Article

Name: The writing system project for the endangered unwritten Alutor language

Authors: T. A. Golovaneva

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch RAS, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Орфография

Abstract:

The purpose of the article is to organize the graphic and orthographic patterns found in Alutor language publications, establish fundamental rules for Alutor writing, and provide a theoretical rationale for them. The text examined in the analysis comprised a series of books written in Alutor. The Alutor script was created under the influence of the dominant Russian and Koryak writing systems. A fundamental aspect involves phonemic representation utilizing the Cyrillic alphabet alongside specific national characters and graphical combinations B’, Г’, Ӄ, and Ӈ. Following the syllabic principle, the letters E, Ё, Ю, and Я, as well as hard and soft signs, are utilized. The challenge is how to depict the super-short vowel sound [ǝ] in writing through the use of the letter Ы. The representation of glottal [ʔ] and epiglottal [ʕ] consonants in written form poses challenges as well. Until the start of the 21st century, these consonants were a defining element of monolingual speech. Nonetheless, the impact of Russian language phonetics caused a reduction in glottal and epiglottal consonants. The morphological principle, concerning the duplication of consonants at morpheme boundaries, is significant in the context of the Alutor script. The analysis revealed the unification of the author's variants of the Alutor script by the 1820s of the 19th century. The graphical and orthographic system of the Alutor language was developed without normative guidelines by editors of national texts and linguists.

Keywords: Chukotka-Kamchatka languages, Alutor language, Koryak language, minority languages, writing systems, orthography

Bibliography:

Burlak S. A., Starostin S. A. Sravnitel’no-istoricheskoe yazykoznanie [Comparative-historical linguistics]. Moscow, Akademiya, 2005, 432 p. (In Russ.)

Golovaneva T. A. Proekt orfografii dlya ischezayushchego bespis’mennogo yazyka kak sotsiolingvisticheskaya problema (na primere alyutorskogo yazyka) [A spelling project for an endangered unwritten language as a sociolinguistic problem (On the example of the Alutor language)]. Kritika i Semiotika (Critique and Semiotics). 2023, no. 2, pp. 232–249. (In Russ.)

Golovaneva T. A. Publikatsiya koryakskikh fol’klornykh tekstov: prichiny orfograficheskoy variativnosti [Publication of Koryak folklore texts: causes of orthography variability]. Yazyki i Fol’klor Korennykh Narodov Sibiri (Languages and Folklore of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia). 2021, no. 1 (iss. 41), pp. 79–94. (In Russ.)

Kibrik A. E., Kodzasov S. V., Murav’eva I. A. Yazyk i fol’klor alyutortsev [Language and folklore of the Alutors]. Moscow, ILS RAS, Nasledie, 2000, 468 p. (In Russ.)

Kilpalin K. Skazki, legendy, rasskazy [Tales, legends, stories]. Nutayulgin V. M. (Ed.). In: Kilpalin: zhivopis’, proza, pis’ma, vospominaniya [Kilpalin: painting, prose, letters, memoirs]. V. T. Kravchenko (Comp.). Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Kamchat-press, 2010, pp. 131–222. (In Alutor, In Russ.)

Khakhovskaya L. N. Traditsionnoe letoischislenie evenov i koryakov Magadanskoy oblasti (v svyazi s sovremennymi etnicheskimi prazdnikami vstrechi Novogo goda) [Traditional chronology of Evens and Koryaks in Magadan oblast (in connection with the modern ethnic New year holidays)]. Bulletin of the North-East Scientific Center, Russia Academy of Sciences Far East Branch. 2023, no. 3, pp. 88–101. (In Russ.)

Kotavynina L. A. Murgina tumgchu ‘Nashi pomoshchniki’ [Murgina tumgchu ‘Our helpers’]. In: Luchshaya tvorcheskaya rabota na rodnykh yazykakh korennykh malochislennykh narodov Severa, Sibiri i Dal'nego Vostoka, prozhiva-yushchikh na territorii Kamchatskogo kraya: Sbornik po materialam ezhegodnogo konkursa [The best creative work in the native languages of the indigenous minorities of the North, Siberia and the Far East living on the territory of Kamchatka Krai: Collection based on the materials of the annual contest]. M. E. Belyaeva, N. A. Vorob’eva (Comps.). Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Kamchatpress, 2010, pp. 131–222. (In Alutor, In Russ.)

Materialy po yazykam nymylanov i chavchuvenov. Tom 1. Karaginskiy, mikinskiy, chavchuvenskiy dialekty [Materials on the Nymylan and Chavchuven languages. Vol. 1. Karaginsky, Mikinsky, Chavchuven dialects]. Yu. Nagayama, E. P. Pronina, V. R. Dedyk, L. I. Chechulina (Comps.), Yu. Nagayama (Ed.). Kusiro, 2024, 242 p. (In Alutor, In Koryak, In Russ.)

Mifologicheskie skazki o Vorone [Mythological tales of the Raven]. A. A. Goncharova, M. E. Belyaeva (Comps.). A. A. Sorokin (Ed.). Nizhniy Novgorod, Tip. IP Kuznetsov,2017, 200 p. (In Alutor, In Koryak, In Russ.)

Moll T. A. Koryaksko-russkiy slovar’ [Koryak-Russian dictionary]. I. S. Vdovin (Ed.). Leningrad, Uchpedgiz, 1960, 237 p. (In Koryak, In Russ.)

Nagayama Yu. Materialy po yazyku nymylanov-alyutortsev [Materials on the language of the Nymylan-Alutors]. In: Materials of Siberian Languages 2. Sapporo, 2015, 82 p. (In Alutor, In Russ.)

Nagayama Yu., Nutayulgin V. M., Chechulina L. I. Nymylansko-russkiy slovar’: alyutorskiy dialekt. Ch. 1. (A–Ӄ) [Nagayama Y., Nutayulgin V. M. M., Chechulina L. I. Nymylan-Russian dictionary: Alutor dialect. Pt. 1. (A–Ӄ)]. Yu. Nagayama (Ed.). Sapporo, 2017, 144 p. (In Alutor, In Russ.)

Nagayama Yu., Nutayulgin V. M., Chechulina L. I. Nymylansko-russkiy slovar’: alyutorskiy dialekt. Ch. 1. (L–Ya) [Nymylan-Russian Dictionary: Alutor dialect. Pt. 2. (L–Ya)]. Yu. Nagayama (Ed.). Sapporo, 2019, 140 p. (In Alutor, In Russ.)

Nemysoeva E. A., Koshkareva N. B., Solovar V. N. Pravila orfografii i punktuatsii khantyyskogo yazyka (kazymskiy dialekt) [Rules of spelling and punctuation of the Khanty language (Kazym dialect)]. Khanty-Mansiysk; Tyumen’, Format-72, 2023, 186 p. (In Russ., In Khant.)

Nutayulgin V. M. Natsional’nye imena korennykh zhiteley sel Anapka i Kichiga Karaginskogo rayona Kamchatskogo kraya [National names of the indigenous inhabitants of the villages of Anapka and Kichiga, Karaginsky District, Kamchatka Territory]. Novosibirsk, Srochnaya poligrafiya, 2020, 28 p. (In Alutor, In Russ., manuscript)

Skazki rodom iz Anapki: Boris Chechulin [Tales from Anapka: Boris Chechulin]. M. E. Belyaeva, N. A. Vorob’eva (Comps.); A. A. Sorokin (Ed.). Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Kamchatpress, 2021, 48 p. (In Alutor, In Russ.)

Sorokin A. A. Narodnaya proza [Folk prose]. In M. E. Belyaeva (Comp.) “Iz glubin zemli Kamchatki”. Fol’klorno-etnograficheskie ekspeditsii v Karaginskiy rayon: etnograficheskiy sbornik [“From the Depths of the Land of Kamchatka”. Folklore and ethnographic expeditions to the Karaginsky district: ethnographic collection]. Nizhny Novgorod, Tip. IP Kuznetsov, 2015, pp. 20–34. (In Alutor, In Russ.)

Urtegeshev N. S. Formantnye pokazateli “velyarizatsii”. Chast’ I [Formant indicators of “velarization”. Part I]. Altaistika. 2024, no. 1 (12), pp. 48–60. (In Russ.)

Urtegeshev N. S. Formantnye pokazateli “velyarizatsii”. Chast’ I [Formant indicators of “velarization”. Part II]. Altaistika. 2024, no. 2 (13), pp. 46–57. (In Russ.)

Urtegeshev N. S., Mal’tseva A. A. Initsial’no-prevokal’nye epiglottal’nye alyutorskogo yazyka [Initial-prevocal epiglottal epiglottal of the Alutor language]. Problems of dialectology. 2019, no. 1–2, pp. 24–45.

Zhukova A. N. Grammatika koryakskogo yazyka: Fonetika. Morfologiya [Grammar of the Koryak language: Phonetics. Morphology]. Leningrad, 1972, Nauka, 322 p. (In Russ.)

Zhukov L. Notayme: rasskaz na nymylanskom (koryakskom) yazyke [Notayme: the story in Nymylan (Koryak) language]. S. N. Stebnitskiy (Ed.). Moscow, Leningrad, Izd. det. lit., 1936, 116 p. (In Koryak)