Nanai | |
---|---|
на̄най, на̄ни | |
Native to | Russia, China |
Region | Russian Far East, Heilongjiang |
Ethnicity | Nanai people |
Native speakers | 1,400 (2010) [1] |
Dialects |
|
Cyrillic | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | gld |
Glottolog | nana1257 |
ELP | Nanai |
![]() Nanay is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
The Nanai language (also called Gold, Goldi, or Hezhen) is spoken by the Nanai people in Siberia, and to a much smaller extent in China's Heilongjiang province, where it is known as Hezhe. The language has about 1,400 speakers out of 17,000 ethnic Nanai, but most (especially the younger generations) are also fluent in Russian or Chinese, and mostly use one of those languages for communication. [2]
In China, the language is referred to as Hèzhéyǔ (Chinese: 赫哲语). The Nanai people there variously refer to themselves as /na nio/, /nabəi/, /na nai/ (which all mean "local people"), /kilən/, and /χəɖʐən/, the last being the source of the Chinese ethnonym Hezhe. [3]
The language is distributed across several distantly-located areas:
It is thought that in Russia, the Nanai language has been best preserved in the Nanai District of Khabarovsk Krai, because of the active Nanai-speaking community there, which has been active in working on the publication of books in Nanai, as well as textbooks on the language, and also because of the ethnic autonomous status of the Nanai District. According to Stolyarov's data, the worldwide Nanai population is 11,883, of whom 8,940 live in rural localities of Khabarovsk Krai. However, only 100–150 native speakers of the language remain there. [5] The 2002 Census recorded 12,194 Nanai people who claimed to speak Russian as well. [6] Three ethnic Nanai villages remain, those being Dzhuen, Ulika, and Dada; in the remaining populated areas, the proportion of Nanais among local residents is much smaller. [7]
Scholars in China have traditionally presented less fine-grained dialect classifications; An identified only two, Hezhen and Qile'en, the former referring to all varieties of the language spoken in Russia. He conducted his studies in Jiejinkou, Bacha, and Sipai villages in Heilongjiang; at the time of his survey in 1982, the youngest fluent speaker was 55, and the oldest 72. [8]
There are several classifications of Nanai dialects. Early classifications tended to be areal and paid less attention to criteria for the differentiation of dialects. Lipskoy-Val'rond's classification, which distinguishes seven dialects, is one example of this; he distinguished the Sungari, Upper Amur, Ussuri, Urmi, Kur, Central Amur, and Lower Amur dialects. [9] In the 1920s, the period of initial studies of the Nanai language, the area of settlement of the Nanai people was more extensive than at present; many dialects, which had not yet been classified by researchers, later disappeared, and remain unnamed.
The next period of studies did not begin until after a 20-year interruption, at the end of the 1940s; by then, the number of dialects had grown, and subsequent classifications distinguished as many as ten. Also, the distribution of the Nanai language had sharply narrowed; many Lower Amur and Ussuri dialects remained unstudied. According to Sunik's classification, which emphasizes morphological and phonetic features, [10] "Nanaian language forms two groups, which are decomposed into a number of dialects". [11]
Avrorin divided the language into three varieties: Sungari (aka Upper Amur), (Lower) Amur, and Kur-Urmi, further subdividing them into a number of dialects. The basic difference with Sunik's classification concerns the Amur and Upper Amur groups: Avrovin considered Bolon and Dzhuen under Naykhin, while separating Kur-Urmi as its own group, while Sunik viewed Kur-Urmi as a dialect. [12] Sem, in contrast, classified Nanai into Upper, Central, and Lower Amur groups, each divided into a number of dialects; he counted a total of ten dialects. [4]
Among the contemporary carriers of Nanaian language (middle and lower Amur dialects), dialect levelling and mixing has occurred due to extensive population migrations and the system of teaching of Nanai language (based on the Naykhin dialect); therefore it is difficult to differentiate the dialects in contemporary language data.
The Nanai language is taught in secondary schools in Russia, mainly in Nanai villages in Khabarovsk Krai.[ citation needed ]
In China, the Nanai (Hezhe) people use Chinese for writing. The number of speakers has been in continual decline for decades; by the 1980s, the use of the language was restricted to special situations and communication with family members. [13] In an effort to reverse this decline, a text book for Hezhe schoolchildren discussing the Hezhe language was published in 2005 (in pinyin transcription). [14]
In the history of written Nanai, there are three stages:
The first books in the Nanai language were printed by Russian Orthodox missionaries in the late 19th century in a Cyrillic orthography. In the 1920s–30s, after several false starts, the modern written form of the Nanai language was created by a team of Russian linguists led by Valentin Avrorin.[ citation needed ] The Nanai language uses the same alphabet as the Russian alphabet.
In 1930, it was decided to create a Unified Northern Alphabet on the Latin basis for the small-numbered peoples of the North. In January 1932, these alphabets, including Nanai, were officially approved at the I All-Russian Conference on the Development of Languages and Writings of the Peoples of the North. [15] The approved Nanai alphabet was as follows: [16]
A a | B в | Ꞓ є | D d | Ʒ ʒ | E e | Ə ə | F f |
G g | H h | I i | J j | K k | L l | M m | N n |
Ņ ņ | Ŋ ŋ | O o | P p | R r | S s | T t | U u |
W w | Z z |
In some versions of the alphabet, the letter Ꞓ ꞓ was replaced with the usual Latin C c and meant the same sound. [17]
On June 5, 1936, the Presidium of the Council of Nationalities of the CEC of the USSR decided to translate the written language of the peoples of the North, including the Nanai, into Cyrillic. [15] At the beginning of 1937, the Nanai Cyrillic alphabet was officially approved – it included all the letters of the Russian alphabet except Щ щ and Ъ ъ. [18] The sound [ŋ] was indicated by a combination of letters Нг нг. In 1939, the Nanai spelling rules in Cyrillic were adopted, refined in 1958, when the Nanai alphabet began to contain all 33 letters of the Russian alphabet, as well as the letter Ӈ ӈ (instead of Нг нг). [19] However, in fact, in most publications, instead of Ӈ ӈ, the use of Нг нг continued.
The current version of the Nanai alphabet was approved in 1993. [20] The modern Nanai alphabet has the following form: [21]
А а | Б б | В в | Г г | Д д | Е е | Ё ё | Ж ж |
З з | И и | Й й | К к | Л л | М м | Н н | Ӈ ӈ |
О о | П п | Р р | С с | Т т | У у | Ф ф | Х х |
Ц ц | Ч ч | Ш ш | Щ щ | Ъ ъ | Ы ы | Ь ь | Э э |
Ю ю | Я я |
To indicate long vowels in the educational literature, diacritics are used – macrons above the letters. [21]
In China, where Nanai residents also live, in 1987 a reading book for Nanai schools was published with parallel text in Chinese and Nanai languages. Pinyin was used to write the Nanai text. [22]
Cyrillic | Latin | Cyrillic | Latin | Cyrillic | Latin | Cyrillic | Latin | Cyrillic | Latin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
А а | A a | Ж ж | - | Н н | N n | У у | U u | Ъ ъ | - |
Б б | В в | З з | Z z | Ӈ ӈ | Ŋ ŋ | Ф ф | F f | Ы ы | – |
В в | W w | И и | I i | О о | O o | Х х | H h | Ь ь | – |
Г г | G g | Й й | J j | П п | P p | Ц ц | – | Э э | Ə ə |
Д д | D d, Ʒ ʒ | К к | K k | Р р | R r | Ч ч | Є є | Ю ю | – |
Е е | – | Л л | L l | С с | S s | Ш ш | – | Я я | – |
Ё ё | – | М м | M m | Т т | T t | Щ щ | – |
Sample text from a Bible translation published in 2002 is shown below. [23] [24]
Nanai (Cyrillic) with transliteration and English (NIV) |
---|
2 Нёани Nǒani дахамдичии dahamdičii уӈкини: uŋkini: «Кэсивэ "Kesive гэлэйдуэри geleĭdueri туй tuĭ ундусу: undusu: "Боаду, 'Boadu, уйлэ uĭle би, bi, Эндур Endur Ама! Ama! Гэбукуди Gebukudi гэрбуси gerbusi бигини. bigini. Си Si боа boa яловани ǎlovani далачайси dalačaĭsi эрин erin исигини! isigini! Наду-да, Nadu-da, боаду-да boadu-da Си Si чихалайси čihalaĭsi бигини! bigini! He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 3 Ини Ini таондоани taondoani сиагопова siagopova эпэмбэ epembe бунду bundu буру. buru. Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Буэ Bue оркимпова orkimpova гудиэсигуру, gudiesiguru, буэ-дэ bue-de оркиӈку, orkiŋku, наӈдаку naŋdaku гурумбэ gurumbe гудиэсиэпу, gudiesiepu, буэ bue мурумпувэ-дэ murumpuve-de эди edi памаванда, pamavanda, хай-да haĭ-da дялимбани, dǎlimbani, оркимбани orkimbani эди edi дял dǎl дяпаванда"». dǎpavanda.'" Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation" |
The Nanai language has seven vowels in the Hezhen dialect /i,u,y,o,œ,a,ə/ and six in the Bikin dialect /i,ɪ,u,o,a,ə/. There are sixteen allowed diphthongs in total: /ai,aɪ,ao,əi,əo,ɪa,ɪo,ia,iə,io,iu,ua,ui,uo,oi,oɪ,ya,yə/; there are also two allowed triphthongs: /iao,uai/. Phonemic vowels change as follows based on surrounding consonants: [25]
The following table summarises the rules of vowel harmony.
Class | Group | Members | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Yang vowels | Group 1 | [a] | |
Group 2 | [o,œ] | Do not appear after [i,u,y]; also [o] does not appear after [œ] | |
Yin vowels | Group 3 | [ə] | After [a,o], becomes neutral and can harmonise with any vowel |
Neutral vowels | Group 4 | [i] | |
Group 5 | [u,y] | [y] will not appear again after [y] | |
As for consonants, there are twenty-nine:
Labial | Dental / alveolar | Retroflex | (Alveolo-) Palatal | Velar | Uvular | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | p | b | t | d | k | ɡ | q | ɢ | ||||
Affricate | ts | dz | ʈʂ | ɖʐ | tɕ | dʑ | ||||||
Fricative | ɸ | s | (z) | ʂ | ʐ | ɕ | (ʑ) | x | (ɣ) | χ | (ʁ) | |
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||||||
Approximant | l | j | w | |||||||||
Trill | r |
Phonemic consonants may optionally change as follows: [27]
Phonology of the various dialects of Nanai has been influenced by surrounding languages. Tolskaya specifically noted several phonological peculiarities of Bikin dialect which may indicate influence from Udege, including monophthongisation of diphthongs, denasalisation of nasal vowels, deletion of reduced final vowels, epenthetic vowel preventing consonant final words, and the deletion of intervocalic [w]. [28]
Tolskaya's survey of the Nanai language also noted a variety of loanwords from Chinese, such as [ʐili] "calendar" from Chinese 日曆 (Pinyin: rìlì); a few also came from other languages, such as [pomidor] (tomato), almost certainly from Russian помидор, though the exact route of transmission is not attested and it may have been reborrowed from other neighbouring languages rather than directly from Russian. [29] There is also some vocabulary shared with Mongolian and the Turkic languages, such as:
These too are likely loanwords, though proponents of the Altaic hypothesis may take these as evidence of a genetic relationship. [30] Conversely, the Nanai language itself has also contributed some loanwords to the Udege language, supplanting Udege vocabulary:
A large degree of mutual assimilation of the two languages has been observed in the Bikin region; [28] the Udege language itself only has 230 speakers left. [31]
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)The Tungusic languages form a language family spoken in Eastern Siberia and Manchuria by Tungusic peoples. Many Tungusic languages are endangered. There are approximately 75,000 native speakers of the dozen living languages of the Tungusic language family. The term "Tungusic" is from an exonym for the Evenk people (Ewenki) used by the Yakuts ("tongus").
The Nanai people are a Tungusic people of East Asia who have traditionally lived along Heilongjiang (Amur), Songhuajiang (Sunggari) and Wusuli River (Ussuri) on the Middle Amur Basin. The ancestors of the Nanai were the Wild Jurchens of northernmost Manchuria.
Evenki, formerly known as Tungus, is the largest member of the northern group of Tungusic languages, a group which also includes Even, Negidal, and the more closely related Oroqen language. The name is sometimes wrongly given as "Evenks". It is spoken by Evenks or Ewenkī(s) in Russia and China.
The Ussuri or Wusuli is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the Sino-Russian border, until it joins the Amur as a tributary to it near Khabarovsk. It is approximately 897 km (557 mi) long. The Ussuri drains the Ussuri basin, which covers 193,000 km2 (75,000 sq mi). Its waters come from rain (60%), snow (30–35%), and subterranean springs. The average discharge is 1,620 m3/s (57,000 cu ft/s), and the average elevation is 1,682 metres (5,518 ft).
Udege are a native people of the Primorsky Krai and Khabarovsk Krai regions in Russia. They live along the tributaries of the Ussuri, Amur, Khungari, and Anyuy Rivers. The Udege speak the Udege language, which belongs to the Tungusic language family. Their religious beliefs include animism, animal worship, and shamanism. The Udege are mainly engaged in hunting, fishing, and ginseng harvesting. According to the 2002 census, there were 1,657 Udege in Russia, a slight increase from 1,500 in 1970. This was down to 1,496 Udege in Russia in the 2010 census. They are one of the closest ethnic groups to the Manchu and Nanai, and are possibly of Xi Yeren Jurchen origin.
The Anyuy, also known as Onyuy (Онюй) or Dondon (Дондон) is a river in the Khabarovsk Krai in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Amur. It originates on slope of Tordoki Yani in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, and falls into the Amur between Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
The Sarikoli language is a member of the Pamir subgroup of the Southeastern Iranian languages spoken by the Pamiris of Xinjiang, China. It is officially referred to in China as the "Tajik language", although it is different from the related Iranian language spoken in Tajikistan, which is considered a dialect of Persian.
Tungusic peoples are an ethnolinguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages. They are native to Siberia, China, and Mongolia.
The Udege language is the language of the Udege people. It is a member of the Tungusic family. It is a moribund language, and classified as critically endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.
The Taz are a Tungusic and Sinitic people who primarily live in Russia. They formed in the 1890s, from intermarriages between Udege, Nanai and Han Chinese. The Taz speak Russian and Northeast Mandarin, with loanwords from Udege and Nanai.
Taz is a dialect of Northeastern Mandarin formerly spoken by the Taz people of the Russian Far East. There are a few loanwords from Tungusic languages, but no obvious Tungusic effect on the grammar.
Tongjiang is a city of 160,000 in eastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, located at the confluence and on the right banks of the Songhua and Amur Rivers, the latter which marks the border with Russia. Administratively, it is a county-level city of Jiamusi.
The Duchers was the Russian name of the people populating the shores of the middle course of the Amur River, approximately from the mouth of the Zeya down to the mouth of the Ussuri, and possibly even somewhat further downstream. Their ethnic identity is not known with certainty, but it is usually assumed that they were a Tungusic people, related to the Jurchens and/or the Nanais.
The Oroch language is a critically endangered language spoken by the Oroch people in Siberia. It is a member of the southern group of the Tungusic languages and is closely related to the Nanai language and Udege language. It is or was spoken in the Khabarovsk Krai. The language is split into three dialects: Tumninsky, Khadinsky, and Hungarisky. At the beginning of the 21st century, a written form of the language was created. The Russian government and the scientific field disagree on whether the language is living or extinct.
Kili, known as Hezhe or more specifically Qile'en in Chinese and also as the Kur-Urmi dialect of Nanai, is a Tungusic language of Russia and China. Nanai is a Southern Tungusic language, and Kili has traditionally been considered one of the diverse dialects of Nanai, but it "likely belongs to the northern group".
The 2nd Priamur Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during the interwar period, originally formed as part of the People's Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Soviet puppet Far Eastern Republic (FER) during the final stages of the Russian Civil War.
The Nanaic languages form a subgroup of Tungusic languages of Far East Russia and northeastern China.
The Udegheic languages form a small subgroup of Tungusic languages of Far East Russia.
Udege alphabets are the alphabets used to write the Udege language. During its existence, it functioned on different graphic bases and was repeatedly reformed. Currently, the Udege script functions on two versions of the Cyrillic alphabet for two emerging literary languages, but does not have a generally accepted norm. There are 2 stages in the history of Udege writing:
Nivkh alphabets are the alphabets used to write the Nivkh language. During its existence, it functioned on different graphic bases and was reformed several times. Currently, Nivkh writing functions in Cyrillic. There are 3 stages in the history of Nivkh writing: