A Study on the Endangered Language: Saving the Oroqens Language of Northern China

Abstract

The ethnic groups mainly distributed in the northern People’s Republic of China include Manchu, Mongolian, Hui, Russian, Korean, Oroqen, Xibe, Hezhen, etc. According to the sixth National Census in 2010, the population of Oroqen is 8,659. In accordance with the 2021 China Statistical Yearbook, the Oroqen have a total population of 9,168. The Oroqen account for only about 0.03 percent of the ethnic minority population in northern China. Despite the rise of the Oroqen population from 2010 to 2021, the relative numbers of Oroqen people compared with other northern ethnic groups are still very small. When a language becomes endangered, there is more than one factor leading to the phenomenon. The assimilation of languages is an inevitable process in the course of globalization. But as a minority language, it stands for cultural consciousness. Under the background of integration, multi-ethnic cultures are particularly precious. The objective of the article is to maintain Oroqen language ideologies and cultural consciousness in the process of globalization and assimilation. This article traces the reasons that lead to the decline of minority language use in northern China by taking the Oroqen language as the case. In the meantime, since the Evenk language and Oroqen language are homologous, we might be able to gain a better understanding of language preservation by looking at how Russia protects the Evenk language. In order to restore the language's vitality, some measures can be taken to give the new Evenks generation more opportunities to connect with their own ethnic language. Finally, on the basis of the current situation of the Oroqen language, this study offers a few suggestions for language protection.