Oroqen language explained
Oroqen |
States: | China |
Region: | China Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang
|
Ethnicity: | Oroqen |
Speakers: | 3,789 |
Date: | 2009 |
Ref: | e25 |
Familycolor: | Altaic |
Fam1: | Tungusic |
Fam2: | Northern |
Fam3: | Ewenic |
Fam4: | Evenki group |
Iso3: | orh |
Glotto: | oroq1238 |
Glottorefname: | Oroqeni |
Nativename: | Арутчэн Уркун ɔrɔtʃeen ulguur |
Also Known As: | Orochon, Oronchon, Olunchun, Elunchun, Ulunchun |
Dia1: | Gankui and Selpechen |
Script: | Latin Alphabet |
Pronunciation: | pronounced as //arʊtɕʰen urkun// |
Oroqen (; Oroqen Urkun; ɔrɔtʃeen ulguur), also known as Orochon, Oronchon, Olunchun, Elunchun or Ulunchun, is a Northern Tungusic language spoken in the People's Republic of China. Dialects are Gankui and Heilongjiang. Gankui is the standard dialect. It is spoken by the Oroqen people of Inner Mongolia (predominantly the Oroqin Autonomous Banner) and Heilongjiang in Northeast China.[1]
Since the 1980s, Oroqen-language materials were produced by teachers in Oroqen-speaking areas. They based the language's orthography either on IPA or Pinyin. A majority of Oroqen speakers use Chinese as a literary language and some also speak Daur.
Geographic distribution
Oroqen is spoken in the following counties of China:
Huma County and Tahe County
Xunke County
Jiayin County and Heihe City
Oroqen Autonomous Banner
Sample text
Listed below are some Oroqen sentences.[2] They are transcribed in Oroqen Phonetic Alphabet.
Arian has three elder brothers. | Arian ilan axči |
The children are all come in. | Kúxä səl ku əmčə |
Arian's elder brother is coming. | Arian axninin əmčə |
I'm a student. | Pi pite turan |
You're taller than me | ši mintu gúkta |
The house is neat and tidy. | Ər jü čaldä le |
Arian untied the rope | Arian ušixəmúə pudičə |
How many children do you have? | ši ati kúxa či pišiniʔ |
Arian took off his clothes | Arian kantaxúə purmə ədəjə | |
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Velar | Glottal |
---|
Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
---|
Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
---|
voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
---|
Fricative | pronounced as /link/ | | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ |
---|
Rhotic | | pronounced as /link/ | | | |
---|
Approximant | | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | | |
---|
- Allophones of /x/ are heard as [ɣ], [h].
- A bilabial /ɸ/ can also be heard as a labio-dental [f].
- A rhotic trill /r/ tends to sound as a tap [ɾ], when occurring word-finally.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back |
---|
High | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ |
---|
Near-high | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ |
---|
High-mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ |
---|
Low-mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ |
---|
Low | | | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | |
---|
- /ə, əː/ are often heard as lower sounds [{{IPA link|ɐ}}, {{IPA link|ɐː}}].
- Short allophones of /o, u/ are heard as [{{IPA link|ɵ}}, {{IPA link|ʉ}}].[3]
Further reading
- Language policy and the loss of Tungusic languages . Language & Communication . 19 . 4 . 1999 . 373–386 . Lenore A. . Grenoble . Lindsay J. . Whaley . 10.1016/S0271-5309(99)00011-7. free .
- Whaley . Lindsay J. . Fengxiang . Li . Oroqen Dialects . Central Asiatic Journal . 44 . 1 . 2000 . 105–30 . 41928224.
- Book: Whaley, Lindsay . Can a Language that Never Existed Be Saved? Coming to terms with Oroqen language revitalization . J. Freeland . D. Patrick . Language Rights and Language Survival . Routledge . 2004 . 139–49 . 9781315760155.
- Fengxiang . Li . Contact, attrition, and structural shift: evidence from Oroqen . International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2005 . 2005 . 2005 . 173 . 55–74 . 10.1515/ijsl.2005.2005.173.55.
- Book: Li . Fengxiang . Whaley . Lindsay J. . Loanwords in Oroqen, a Tungusic language of China . Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook . Martin Haspelmath . Uri Tadmor . 525–544 . Berlin, New York . De Gruyter Mouton . 2009 . 10.1515/9783110218442.525. 978-3-11-021843-5 .
- Study of the Contemporary Use of the Oroqen Language in the Province Heilongjiang (People's Republic of China) . Yan . Likhua . Philology. Theory & Practice . Tambov . Gramota . 2016 . 8 . 2 . 189–194 . RU.
- Морозова Ольга Николаевна, Булатова Надежда Яковлевна, & Андросова Светлана Викторовна (2020). "РЕАЛИЗАЦИЯ ПЕРЕДНЕЯЗЫЧНОГО ЩЕЛЕВОГО /S/ В ЭВЕНКИЙСКОМ И ОРОЧОНСКОМ ЯЗЫКАХ" [Realization of front fricative /S/ in the Evenki and Oroqen languages]. Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. Труды института лингвистических исследований, 2 (XVI), 582-607. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/realizatsiya-peredneyazychnogo-schelevogo-s-v-evenkiyskom-i-orochonskom-yazykah (дата обращения: 06.05.2024).
- Development and Suggestions of Oroqen Ethnic Education in China: Based on the Current Situation of Oroqen Language Ecology . Xinyun . Cao . SHS Web Conf. . 168 . 2023 . 03019 . 10.1051/shsconf/202316803019.
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Did you know Oroqen is severely endangered? . 2023-04-18 . Endangered Languages . en.
- Web site: WOLD - . 2023-08-01 . wold.clld.org.
- Book: Hu, Zengyi. Elunchun-yu jianzhi [Concise grammar of Oroqen]. Beijing: National Minorities Publ.. 1986. 3–19.