Orochons

Orochonsky language - Evenki language (eastern dialect), belongs to the Altai language family of the Tungus-Manchu language group of the Tungus language branch. Recently, among the Orochons, the Chinese language and Chinese writing have become widespread (Reshetov 1998: 401). Some scholars ascribe independent status to the Orochonian language of the PRC, considering it to be a language different from the language of Evenki-Solon of the PRC ^[4] .

According to Han Yufen and Meng Shuxian, all Orochons living in the northeast of China can be divided into three groups: Kumarchen (living north of Heihe), Birarch (living south of Heihe) and the Orochon (living in Orochon Autonomous Khoshun). All three groups consider themselves to be a single ethnos and present themselves to their interlocutor as "Bi oro be." The language of the Kumarchen, Birarchen, and Orochons is not homogeneous and has dialectic differences. The authors distinguish the dialect of the inhabitants of Orochon autonomous khoshun of Inner Mongolia of China (the villages of Tojamin, Guli, Ulubute, Nomin, Namu), the dialects of Greater Khingan (the villages of Shibajan, Baina) and Lesser Khingan (Xinsheng, Xinhe, Xinxing) of Heilongjiang Province of China ^[4] .

According to the head of the Department of Foreign Languages ​​of Amur State University, O. N. Morozova, Amur Evenks are closely related to the Chinese Orochons, they understand each other ^[5] . Thanks to the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research in the framework of the project “Evenki Speech Corps (annotated)” (grant No. 17-04-12004c) ^{[6] the} team of scientists of the Amur State University was given a unique opportunity to carry out linguistic expeditions to the Evenks of the Amur Region (RF) and the orochons of Heilongjiang Province, as well as Inner Mongolia (PRC). Linguistic expeditions (to five Evenki and two Orochonsky compact settlements) were carried out with the aim of documentation, description and creation of linguistic components of the corpus resource of the sounding endangered speech of the small indigenous population of the Amur region (in the trend of the upcoming International 2019 of the languages ​​of the world's indigenous peoples). Corpus developments ^[7] on endangered languages ​​draw attention to the urgent problem of the loss of such languages ​​and the urgent need to preserve, revive and promote these languages ​​by taking further emergency steps at the national and international levels. During the linguistic expeditions, not only audio, but also photo and video materials were collected as sources of visual information illustrating the features of modern life, the way of everyday life, landmarks of public life and the cultural environment of the territory of residence of modern Evenks of the Amur Region (RF) and the Orochons of the north- east of China. Orochons are the closest genetic relatives of the Evenks of the Amur Region, Trans-Baikal Territory, and the Republic of Buryatia. Evenks of the mentioned territories used to call themselves Orochons, now they identify themselves only with Evenks. In the territory of the People's Republic of China, Evenks and Orochons are recognized as separate ethnic groups at the state level. Both those and others live in Inner Mongolia of China in the administrative-territorial entities - Evenki and Orochonsky autonomous khoshuns ^[3] .

In the Chinese city of Heihe, the Department of Nationalities and Religions of the Heihe Government was headed by Mo Shaohua (Orochon by nationality) until 2017, and now this post is held by Du Changxing (Daur by nationality).

Sound system of the Orochonsky language

Articulatory classification of Orochonian consonant phonemes ^[3]

/ p ʰ / - noisy closure labio-labial strong (= aspirated, aspirated) consonant. The consonant / pʰ / is found in the positions of the beginning and middle of the word: / pʰa: ra / “sledges”, / pʰiʧʰa: wun / “squeaker”, / tʰunpʰu: n / “basin”, / sarpʰu / “chopsticks”.

/ p / - noisy ocular labial labial weak (= non-aspiratory, non-aspirated) consonant. The consonant / p / occurs in the positions of the beginning of the word and the middle of the word: / ro: na / “city”, / piraha: n / “river”, / po: ran / “big mountain”, / pi: / “you”, / pɜjun / “deer”, / ulɜptɜ: n / “ashes”.

/ m / - labial labial nasal sonant. It is found in all implementation positions: / mo: / “firewood”, / imana / “snow”, / tʰamnaхsa / “fog”, / kiramna / “bone”, / tiram / “thick”, / tʃalum / “full”, / ŋunu: m / "long."

/ w / - labial labial fissure, oral, sonic, articulated with a flat slit. It occurs in all positions of the implementation , for example: / awur / “air”, / kiwʧʰɜ: n / “roe deer”, / minŋi: kʰumaхaw / “my wapiti”. In the final position of the word and before the consonant, the phoneme / w / is vocalized [kʰaraʷ], [kiʷʧɜ: n].

/ t ʰ / - anterior lingual apical ocular strong (= aspirated, aspirated) consonant. Softens in front of vowels of the front row. It occurs in positions in the positions of the beginning of the word and the middle of the word , for example: / tʰiхtɜ / “rain”, / tʰamnaхsa / “fog”, / o: siхtʰa / “star”, / urɜхtʰɜ / “light rain”.

/ ʧ ʰ / - medium-language strong (= aspirated, aspirated) affricate. It occurs in all positions except the end of the word and the preposition to the consonant. Examples of use in the word: / ʧʰaʧʰare / “vazhenka”, / pʰiʧʰa: wun / “squeaker”, / tilaʧʰa: / “sun”, / kiwʧʰɜ: n / “roe deer”, / ʧʰuŋuru: / “navel”.

/ t / - anterior lingual ocular consonant weak (= non-aspiratory, non-aspirated) apical consonant. It occurs in all positions except for the preposition to the consonant and at the end of the word. Implementation examples: / ti: l / “head”, / tilaʧʰa: / “sun”, / ɜtin / “wind”, / ahti / “wind”, / kʰatar / “rock”, / ʧɜхtɜ / “burned place”, / utun / "rain."

/ ʧ / - medium-language weak (= non-aspirational, non-aspirated) affricate. Examples of use in the word: / amuʧi / “lake”, / ʧɜхtɜ / “burned place”, / ʧolo / “stone”, / ʧu: r / “two”, / ʧa: n / “ten”.

/ n / - anterior lingual ocular nasal sonant of apical formation. Front vowels are not palatalized before vowels. The implementation of / n / is always implosive. Examples of implementation: / natan / “seven”, / tʰuŋŋanŋi: / “fifty”, / tʰaluna / “lightning”, / nʲuŋun / “six”.

/ nʲ / - an anterolingual ocular nasal palatalized sonant. Stun / nʲ / is not exposed. Not used at the end of a word. Examples of implementation: / nʲanʲa / “sky”, / nʲi: / “who”, / aŋŋanʲi: / “year”.

/ s / - anterior lingual fissure apical flat-slot strong consonant. Two main allophones of this consonant are distinguished, one of which [ɕ] is a middle-language flat-slit, realized before the front row vowels, for example, [ɕilɜ] “soup”, [ɕi:] “you”, [ɕi: xsɜ] “in the evening”, [ ɕе: n] "ear." The second allophone [s] is an anterior lingual flat-slit, found in a preposition to the vowels of the anterior row. Implementation examples: [su:] “you”, [sɜlɜ:] “iron”, [sɜ: хsɜ] “blood”, [saŋnʲan] “smoke”, [iхsa: n] “hoarfrost”, [so: rɜ] “ mountain". In the dialect of Orochonsky Hoshun, the final / s / is not fixed, it is in the dialect of the Orochons of Big Khingan, for example, [aramus] “long kneecaps”.

/ l / - anterior lingual apical crevice sonant. It is perceived as “European” / l / German or French type. Examples of implementation: / silɜ / “soup”, / ti: l / “head”, / tʰaluna / “lightning”, / tilaʧʰa: / “sun”.

/ r / - anterior pagan trembling sonant. In the initial position does not occur. In the intervocal position, for the most part, one-hit, slit shades / r / are often found. At the end of a word, it is often stunned and has a rolling character. Examples of implementation: / kiramna / “bone”, / tiram / “thick”, / so: rɜ / “mountain”, / ʧʰuŋuru: / “navel.”, / ʧʰaʧʰare / “vazhenka”, / urɜхtʰɜ / “light rain”, / ʧu: r / “two”, / kʰatar / “rock”.

/ j / - middle-language slit voiced sonant. It is implemented in all positions of the word. Examples of implementation: / jo: kun / “mountain water”, / pɜju: n / “deer”, / aja / “good”, / tala: j / “sea”.

/ k ʰ / - posterior lingual strong (= aspirated, aspirated) consonant. Implementation examples: / kʰatar / “rock”, / kʰotʰo / “knife”, / ʧʰimikʰi: / “finger”, / uŋkʰo: / “heavy rain”, / kʰɜwɜ: r / “swamp”, / kʰira / “foot of the mountain” , / kʰoŋara / "gorge".

/ k / - posterior lingual connective weak (= non-aspiratory, non-aspirated) consonant. Examples of use: / kiramna / “bone”, / kiwʧʰɜ: n / “roe deer”, / sirki / “pebble” / urke: l / “whirlpool”, / ɜktɜŋɜ pira / “big river”.

/ ŋ / - posterior lingual ocular nasal sonant. Palatalized in front of vowels of the front row. It occurs in all positions of the word. Implementation examples: / tʰuŋŋanŋi: / “fifty”, / ŋa: la / “hand”, / uŋkʰo: / “heavy rain”, / maŋŋe: / “demon, evil spirit”, / po: ŋ / “unclean power, monster ".

/ x / - posterior lingual slit strong consonant. The distribution of posterior lingual fissure is limited by the middle and final positions of the word. In the initial position, this consonant was not recorded. Examples of implementation: / piraxa: n / “river”, / ata: xi / “spider”, / sɜ: xsɜ / “blood”, / si: xsɜ / “in the evening”, / urɜхtʰɜ / “light rain”, / iхsa: n / “hoarfrost”, / ulo: x / “deceiver; Lying".

Articulatory classification of the Orochonian vowel phonemes ^[3]

/ i: / - unbroken long vowel of the front row of the upper rise of a narrow variety. It occurs in all positions in the word, for example, / siji: / “bush”, / asi: / “wife, woman”, / usi: / “bridle”, / pali: / “blind”, / ti: l / “head ”, / Ɜti: /“ husband ”, / i: rɜn /“ entered ”, / kʰuli: n /“ worm ”, / pi: /“ me ”, / si: /“ you ”.

/ i / is the unbroken short vowel of the anterior backward row of the upper ascent of a wide variety. Implementation examples: / ilan / “three”, / tijin / “four”, / ilʧʰi: / “embers from the fire”, / kʰira / “foot of the mountain”, / o: хikʰta / “star”, / tilaʧʰa: / “sun ", / Axti /" thunder. "

/ ⁱ e: / - unbroken long diphthoid of the front row of the middle rise of a wide variety. For example, / ⁱ e: sa / “eye”, / ⁱ e: lu / “soot”, / tʰ ⁱ e: sa / “saucer”.

/ a: / is the unbroken long vowel of the central row of the lower rise of a wide variety. Examples of implementation: / a: xin / “liver”, / ʧa: n / “ten”, / ŋa: la / “hand”, / anʲa: n / “shadow”, / tilaʧʰa: / “sun”, / ama: / "Father" (vocal form).

/ a / - the unbroken short vowel of the central row of the lower rise of a wide variety. Implementation examples: / amin / “father”, / amŋa / “mouth”, / ilan / “three”, / tʰu: ŋŋa / “five”, / tilaʧʰa: / “sun”, / tʰ ⁱ e: sa / “saucer ".

/ o: / - rounded long vowel of the back row of the middle rise of a wide variety. Examples of implementation: / o: hikʰta / “star”, / mo: / “firewood”, / so: rɜ / “mountain”, / to: xi: / “moose”, / uŋkʰo: / “heavy rain”, / olo : ʧʰi / "boots."

/ o / - rounded short vowel of the posterior advanced row of the middle rise of a wide variety. Examples of implementation: / omon / “one”, / olo: ʧʰi / “boots”, / ʧolo / “stone”, / kʰoŋara / “gorge”, / kʰotʰo / “knife”.

/ u: / - rounded long vowel of the back row of a high rise of a wide variety. Examples of implementation: / ʧu: r / “two”, / tʰu: ŋŋa / “five”, / mu: / “water”, / ʧʰu: ha / “grass”, / tʰur / “open place”, / uxun / “ breast ”, / ʧʰu: ŋuru: /“ navel ”, / pɜlu: /“ hail ”.

/ u / - rounded short vowel of the back row of a high rise of a wide variety. Ф Examples of implementation: / nʲuŋun / “six”, / usun be: / “November”, / ʧʰu: ŋuru: / “navel”, / tʰuxsu / “cloud”, / ⁱ e: lu / “soot”, / amuʧʰi / "lake".

/ ɜ: / - the unbroken long vowel of the front row of the middle rise of a wide variety. Implementation examples: / ɜ: jɜ / “forehead”, / sɜ: хsɜ / “blood”, / kiwʧʰɜ: n / “roe deer”, / kʰɜwɜ: r / “swamp”, [sɜlɜ:] “iron”.

/ ɜ / is the unbroken short vowel of the central row of the middle rise of a narrow variety. Implementation examples: / ɜktɜŋɜ pira / “big river”, / sɜlɜ: / “iron”, / sɜ: хsɜ / “blood”, / si: хsɜ / “in the evening”, / urɜхtʰɜ / “light rain”, / kʰɜwɜ: r / “Swamp”, / pɜju: n / “wild deer”, / so: rɜ / “mountain”, / silɜ / “soup”.

The Orokhons moved to China in the 17th century. from areas located north of the river. Cupid . In con. XIX - beg. XX centuries they wandered along the right bank of the Amur, mainly along the western slopes of Greater Khingan , in the basins of the Gan, Highler and Nonni rivers. Back in the 40s. XX century The Orokhons were still a nomadic people engaged in hunting and maintaining a primitive communal system. Hunted prey was evenly distributed among the community. The old, sick and infirm also received their share. Before the formation of the PRC and the implementation of demographic reforms, the Orochona nationality was on the verge of extinction, numbering only a little more than 1 thousand people. (Bazhenova 1989: 57) After the formation of New China, the life and life of the Orochons has changed significantly. The Chinese government has taken a number of measures to facilitate the transition of the Orochons from a backward standard of living. Subsidies were allocated for forest protection, compensation for the prohibition of hunting, free health care and education were introduced, the housing problem was addressed, thereby encouraging the Orochons to a settled life. Over the years, they have mastered agriculture and began to sow crops with high economic returns, such as tree mushrooms, etc., livestock (bred chickens, ducks, cows, sheep) ^[1] .

Traditional activities

• Artiodactyla hunting ( roe deer , wapiti , elk , wild boar ), commercial bird. They hunted horses , with dogs , constantly changing fishing areas. Also engaged in the production of fur-bearing animals ( hares , squirrels, and others, characteristic of certain areas). In addition to active hunting for fur animals, traps were used, mainly loops. Almost no fishing . (Ermolov 1984: 108-109)
• Orochones make caskets, baskets, tubs, dishes, chests, and even small boats, which are distinguished by their fineness and durability, made of birch bark. ^[1]

Home

A conical hut is a plague , with summer birch bark or bark and winter leather or fur coatings, with a poled skeleton of 2-3-4 poles installed in a circle and connected at their peaks. The remaining 25-30 poles are attached to them, which are not covered by anything at the very top. Under this always open "window", in the middle of the plague, is the hearth. A horizontal pole extends over the hearth with which hooks for boilers and dummies hang. Another horizontal pole is used to dry clothes in the plague. The diameter of the plague is about five meters. In the center of the plague, on an open hearth in a cast-iron boiler, food is cooked, people are located on the sides of the bed from skins, moreover, each family member has his own place. The permanent seat of the head of the family in the rear northern sector of the plague, women and children - on the sides of the entrance. All things that are not necessary for life in the plague are stored outside in pack bags and near the plague ^[9] .

clothing

The main feature of the common Tungus costume is its “composition”: a caftan that does not converge on the chest; a bib hanging from the neck; fights; buttons boots. Moreover, the men's suit from the female did not differ in cut, except that the female caftan was more decorated and slightly longer than the male ^[9] .

Until 1950, the main belief of the Orochons was shamanism , both male and female, as well as animism and ancestral cults . Currently, Christianity ( Orthodoxy ) has also spread among them. (Reshet 1998: 401)

Activities

In the 1990s, the PRC government completely banned the hunt for Khingan ^[10] . Orochons receive subsidies from the Chinese authorities, free health care and education ^[10] . As a result, the Orochons have mastered agriculture (including the cultivation of tree fungus ), livestock (chickens, ducks, sheep and cows) ^[10] .

Nutrition

At the beginning of the 2010s, in the diet of the Orochons, ordinary Chinese dishes, pork ^[10] .

Housing

In the 1950s, the Orochons began to live in wooden houses, but the traditional plague persisted; in the 2010s, young families live in brick houses with tiled roofs ^[11] .

Traditional Crafts

In the 2010s, the traditional manufacture of products made of birch bark, bone, embroidery (only with metal needles and silk threads of factory production) was preserved ^[11] .

Relations with Russian Evenks

On December 10, 2014, in the Amur Region of the Russian Federation, on the basis of the Amur State University, the First International Olympiad was held among schoolchildren on Evenki (Orochonsky) language and culture of Evenki (Orochons). In the future, the Olympiad was called the “International Olympiad in the language and culture of Evenki of Russia and the Orochons of China“ Turen. ”The head of this international educational project (2014–2018) is O. N. Morozova, head of the Department of Foreign Languages ​​at AmSU. If the first Olympiad was accepted 18 Amur schoolchildren from 10 to 16 years old from different municipalities of the region and three schoolchildren from the city of Heihe (PRC) ^[5] , then already in the fifth international olympiad - 130 participants ^[12] (of which 57 are Orochons). it turned out that for children oh Of Chinese characters, the reflection of the sound of the native Orochonian language in writing by means of Chinese writing (hieroglyphs, pinyin) presents significant difficulties. It is known that the Orochonian language in China is not written and is transmitted from generation to generation orally. Nevertheless, Chinese scholars are developing dictionaries, where the oral form of the endangered Orochonian language is conveyed through the international phonetic alphabet [ ^[13] ]. To date, five international olympiads on the language and culture of Evenki Russia and the Orochons of China “Turen” have been held ^[14] . The jury chairs are: from the Russian side - Ph.D., leading researcher at the Institute of Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences N. Ya. Bulatova, from the Chinese side - representative of the Heilongjiang Provincial Society of Orochons, Meng Shuxian ^[15] .

Over the past 10 years, Evenks of the Amur Region of the Russian Federation and the Orochons of the Heilongjiang Province of China have been closely communicating with each other at events organized by the Ministry of Culture and National Policy of the Amur Region and the Department of Nationalities and Religions of the Government of Heihe. In addition, higher educational institutions of Blagoveshchensk (Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University) conduct scientific research on the study, documentation and preservation of not only the native language of the Amur region - Evenki, but also the language of Orochons living on the border territory in the province of Heilongjiang ^[16] .

90% of the Orochons have the Y chromosome haplogroup C (60% for Evens, 54% for Evenks, 60% for Buryats, and 52% for Mongols) ^[17] .

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