Nanai language
Nanai | |
---|---|
Ðанай, ÐÐ°Ð½Ð°Ð¹Ñ (Nanaj, Nanaje) | |
Native to | Russia, China |
Region | Russian Far East, Heilongjiang |
Ethnicity | Nanai people |
Native speakers | 1,400 (2010)[1] |
Tungusic
| |
Dialects |
Nanai
Akani
Birar
Samagir
|
Cyrillic | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
gld |
Glottolog |
nana1257 [2] |
The Nanai language (also called Gold 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 younger generations) are also fluent in Russian or Chinese, and mostly use one of those languages for communication.[3]
Nomenclature
In China, the language is referred to as hè zhé yÇ” (Chinese: 赫哲è¯). The Nanai people there variously refer to themselves as /na nio/, /na bÉ™i/, /na nai/ (which all mean "local people"), /ki lÉ™n/, and /χə É–ÊÉ™n/, the last being the source of the Chinese ethnonym Hezhe.[4]
Distribution
The language is distributed across several distantly-located areas:
- Middle/lower Amur dialects (Naykhin, Dzhuen, Bolon, Ekon, etc.): the areas along the Amur River below Khabarovsk (Nanai, Amursk, Solnechny, and Komsomolsk districts of Khabarovsk Krai);
- Kur-Urmi dialect: the area around the city of Khabarovsk (the Kur and Urmi rivers, and the Khabarovsk District of Khabarovsk Krai); probably not Nanai or even Southern Tungusic (see Kili language)
- Bikin dialect: Pozharsky District of Primorsky Krai (near the middle Ussuri River)[5]
- Sungari dialect: boundary areas of the Ussuri River in China[6]
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 world-wide 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.[6] The 2002 Census recorded 12,194 people who claimed to speak the language, 90% in Khabarovsk Krai, 3.5% in Primorsky Krai, 1.3% in Sakhalin Oblast, and no more than 0.5% in any other area; of those, only 49, almost all in Khabarovsk Krai, were not also bilingual in Russian.[7] 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.[8]
Even in Russia, the situation for language preservation is not favorable: the carriers of language are scattered in different villages and often isolated from each other. The Nanai language continues to be used in the sphere of everyday contact among people older than 40. In their contact with people their age or younger, they prefer the Russian language, using Nanaian only for contact with elderly people aged 70 or older. On the whole, the Nanai language has been superseded by Russian in almost all spheres of communication; drastic measures are required for language preservation.
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.[9]
Historical dialect classifications
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.[10] 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,[11] "Nanaian language forms two groups, which are decomposed into a number of dialects".[12]
- Upper Amur: Sakachi-Alyan, Naykhin, Bolon, Dzhuen, Garin
- Central Amur: Kur-Urmi, Bikin, Right-bank Amur, Sungari, Ussuri
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.[13] 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.[5]
- Upper Amur: Right-bank Amur, Sungari, Bikin (Ussuri), Kur-Urmi
- Central Amur: Sakachi-Alyan, Naykhin, Dzhuen
- Lower Amur: Bolon, Ekon, Gorin
It should be noted that 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.
Pedagogy
The Nanai language is taught in secondary schools in Russia, mainly in Nanai villages in Khabarovsk Krai. The duration of instruction and weekly contact hours vary; a standard curriculum used in 7 villages. Furthermore, in the villages of Belgo, Nizhnie Khalby (Lower Khalby), and Verkhnyaya Ekon (Upper Ekon), there is an experimental teaching programme in Nanaian language with a greater number of contact hours. Normally there are one to two contact hours per week; in different schools, the duration of instruction varies from 4 to 10 years, beginning from the first year. In the schools with the experimental program, the language is taught from years 1 through 9 with a larger number of contact hours.
Textbooks on the Nanai language, fairy tales, and artistic literature are used in Nanai language teaching. Sometimes teachers took the initiative to use oral folklore as well. However, there is a shortage of teaching and auxiliary materials, as well as difficulty in motivating students. Nanai language textbooks follow the model of Russian language textbooks aimed at native speakers, rather than emphasising instruction in the language itself, and in the theoretical/practical grammar. This model is not adequate for the situation of heritage language preservation. Moreover, the existing language teaching materials are oriented predominantly (or only) towards the development of reading habits; however, the number of publications in the Nanaian language does not exceed one-two ten, mostly collections of folklore or artistic works of the historical-biographical genre, publishing in limited print runs. Instruction in spoken language is not conducted sufficiently and is not reinforced by teaching aids.
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.[14] In an effort to reverse this decline, a text book for Hezhe schoolchildren discussing the Hezhe language was published in 2005 (in pinyin transcription).[15]
Orthography
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. The Nanai language uses the exactly same as Russian alphabet.
Ра | Б б | В в | Г г | Д д | Е е | Рё | Ж ж |
З з | И и | Й й | К к | Л л | М м | Рн | О о |
П п | Рр | С Ñ | Т Ñ‚ | У у | Ф Ñ„ | Ð¥ Ñ… | Ц ц |
Ч ч | Ш ш | Щ щ | Ъ ÑŠ | Ы Ñ‹ | Ь ÑŒ | Ð Ñ | Ю ÑŽ |
Я Ñ |
Sample text from a Bible translation published in 2002 is shown below.[16]
Nanai (Cyrillic) | Transliteration | English (NIV) |
---|---|---|
² Ðёани дахамдичии уӈкини: «КÑÑÐ¸Ð²Ñ Ð³ÑлÑйдуÑри туй ундуÑу: „Боаду, ÑƒÐ¹Ð»Ñ Ð±Ð¸, Ðндур Ðма! ГÑбукуди гÑрбуÑи бигини. Си боа Ñловани далачайÑи Ñрин иÑигини! Ðаду-да, боаду-да Си чихалайÑи бигини! | ² NÇ’ani dahamdiÄii uÅ‹kini: "Kesive geleÄdueri tuÄ undusu: 'Boadu, uÄle bi, Endur Ama! Gebukudi gerbusi bigini. Si boa ÇŽlovani dalaÄaÄsi erin isigini! Nadu-da, boadu-da Si ÄihalaÄsi bigini! | ² 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 таондоани Ñиагопова ÑпÑÐ¼Ð±Ñ Ð±ÑƒÐ½Ð´Ñƒ буру. | ³ Ini taondoani siagopova epembe bundu buru. | ³ Give us each day our daily bread. |
â´ Ð‘ÑƒÑ Ð¾Ñ€ÐºÐ¸Ð¼Ð¿Ð¾Ð²Ð° гудиÑÑигуру, буÑ-Ð´Ñ Ð¾Ñ€ÐºÐ¸ÓˆÐºÑƒ, наӈдаку Ð³ÑƒÑ€ÑƒÐ¼Ð±Ñ Ð³ÑƒÐ´Ð¸ÑÑиÑпу, Ð±ÑƒÑ Ð¼ÑƒÑ€ÑƒÐ¼Ð¿ÑƒÐ²Ñ-Ð´Ñ Ñди памаванда, хай-да дÑлимбани, оркимбани Ñди дÑл дÑпаванда“». | â´ Bue orkimpova gudiesiguru, bue-de orkiÅ‹ku, naÅ‹daku gurumbe gudiesiepu, bue murumpuve-de edi pamavanda, haÄ-da dÇŽlimbani, orkimbani edi dÇŽl dÇŽpavanda.'" | â´ Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation" |
Phonology
Vowels and vowel harmony
The Nanai language has seven phonemic vowels: /i, u, y, o, œ, a, ə/. There are twelve allowed diphthongs: /ai, ao, əi, əo, ia, iə, io, iu, ua, ui, uo, oi, ya, yə/; there are also two allowed triphthongs: /iao, uai/. Phonemic vowels change as follows based on surrounding consonants:[17]
- [i] becomes [] after [dz, ts, s]
- /i/ becomes [ɪ] after /É–Ê, ʈʂ, s/
- /i/ becomes [iÌŸ] after /m, n, l, d/
- A glottal stop [ʔ] is inserted before /i/ when it begins a syllable and precedes /dz, s, tɕ, ɕ, l, m, ŋ/.
- /ɘ/ may optionally become [ɯ] in non-initial syllables
- A vowel in a final syllable is nasalised when it precedes /n/
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 [ɯ] does not appear after [œ] | |
Yin vowels | Group 3 | [É™] | 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] | |
Consonants
As for consonants, there are twenty-eight:
Labial | Dental / alveolar |
Retroflex | (Alveolo-) Palatal |
Velar | Uvular | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosives | p | b | t | d | k | É¡ | q | b | ||||
Affricates | ts | dz | ʈʂ | É–Ê | tÉ• | dÊ‘ | ||||||
Fricatives | f | s | Ê‚ | Ê | É• | x | χ | |||||
Nasals | m | n | Å‹ | |||||||||
Approximants | l | j | w | |||||||||
Rhotic | r |
Phonemic consonants may optionally change as follows:[19]
- /s É• χ/ become [z Ê‘ Ê] (respectively) between two vowels
- /É¡/ to [É£] in syllable-final position, before [d] in the following syllable
Dialects
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 monopthongisation of diphthongs, denasalisation of nasal vowels, deletion of reduced final vowels, epenthetic vowel preventing consonant final words, and the deletion of intervocalic [w].[20]
Lexicon
An noted a variety of loanwords from Chinese in his survey, such as [Êili] "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.[21] There is also some vocabulary shared with Mongolian and the Turkic languages, such as:
- [sal] ("beard"; Mongolian [sahɘl], Uyghur and Kazakh [saqal])
- [tœqo] ("chicken"; Mongolian [tahia], Uyghur [toχo], Kazakh [tawuq])
- [χonin] ("sheep"; Mongolian [χœŋ], Uyghur and Kazakh [qoi])
These too are likely loanwords, though proponents of the Altaic hypothesis may take these as evidence of a genetic relationship.[22] Conversely, the Nanai language itself has also contributed some loanwords to the Udege language, supplanting Udege vocabulary:
- [banixe] (thank you), from Nanai [banixa], instead of Udege [usasa]
- [dœlbo] (work), from Nanai [dœbo], instead of Udege [etete]
- [daÅ‹sa] (book) from Nanai [daÅ‹sa], itself a loanword from Chinese å–®å (Pinyin: dÄnzi), which actually means "list"
A large degree of mutual assimilation of the two languages has been observed in the Bikin region;[20] the Udege language itself only has 230 speakers left.[23]
Notes
- ↑ Nanai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Nanai". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ Lewis 2009 (Nanai)
- ↑ An 1986, p1
- 1 2 Sem 1976, p24
- 1 2 Stolyarov 1994
- ↑ Russian Census (2002), Table 4.3
- ↑ Ministry of Trade and Economic Development, 2002
- ↑ An 1986, pp. 1-2
- ↑ Sem 1976: 21. Initially published in ДальневоÑточной Ñнцинклопедии, 1927.
- ↑ Sunik 1962, p23
- ↑ «нанайÑкий Ñзык образует два наречиÑ, раÑпадающиеÑÑ Ð½Ð° Ñ€Ñд говоров»
- ↑ Avrovin 1955, pp. 7-8
- ↑ He and Wu, 2005
- ↑ Li, 2005
- ↑ Gospel of Luke in Nanai Language, 2002
- ↑ An 1986, p8-10
- ↑ An 1986, p13-15
- ↑ An 1986, p11-13
- 1 2 Tolskaya 2001, p24
- ↑ An, p7-11
- ↑ An, p17
- ↑ Lewis 2009, Udihe
Sources
- An, Jun (1986). 赫哲è¯ç®€å¿— (An Outline of the Hezhe Language) (in Chinese). Nationalities Publishing House.
- He, Xuejuan; Wu Baozhu (January 2004). "è¡—æ´¥å£æ‘赫哲è¯ä½¿ç”¨æƒ…况的调查 (Investigation on Hezhen language use in Jiejinkou Village)". 满è¯ç ”ç©¶ (in Chinese). Retrieved 2006-12-19.
- Li, Fangchao (2005-06-06). "Textbook preserves Hezhe language". China Daily. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
- Sem, L.I. (1976). Очерки диалектов нанайÑкого Ñзыка: бикинÑкий (уÑÑурийÑкий) диалект (in Russian).
- Stolyarov, A.V. (1994). ÐанайÑкий Ñзык // КраÑÐ½Ð°Ñ ÐºÐ½Ð¸Ð³Ð° Ñзыков народов РоÑÑии: ÐнциклопедичеÑкий Ñловарь-Ñправочник (in Russian).
- Nikolaeva, Irina; Maria Tolskaya (2001). A Grammar of Udihe. Walter de Gruyter.
- Ð˜Ð½Ñ„Ð¾Ñ€Ð¼Ð°Ñ†Ð¸Ñ Ð¿Ð¾ наÑеленным пунктам, районам Ð¿Ñ€Ð¾Ð¶Ð¸Ð²Ð°Ð½Ð¸Ñ Ð¸ хозÑйÑтвенной деÑтельноÑти коренных малочиÑленных народов Севера и Дальнего ВоÑтока РФ (in Russian). Russia: Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. 2002-01-01.
- ÐаÑеление по национальноÑти и владению руÑÑким Ñзыком по Ñубъектам РоÑÑийÑкой Федерации (Microsoft Excel) (in Russian). Ð¤ÐµÐ´ÐµÑ€Ð°Ð»ÑŒÐ½Ð°Ñ Ñлужба гоÑударÑтвенной ÑтатиÑтики. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
Further reading
General works
- Avrorin, Valentin Aleksandrovich (1959). Грамматика нанайÑкого Ñзыка, Ñ‚.1. М. (in Russian). Soviet Academy of Sciences.
- Avrorin, Valentin Aleksandrovich (1961). Грамматика нанайÑкого Ñзыка, Ñ‚.2. М. (in Russian). Soviet Academy of Sciences.
- Putintseva, A.P. (1954). ÐœÐ¾Ñ€Ñ„Ð¾Ð»Ð¾Ð³Ð¸Ñ Ð³Ð¾Ð²Ð¾Ñ€Ð° горинÑких нанай. (in Russian).
- Putintseva, A.P. (1969). О производÑтвенной лекÑике горинÑких нанай // Ученые запиÑки ЛГПИ (in Russian).
- Stolyarov, A.V. (1997). ÐанайÑкий Ñзык: ÑоциолингвиÑтичеÑÐºÐ°Ñ ÑÐ¸Ñ‚ÑƒÐ°Ñ†Ð¸Ñ Ð¸ перÑпектива ÑÐ¾Ñ…Ñ€Ð°Ð½ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ // МалочиÑленные народы Севера, Сибири и Дальнего ВоÑтока. Проблемы ÑÐ¾Ñ…Ñ€Ð°Ð½ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ Ð¸ Ñ€Ð°Ð·Ð²Ð¸Ñ‚Ð¸Ñ (in Russian). St. Petersburg.
- Sunik, O.P. (1958). Кур-урмийÑкий диалект (in Russian).
- Doerfer, Gerhard (1973). "Das Kur-Urmische und seine Verwandten". Zentralasiatische Studien (in German) (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz) (7): 567–599.
- Doerfer, Gerhard (1975). "Ist Kur-Urmisch ein nanaischer Dialekt?". Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher (in German) (47): 51–63.
- Kazama, Shinjiro (March 1994). "ナーナイ語ã®ã€Œä¸€è‡´ã€ã«ã¤ã„㦠(On 'agreement' in Nanay)". 北大言語å¦ç ”ç©¶å ±å‘Š (in Japanese) (Sapporo: Faculty of Letters, Hokkaido University) (5).
- Zhang, Yang-chang; Bing Li; Xi Zhang (1989). èµ«å“²è¯ (The Hezhen Language) (in Chinese). Changchun: Jilin University Press.
- Nanai alphabet on Omniglot
Texts in Nanai
- Avrorin, Valentin Aleksandrovich (1986). Материалы по нанайÑкому Ñзыку и фольклору (in Russian).
- ÐанайÑкий фольклор: Ðингман, Ñиохор, Ñ‚Ñлунгу (in Russian). ÐовоÑибирÑк. 1996.
- Samar, E. (1992). Манга покто/Трудные тропы (in Russian). Khabarovsk.
- Samar, E. (2000). Кондонкан даламдини/КондонÑкий ÑтароÑта (in Russian). Khabarovsk.
- Passar, A. (2002). Ми урÑÑ…Ñмби нингманÑал/Сказки моего детÑтва (Fairy Tales of my Childhood) (in Russian). Khabarovsk.
- Khodzher, A. (2000). Михорангоари/Поклонение природе (in Russian). Khabarovsk.
- Marshak, S.Y.; Valentin Avrorin (translator) (1990). Двенадцать меÑÑцев/Дёан дюÑÑ€ биа (in Russian). Khaborovsk. Cite uses deprecated parameter
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(help) - Bel'dy, G. (1980). Ðа найни: Стихи (in Russian). Khabarovsk.
- Kazama, Shinjiro (1993). "ナーナイ語テã‚スト (Nanay Texts)". Publications on Tungus Languages and Cultures (in Japanese) (Otaru, Japan: Center for Language Studies, Otaru University of Commerce) (4).
- Kazama, Shinjiro (1996). "ãƒŠãƒ¼ãƒŠã‚¤ã®æ°‘話ã¨ä¼èª¬2 (Nanay Folk Tales and Legends 2)". Publications on Tungus Languages and Cultures (in Japanese) (Tottori, Japan: Faculty of Education, Tottori University) (8).
- Kazama, Shinjiro (1997). "ãƒŠãƒ¼ãƒŠã‚¤ã®æ°‘話ã¨ä¼èª¬3 (Nanay Folk Tales and Legends 3)". Publications on Tungus Languages and Cultures (in Japanese) (Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) (10).
- Kazama, Shinjiro (1998). "ãƒŠãƒ¼ãƒŠã‚¤ã®æ°‘話ã¨ä¼èª¬4 (Nanay Folk Tales and Legends 4)". Publications on Tungus Languages and Cultures (in Japanese) (China, Japan: Chiba University) (12).
Dictionaries
- Onenko, S.N. (1959). РуÑÑко-нанайÑкий Ñловарь (Ñвыше 8 000 Ñлов) (in Russian).
- Petrova, T.I. (1960). ÐанайÑко-руÑÑкий Ñловарь (около 8 000 Ñлов) (in Russian).
- Onenko, S.N. (1982). ÐанайÑко-руÑÑкий и руÑÑко-нанайÑкий Ñловарь: поÑобие Ð´Ð»Ñ ÑƒÑ‡Ð°Ñ‰Ð¸Ñ…ÑÑ Ñредней школы (более 3 600 Ñлов) (in Russian).
- Onenko, S.N. (1989). Словарь нанайÑко-руÑÑкий и руÑÑко-нанайÑкий: поÑобие Ð´Ð»Ñ ÑƒÑ‡Ð°Ñ‰Ð¸Ñ…ÑÑ Ñредней школы (около 4 000 Ñлов) (in Russian).
- Onenko, S.N. (1986). Лоца-Ðаанай Ð¥ÑÑÑhкуни/РуÑÑко-нанайÑкий Ñловарь (около 5 000 Ñлов) (in Russian).
- Onenko, S.N. (1980). Ðанай-Лоча Ð¥ÑÑÑhкуни/ÐанайÑко-руÑÑкий Ñловарь (12 800 Ñлов) (in Russian).
- Kile, A.S. (1999). ÐанайÑко-руÑÑкий тематичеÑкий Ñловарь (Ð´ÑƒÑ…Ð¾Ð²Ð½Ð°Ñ ÐºÑƒÐ»ÑŒÑ‚ÑƒÑ€Ð°) (in Russian). Khabarovsk.
External links
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Nanai language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator |
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