscow, Yakutsk. Nemtushkin's poems and prose have been translated into dozens of languages of the peoples of the former USSR and socialist countries.

The most significant and popular works of Alitet Nemtushkin are poetry collections "The Fire of My Ancestors", "Breath of the Earth", prose books "I Dream of Heavenly Deer", "Pathfinders on the Deer", "The Road to the Lower World", "Samelkil - Marks on the Deer Ear »And others. In 1986 A. Nemtushkin was elected executive secretary of the Krasnoyarsk Writers' Organization; in 1990 he was awarded the title "Honored Worker of Culture"; in 1992 awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of literature; member of the Writers' Union since 1969.

Chapogir O.V.

A well-known composer, author and performer of many Evenk songs. Oleg Vasilyevich Chapogir was born in 1952 in the village of Kislokan, Ilimpiyskiy district, Krasnoyarsk Territory, into a family of Evenk hunters. From childhood, he heard folk tunes from his mother and other Evenks, which, together with a natural gift, later influenced his life choices.

After finishing eight classes of the Turin secondary school, Oleg Vasilyevich entered the Norilsk Musical College in the class of folk instruments of the northern branch. Having received a diploma, in 1974 the future composer returned to his native Evenkia, where he began to create his works. He worked in the Ilimpiysky district department of culture, in an art workshop, in the district scientific and methodological center.

G.V. Chapogir perfectly told about the talent and activities of Oleg Chapogir. Shakirzyanova: “The works of an earlier period, written by him immediately after graduation, are mainly devoted to youth themes, in them there is an irresistible rhythm and a clear pulse of time. Songs of the late period bear the imprint of a deep, thoughtful attitude to folk poetry, to their historical roots, which noticeably distinguishes the composer's art of Oleg Chapogir from the work of other composers of Evenkia. Oleg Chapogir drew his inspiration not only from the unique in its beauty taiga nature, but also from the poems of our famous Evenk poets A. Nemtushkin and N. Oyogir. " Oleg Chapogir is the author of over 200 songs and melodies. He released eight albums with songs about the Evenks and the North.

Atlasov I.M.

Atlasov Ivan Mikhailovich - a well-known public figure, one of the modern leaders of the Evenks, Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Evenk people of Russia. Ivan Mikhailovich was born in 1939 in the Ezhansky nasleg of the Ust-Maisky district of Yakutia in the family of an Evenk hunter. From an early age he worked on a par with adults, having learned the hardships of wartime. He graduated from the 7-year Ezhansky school, secondary school in Ust-May. He graduated from the Yakutsk State University in 1965 with a degree in industrial and civil engineering, remaining to teach at the same faculty. Since 1969, he worked in the Ministry of Housing and Communal Services of the YaASSR, then as deputy director of Yakutgorpischetorg. From 1976 until retirement he worked in Yakutagropromstroy, built the largest trade and warehouse buildings of that time.

Since the end of the 80s. XX century. is one of the founders of the social movement of indigenous peoples in Yakutia. For several years he headed the Association of Evenks of the Republic of Sakha, in 2009 he was elected Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Evenk people of Russia. Initiator of a number of legislative acts of republican significance aimed at supporting indigenous peoples, an active defender of the environment and the legal rights of small ethnic groups.

The Evenks are the only people in the North who have mastered the areas of mountain taiga and tundra. Already in the 17th century. in the west, the Evenks reached the Ob-Yenisei watershed between Ket and Turukhan. In the north, they mastered a significant part of the tundra between the Yenisei and Lena and the taiga along the basins of all three Tunguska, east of the Lena they spread through the taiga to the Sea of Okhotsk. Horse groups and pastoralists roamed in the steppes of Transbaikalia and the Upper Amur region and along the right tributaries of the Amur.

At present, Evenki live in more or less compact groups in the Evenki National District, in the Katangsky District of the Irkutsk Region, in the Vitimsko-Olekminsky District of the Chita Region, in the Aldansky District of Yakutia and in the Ayansky and Chumikansky Districts of the Khabarovsk Territory. In all other regions and territories, they live mixed with other population.

Evenks called "Tungus" were first mentioned at the end of the 17th century. The most widespread self-name is “Evenki”, other self-names are: Orochon, Il.e, Birary, Mata, Manegra, Kilena, Hamnygan, Khundysal.

According to the 1989 census, the number of Evenks was 29,975 people. 45.1% are fluent in the language of their nationality.

In the extreme west of their settlement, the Evenks live in the neighborhood of the Nenets, Khants, and Kets; in Yakutia and in adjacent areas - with the Yakuts; within Buryatia - with the Buryats. In the Far East, their neighbors are Evens, Negidals, Nanais; on Sakhalin Island - Oroks and Nivkhs. In all regions of their distribution, the Evenks live and work together with the Russians.

Until 1931, the Evenk language was unwritten. Literature in this language began to be published only in 1931. At the very beginning, the Neppean dialect of the southern dialect was chosen as the basis of the Evenk literary language, in 1952 - the Polygus dialect.

According to the existing classification of world languages, the Evenk language belongs to the Tungus-Manchu family, which is divided into three groups: Tungus, or northern, Amur, or southern, and Manchu proper. The first group consists of the Evenk, Even, Negidal and Solon languages, the second includes Nanai, Ulchi, Udege, Oroch and Orok (ulta), the third includes the Manchu language and nowadays dead Jurchen. All Tungus-Manchu languages have significant similarities both in vocabulary and grammatical structure, which testifies to their ancient relationship and origin from the same root.

Evenk lexicography is relatively young. In the field of studying the Evenk language, accumulated by the beginning of the 19th century. the materials were small lists of words. In 1843, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences organized a scientific expedition (1843-1845) to explore the north and east of Siberia, headed by Professor of Kiev University (later academician) A.F. Middendorf (1815-1894). During his journey, along the way with his main studies, he wrote down a small number of words and speech samples of the Evenks living on the river. Lower Tunguska, Norilsk, Ud and Aldan Evenks. The researcher himself, in one of his letters, testifies that he had fugitive encounters with the Tungus. Moreover, not being a linguist, A.F. Middendorf could not give an accurate phonetic record, and provided his texts with an insufficiently accurate translation. Nevertheless, his lexicons and texts were of great importance for that period, as they gave an idea of the language and some of its dialectal differences. Materials of A.F. Middendorf - a dictionary of 600 words, 18 phrases and three small texts with a German translation - were published by Academician A. Shifner as an appendix to the grammar of M.A. Castrena 1.

He played an exceptional role in the study of the Evenk language, as well as many other unwritten languages, in the middle of the 19th century. M.A. Castrain. This scientist set out to study both written Manchu and living dialects of the Tungus language, believing that Tungus is a necessary link in the circle of the Ural-Altai languages. In the years 1845-1849. MA Castren, on the instructions of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, carried out a large Siberian expedition, the results of which were enormous in terms of their scientific significance. Although the study of the Evenk language was not initially included in the plans of the expedition, M.A.Kastren nevertheless considered it necessary to study this language, which he managed to do already at the end of the expedition, in 1848, on the way to Nerchinsk. MA Castren made his notes in the region of the city of Chita with speakers of the Mankovo and Urulginsky dialects. Therefore, along with the features common to the Evenk language, his materials also reflect the dialectal features of this group of Evenks. Based on the notes, M.A.Kastren created the first grammar of the Evenk language and compiled a dictionary. The work was published in German after his death. It was prepared for publication by A. Shifner on behalf of the Academy of Sciences. The grammar is accompanied by M.A.Kastren's dictionaries in 1500 words (Tungus-German dictionary with parallels from the Buryat, Tatar, Yakut and German-Tungus dictionary, as well as the already mentioned A.F.Middendorf dictionary and G. Spassky's dictionaries (130 words) and G. Gerstfeld (200 words) The vocabulary data of MA Castren were widely used for comparative study by numerous researchers.

The following materials on the Evenk language were collected by the participants of an almost year-long expedition to the Amur by the famous explorer of Siberia R.K. Maak (1825 - 1886) and his collaborator G. Gerstfeld. Expedition of R.K. Maaka pursued natural-geographical goals, but nevertheless its participants could not get around the question of the population of the Amur Region, which was little-known at that time, and therefore began to study the ethnography of the region. At the same time, it was possible to write down a number of words from the Evenks. The Evenk-Russian Dictionary, compiled by R.K.Maak, was published as an appendix to a major work on the results of the expedition2. It contains 1500 Evenk words reproduced in Latin script and arranged in the order of the Manchu alphabet. The dictionary also includes words written by R.K. Maak earlier, during the Vilyui expedition of 1854, from the Vilyui Evenks, Manegrs, Orochons and representatives of some other groups. As an appendix, samples of speech of the Vilyui Evenks are given in the form of 86 phrases with Russian translation. The vocabulary data of R. Maack, although they are brief, are interesting for historical and dialectological research.

In the 70s. XIX century. materials on the Evenk language were collected during a two-year trip to Siberia by the geologist A. Chekanovsky, who wrote them down from the Evenks of the Kondogir clan who lived in the Kirensky district of the Irkutsk province along the river. Lower Tunguska from the village of Moga to the mouth of the river. Ilimpei. A. Chekanovsky's dictionary was published in 1878 by A. Shifner3. It contains about 1800 words and 217 phrases with Russian translation. A. Shifner added to A. Chekanovsky's dictionary many parallels from other Evenk as well as Even dialects from previously published works and attached the same materials by R.K. Maack.

Brief information on one of the dialects of the Evenk language was published in 1903 in his essays by V.V. Ptitsyn, who made notes in the area of the lake. Baikal among the Evenks who lived along the river. Golousnaya. The essays contain "Grammar rules for the Golousnensky Tungus dialect" and two small dictionaries: Tungus-Russian and Russian-Tungus, which contains about 600 Evenk words, together with some indirect forms of names. In this work, as V.V. Ptitsyn, he used the materials of a certain Yunusov, transferred to the author by A.V. Starchevsky.

The information on the language of the Ilimpian Evenks of the Turukhansk Territory collected by the Siberian ethnographers V.N. Vasiliev and I.P. Tolmachev during the Khatanga expedition, which were later transferred to Vl. Kotvich.

In 1903, vocabulary materials were recorded from the Ayan Evenks along with the ethnographic research of E.K. Pekarsky (1858-1934). Of the unpublished materials on the Evenk language, the manuscripts of the ethnographer K.M. Rychkov, kept in the archives of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, deserve great attention. These are extensive texts written in the Evenk language at the beginning of the 20th century. on the territory of the Turukhansk region, and a dictionary to them. In connection with the activities of missionaries in the period 1889-1916. on the territory of the Turukhansk region, priest M.M. Suslov compiled a Russian-Evenk dictionary, which, however, was not published.

In the period from 1919 to 1926, on the initiative of Irkutsk University and the Chita Regional Museum, a number of expeditions to the Evenks in the Lensko-Kirensky, Severo-Baikalsky and Vitimo-Nerchinsky regions were made by E.I. Titov, who collected folklore and vocabulary materials. The latter were published in 1926 in the form of an Evenk-Russian dictionary containing 3000 words, with the grammar of M.A.Kastren translated into Russian by M.G. Peshkova 7. For writing Evenk words, the Russian transcription is adopted here. It was noted that this spelling in some cases suffers from inaccuracies.

In 1934, the Evenk-Russian dialectological dictionary of G.M. Vasilevich, containing about 4000 words, a short grammatical outline and a brief description of dialects8. In the future, G.V. Vasilevich directs her to collect vocabulary material, as a result of which her dictionaries have appeared9. The Evenk-Russian dictionary contains about 10,000 words, the Russian-Evenk - about 20,000 words.

The most complete is the Evenk-Russian Dictionary, compiled by G.M. Vasilevich and published in 1958. It contains about 25,000 words, and the vocabulary is not only the literary language, but also dialects. The dictionary contains indexes of dialects and dialects, references to the literary word in dialectisms and comparisons of phonetic variants in the literary word. The literary language is determined by the vocabulary of the sub-stone-Tungus dialect, as well as borrowed from the Russian language and other dialects (in the absence of words in the literary dialect). The appendices to the dictionary are given:

Vocabulary collected locally during the expeditions of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1951-1954) by V.A.Gortsevskaya, V.D. Kolesnikova, O.A. Konstantinova, E.P. Lebedeva, T.Z. Pukshanskaya and N.I. Gladkova;
Names of Evenk clans;
Suffixes and particles;
A grammatical sketch of the Evenk literary language.

In 1958, the “Evenk-Russian dictionary” (of the Evenk literary language) was published, compiled by V.A. Gortsevskaya, V.D. Kolesnikova and O.A. Konstantinova. It includes about 10,000 words. The accumulated material made it possible to publish the "Comparative Dictionary of the Tungus-Manchu languages" (executive editor V.I. Tsintsius, compilers: V.A.Gortsevskaya, V.D. Kolesnikova, O.A. Petrova, V.I. Tsintsius and T.G. Bugaeva) 10. As materials and sources of such a generalizing work, published bilingual (translated) dictionaries and short glossaries of individual Tungus-Manchu languages (or more often their individual dialects) were used, as well as unpublished lexical materials collected as a result of many years of expeditionary activities of Tungus-Manchu scholars or recorded from students in Leningrad, Evenks, students of the former Institute of the Peoples of the North, Leningrad State University, Pedagogical Institute named after A.I. Herzen:

Vasilevich G.M. Evenk-Russian dictionary. - M., 1958;
Gortsevskaya V.A., Kolesnikova V.D., Konstantinova O.A. Evenk-Russian dictionary. - L., 1958;
Kolesnikova V.D., Konstantinova O.A. Russian-Evenk dictionary. - L., 1960;
Poppe N.N. Materials for the study of the Tungus language: The dialect of the Barguzin Tungus. -L., 1927;
Romanova A.V., Myreeva A.N. Dialectological dictionary of the Evenk language: Materials of the dialects of the Evenks of Yakutia / Ed. G.M. Vasilevich. - L., 1968;
Titov E.I. Tunguska-Russian dictionary. - Irkutsk, 1926;
Castren M.A. Grundziige einer Tungusichen Sprachlehre nebst kurzem Worterverzeichniss. - St. Petersburg, 1856;
Podkamenno-Tunguska dialects - expedition materials by V.A.Gortsevskaya, V.D. Kolesnikova and O. A. Konstantinova (1941, 1952, 1953, 1959);
Vanavar dialect - expedition materials by V.A. Gortsevskaya;
Dudinsky dialect - notes by V. Stolypin (1961), verified by V.A. Gortsevskaya;
Kachug dialect - records of V. Khromov (1961), verified by V.A. Gortsevskaya and V.D. Kolesnikova;
Nakannovsky dialect - expedition materials by O.A. Konstantinova and Z.V. Monakhova (1952);
Timpton dialect - expedition materials by A.F. Boytsova and O.A. Konstantinova (1940);
Tokkin dialect - notes by V. Anastakhova (1961), verified by V.A. Gortsevskaya;
The Uchama dialect and the dialect of the Evenks of Agatha and the Big Threshold - expedition materials by E.P. Lebedeva (1952).

It is characterized by synharmonic phonetics, agglutination with elements of analyticism and inflectional morphology, nominative-possessive sentence structure in syntax. Typical word order is subject, object, predicate. Possessive relationships are expressed by the possessive phrase.

Evenk is spoken Evenki ... Until 1930, the Evenk language and the Even language were called Tunguska. In the eastern regions, the Evenks call themselves Orochons. The outdated names of some groups of Evenks are “murchens” (that is, equestrian), “manegirs”. According to the 1989 census, 9097 Evenki considered the Evenk language as their mother tongue, but in reality many of them only declare their ethnic and cultural identity in this way. In fact, according to the 2001-02 survey, 35.5% of Western Evenks and 84% of Evenks in Yakutia do not speak their native language. Some of the Evenks live in China (in 1982 - 19,938) and Mongolia (more than 2 thousand). According to the 2002 census, their number is 35,527 people, and 7,584 people speak the language.

In the Evenk language, there are 3 adverbs with 14 dialects, which combine over 50 dialects. The classification of dialects is based on phonetic signs. In the following decades, there was an intensive mixing of dialects, and often their loss.

Literature in the Evenk language began to be published in 1931. The basis of the literary language is the polygus dialect of the southern dialect, but it never became supra-dialectal, which the Evenks of different regions would have. The Evenk language has the status of the language of the indigenous small people of the Russian Federation.

The Evenk language is a means of communication mainly for the Evenki of the older generation. In areas of compact residence, the Evenk language is taught in preparatory classes, as a subject it is taught in elementary school and, in some cases, as an elective up to grade 8 inclusive, as well as in universities in St. Petersburg, Yakutsk, Khabarovsk, Ulan-Ude ) and in national pedagogical schools ( Igarka, Nikolaevsk-on-Amur ). Textbooks for the 8th grade inclusive, bilingual dictionaries, teaching aids to help the teacher of the native language have been published in the Evenk language; samples of fiction (originals and translations). Local magazines and newspapers publish works of Evenk poets and prose writers V. Dokolev, V. Lorgaktoev, A. Nemtushkin, S. Pikunov, A. Platonov, A. Salatkin, K. Salatkina, N. Sakharov, V. Soloviev, G. Chinkov ... In some regions, radio broadcasts are conducted in the Evenk language, information sheets are published as an attachment to district and regional newspapers.

The first information about the Evenk language dates back to the 17th century. The beginning of its scientific description was laid by the works of the Imperial Academy of Sciences and Arts ( A.F. Middendorf, M.A. Castrain , A. Shifner) and Russian Geographical Society (R.K. Maak, A. Chekanovsky and etc.). The systematic study of the Evenk language has been conducted since the 1930s. The result was numerous articles and monographs devoted to his phonetics, morphology, syntax, description of individual grammatical categories, dialects and dialects. Several Evenk-Russian and Russian-Evenk dictionaries have been compiled. The study of the Evenk language is carried out at the Institute of Linguistic Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian State Pedagogical University. A.I. Herzen (St. Petersburg), Institute for the Problems of Small Nations of the North ( Yakutsk ), Institute of Philology SB RAS ( Novosibirsk).

Lit .: Konstantinova O.A. Evenk language. M .; L., 1964; Kolesnikova V.D. Syntax of the Evenk language. M .; L., 1966; Lebedeva E.P., Konstantinova O.A., Monakhova I.V. Evenk language. L., 1985; Brodskaya L.M. A complex sentence in the Evenk language. Novosibirsk, 1988; Myreeva A.N. Evenk-Russian dictionary. Novosibirsk, 2004; Boldyrev B.V. Morphology of the Evenk language. Novosibirsk, 2007.

The Evenk (old name - Tungus) language is included in the Tungus-Manchu family of languages, along with the Even, Negidal and Orochon languages. It is spoken by the Evenks living in Russia, Mongolia and China. The dialects of the Evenk language are very different from each other and are divided into three large groups: northern, eastern and central dialects.

The similarity between the Evenk and Manchu languages was first noted at the end of the 18th century by the botanist P.S. Pallas, and then it was confirmed in the linguistic research of M.A. Castrena (mid-19th century), considered the first scientific work in the field of Tungusology. The internal structure of the Tungus-Manchu language family is still a matter of controversy. Some linguists distinguish two subfamilies: the first includes the Manchu language, and the second includes all other Tungus-Manchu languages, including Evenk. Other scholars divide the Tungus-Manchu languages into northern (Evenk, Even and Negidal) and southern (Manchu, Nanai and others). Bulatova (1999) distinguishes 14 dialects and 50 dialects of the Evenk language on the territory of Russia, as well as 3 dialects on the territory of the PRC.

The typical structure of a syllable in the Evenk language is CV, but others are also possible. There is also no single point of view on the phonemic composition. Some linguists distinguish 11 vowel phonemes in the Evenk language, with a division into long and short ones, while others - 13 phonemes. The consonant inventory is rather modest: 18 phonemes, and there are no glides and semi-vowels. As in most Tungus-Manchu languages, the rule of vowel harmony (singharmonicity) applies in the Evenk language, i.e. the vowels of the suffix are similar in quality to the root vowel.

The Evenk language is agglutinated and suffixed. Each morpheme is easily recognized and conveys a well-defined meaning. Evenk pronouns have singular and plural forms, and 1-person pronouns are divided into inclusive and exclusive. The Evenk language is nominative-accusative, with a developed case system (13 cases).

Typical word order is Subject-Predictable-Complement. The subject is marked as a word in the nominative case, the object is marked as a word in the accusative. Indirect addition precedes direct addition.

The Evenk script was created in the Soviet Union in 1931 based on the Latin alphabet, and in 1937 the Evenks switched to the Cyrillic script. In China, the Evenks experimentally use the Mongolian script. In the 1980s, Evenk scholars tried to create standard written forms of the language based on Mongolian writing and Latin transliteration (similar to the official Chinese pinyin transliteration system), but their attempts were unsuccessful.

The literary language was initially based on the dialect of the Nepa River region, but in the 1950s the dialect of the Kamennaya Tunguska region became the basis of the literary language, which is spoken by only about 5 thousand people. In this regard, many scientists predicted the rapid disappearance of the literary Evenk language, but it survived and continues to develop.

The Evenk language is classified as endangered. Evenks have long been in active contact with Russians, Buryats, Yakuts, Mongols and representatives of other nationalities of the region, so many of them are fluent in two or three languages. The Evenk language has many borrowings from Russian, which has long been used in the region as a lingua franca. According to the 2002 census, 35,527 citizens of the Russian Federation identified themselves as ethnic Evenks, but only 7,580 of them were native speakers. In China, the Evenk population is 30,500, but only 19,000 of them speak their native language fluently.

EVENKIAN LANGUAGE (TUNGUSIAN LANGUAGE)

- one of the Tungus-Manchu languages. Distributed in a vast, but sparsely populated territory. taiga zone of Siberia from the left bank of the river. Yenisei to Fr. Sakhalin, small groups of Evenks are in the North of the PRC and in the Mongolian People's Republic. The number of speakers in the USSR is 11.7 thousand. (1979, census), in the PRC approx. 20 thousand people, in the Mongolian People's Republic approx. 3 thousand people In E. i. 3 dialects are distinguished: northern, southern and eastern, with a large number of dialects and dialects. Despite the significant diversity, these dialects are united by a complex of common features, which are, however, in one way or another, and other Tunguso-Manchzh. languages, of which Solon and Negidal are considered by some scientists as dialects of E. I. Lit. the language was based on Nep, since 1953 - on the Polygus dialect of the South. adverbs. Writing from 1931 on the basis of Latin, and from 1937 - Russian. graphics. ... Poppe N.N .. Materials for the study of the Tungus, language. L. 1927; Vasilyevich G. M .. Essays on dialects of the Evenk (Tungus.) Language. L., 1948; Konstantinova OA, Evenk language, M. - L., 1964; Castren M. A., Grundziige einer tungusischen Sprachlehre nebst kurzem Wor-terverzeichniss, St. Petersburg, 1856. Vasnlevich G. M .. Evenk-rus, dictionary, M .. 1958; Kolesnikova V.D., Konstantinova O.A., Russian-Evenk Dictionary, L., 1960; S h i-rokogoroff S. M., A Tungus dictionary. Tokyo. 1944. E. A. Khelimsky.

Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary. 2012