Evenki (Эвэнки/Ėvėnki)

Evenki is part of the Manchu-Tungus sub-group of Altaic languages and has about 20,000 speakers. It is spoken in the Evenki Autonomous District, or Evenkia (Эведы Автомоды Округ) in Russia, and also in parts of China and Mongolia. Approximately 45% of the Evenki people consider Evenki their mother tongue. Most of the speakers are elderly and the younger generation lack a thorough knowledge of the language. This is because until 1980 the Russian government tried to suppress the Evenki language, but since then Evenki has been taught in schools.

Evenki, which is also known as Evenk, Avenki, Avenk or Tungus, has much in common with Mongolian and related languages. It has been strongly influenced by Yakut, Buryat and Russian.

Evenkia is the remotest inhabited part of Siberia. Until the 1930s, the Evenki people were mainly nomadic hunters and reindeer herders. Today hunting and reindeer herding are still important, but they are also involved in argriculture and industry.

The English word "shaman" comes from the Evenki word meaning "holy man".

Evenki was first written during the 1920s with a version of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Evenki alphabet

The letters in blue are only used in Russian names and loanwords

Information on pronunciation compiled by Wolfram Siegel

Links

Information about the Evenki language, people and region
http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/resources/rfn/evenki.html

Related languages

Altay, Azerbaijani, Balkar, Bashkir, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Even, Evenki, Gagauz, Karakalpak, Kazak, Kumyk, Kyrghyz, Nanai, Tatar, Turkish, Turkmen, Uyghur, Uzbek, Yakut

Other languages written with the Cyrillic alphabet

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