Academic literature on the topic 'Tungus-Manchu language'

This publication is a review of a new book by A. A. Petrov devoted to the history of the study of the Tungus-Manchu languages in Russia from the 18th century till the beginning of the 21st century. Reference books of this type on the Tungus-Manchu languages and other languages of the peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of Russia have not been published for over 70 years, and they are especially relevant due to the increase in the volume of publications on these languages, a significant part of which are regional publications of universities and Siberian scientific centers. The main part of the book is the literature on the Tungus-Manchu languages dating back to the 20th century. It is divided into three periods: the pre-revolutionary period (1900—1917), the Soviet period (1917—1991), and the Russian post-Soviet period (1992—2000). There is a certain logic in this: the biographies of most researchers of the older generation fit into one period, and each period reflects certain trends in views on the subject and asks of the study. The book includes a number of supplements for reference. These applications make the book by A. A. Petrov a convenient textbook for students of specialized universities, a guide for refresher courses for teachers of the Tungus-Manchu languages and independent work of teachers, and a guide for foreign researchers who may have difficulties with the Russian bibliography on the subject. A. A. Petrov’s book is unambiguously useful as an everyday reference book of literature on the Tungus-Manchu languages, although, of course, researchers of biographies of scientists as well as researchers of some special problems of studying Tungus-Manchu languages will turn to other sources that provide special requests.

During 150 years history of Altaic studies, no contradictions arose while discussing the issues concerning the common origin of languages, language contact results and their further consequences, as well as the stratum of borrowed linguistic units into different levels of the language. Such studies performed various tasks within the framework of Altaic theory dwelling on a traditional idea of the Altaic languages affinity. However, there were certain attempts to reconsider this idea within the framework of counter-Altaic theory. The present paper performed 4 tasks. First, it explained not quite regular phonetic correspondences in certain words and drew parallels at the common Altaic level. Second, it showed that a considerable amount of quite similar words in Tungus-Manchu and partly Mongolian and Turkic languages are old borrowings that do not fit into traditional assumptions about areal links of Turkic, Mongolian and Tungus-Manchu languages. Third, it determined a corpus of lexical units that can be considered a result of the influence of already disappeared ancient Mongolian and Turkic languages on the lexical fund of Tungus-Manchu ones. Finally, it confirmed the validity of common Altaic reconstruction again and showed that without analyzing ancient borrowings, it is totally impossible to explain a number of important facts from the history of Turkic languages.

Рассматривается архаический языковой пласт тунгусо-маньчжурских народов, связанный с охотой. Выявляется лексика языка древней тунгусской общности, возникшая в эпоху становления культуры пеших охотников-прототунгусов эпохи неолита. Теоретической основой исследования послужили труды специалистов тунгусоведения, посвященные языку тунгусо-маньчжурских народов. Методология исследования основывается на междисциплинарном подходе, в рамках которого для решения лингвистической проблемы привлекаются результаты исследований смежных научных дисциплин, в числе которых работы, посвященные фольклору, этнографии, истории и археологии. Соответственно избранной методике исследуемый лексический пласт рассматривается через призму традиций этнического мировоззрения и устного народного творчества. Материалом исследования являются изданные словари, сборники устного народного творчества тунгусо-маньчжурских народов и полевые материалы автора. Результаты анализа архаического языкового пласта, связанного с охотой, сюжеты и мотивы фольклора, базовые мировоззренческие образы и социальные традиции тунгусо-маньчжурских народов свидетельствуют о его формировании в ландшафте горной тайги с наступлением голоцена в процессе развития кочевой культуры пеших охотников. В результате исследования автор приходит к выводу об архаичности традиций охоты, формировавшихся в эпоху древней тунгусской общности. Важнейшие архаические культурные традиции тунгусо-маньчжурских народов находят отражение в названиях орудий труда, важнейших объектов охотничьего промысла и базовых концептах, связанных с охотой. К древнетунгусскому лексическому пласту относятся слова: hurka – «петля, силок», bər – «лук [простого типа]», n`ur – «стрела», kiŋnə – «лыжи-голицы», huksi – «лыжи, подбитые камусом», omor – «лодка-берестянка», niki – «утка», toki – «лось», uǯa – «след», bu(l)ta, bota – «охота», bujun – «копытный зверь». В мировоззренческих традициях тунгусов «охота» как концепт исторически визуализируется в значениях «добыча», «дар», «дарение». The article deals with the archaic lexical stratum of the Tungus-Manchu peoples connected with hunting. It reveals the vocabulary of the ancient Tungus language formed during the culture formation of the Neolithic hunters. The theoretical basis of the research is the studies of Tungus specialists who have studied the language of the Tungus-Manchu peoples. The research methodology is based on an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates the results of studies of related scientific disciplines to solve the linguistic problem, including folklore, ethnography, history, and archeology studies. In accordance with the chosen methodology, the lexical stratum under study is viewed through the prism of ethnic worldview and folkloric traditions. The research material includes published dictionaries, collections on the folklore of the Tungus-Manchu peoples and field material of the author. The results of the analysis of the archaic lexical stratum connected with hunting, folkloric actions and motifs, basic worldviews, and social traditions of the Tungus-Manchu peoples show their origin in the mountain taiga landscape with the beginning of the Holocene during the development of the nomadic culture of hunters. As a result of the research, the author concludes that the archaic hunting traditions have their origin in the era of the ancient Tungus community. The main archaic cultural traditions of the Tungus Manchu peoples are reflected in the names of tools, the main objects of hunting and basic concepts connected with hunting. The ancient Tungus lexical stratum includes the following words: hurka – “noose, snare,” bər – “bow [of a simple type],” n`ur – “arrow,” kiŋnə – “wooden skis,” huksi – “skin skis,” omor – “birch-bark boat,” niki – “duck,” toki – “moose,” uǯa – “footprint,” bu(l)ta, bota – “hunting,” bujun – “hoofed animal.” In the worldview traditions of the Tungus, hunting as a concept is historically visualized in the meanings of “prey,” “gift,” and “giving”.

The article discusses the reconstruction of the archetype of cardinal numbers, word formation of the categories of numbers in the Tungus-Manchu languages. Based on the available data on languages, 15 categories are analyzed: cardinal, ordinal, multiples, dividing, distributive, restrictive, collective, numerals for counting days, numerals for counting animals, numerals for counting households, numerals for counting fingers, numerals for counting pairs of objects, numerals for counting places and directions, numerals for counting various objects, numerals for counting the years of an animal. It turns out that certain forms are ancient, but most of them were formed later and were characteristic only for a certain group, subgroup or one language. Word-building patterns of numerals are connected with form-changing patterns, although in a number of cases syntactic functions of derivatives change, and sometimes we can observe forms with complex morphological structure, derived not only from cardinal numerals but also from numerals of other categories.