Khanty Language Research Articles

О глаголах со значением «ломать / ломаться» и их синонимах в хантыйском языке

verbs with the meaning of destruction make up a large group of widely used units of the Khanty language. The article considers the features of the structure, semantics and functioning of verbs of self-destruction with the general meaning “to break” based on the material of the Khanty language. The study is conducted on the material of the Western dialects of the Khanty language – Kazym, Shuryshkar and Ural, – using examples of the Surgut dialect. Objective: to identify and describe semantic and functional features, differences and similarities of Khanty verbs with the meaning “to break”, including figurative meanings. Research materials: dictionaries of the Khanty language, texts of folklore collections, as well as field materials of the author. Results and novelty of the research: аs a result of the study, an extensive inventory of means of expression of the semantic category of destructiveness was identified and systematized; the structure of the specified lexical-semantic group was determined; common and specific features characterizing the plan of expression and the deep semantic structure of the 53 Bulletin of Ugric Studies. Vol. 14. № 1 (56). 2024. units under consideration in the Khanty language were found. The obtained results contribute to the systematic study of the vocabulary of the Ob-Ugric languages.

Семантика и этнокультура: актуальное в исследовании хантыйского языка

The article is devoted to the delimitation of hidden and formally expressed imagery in the language (namely, in the lexicon, that is, the vocabulary of the language). In the first case, imagery is understood as the semantic non-triviality of the origin of a word due to its internal form or etymology (if this particular postulated path of origin is proved). Formalized is considered imagery, the means of expression of which are widely used in the languages of the scheme of “transferring” the word meaning, creating epithets, comparisons, personifications, hyperbole. The article considers one of the most important linguistic semantic phenomena — the creation of new lexemes, based on existing units, in some formal way (suffixation, verbiage), reinforced by semantic transformation. Additionally, if possible, binding to the features of ethnic culture is made. As a result of the study, the concept of imagery was formulated in relation to the vocabulary (or lexicon) of the language, a distinction was made between hidden and formally expressed imagery. The empirical basis of the study was compiled by dictionaries of the Khanty language, as well as lexical material presented in one of the fundamental works on Finno-Ugric studies — the collective work “Fundamentals of Finno-Ugric linguistics” (1974). The main research methods are descriptive method, taxonomy, as well as comparison. A typological approach is used in the general assessment of word formation methods.

Functional and Sеmantic Analysis of the Case Markers in Vakh Khanty (a Case Study of the Latest Field Data on LingvoDoc)

In this paper we argue that the category of nominal case in the Vakh Khanty dialect needs reviewing which is due to the availability of the recent field data obtained in 2019. This objective is considered to be topical because the results of the study will equip researches with all necessary data to develop a unified notation system for the case markers to be used in an annotated corpus of Vakh Khanty on the LingvoDoc platform. The declension system of the Eastern Khanty dialect under analysis is heterogeneous and relatively vast. The controversy around the synthetic means of expression of semantic relations concerns the terminology of case markers, their quantity, morphemic status and functional features. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the functional and semantic aspects of the Vakh Khanty case markers drawing on the recently obtained field material. This objective is achieved by means of the tools available on the LingvoDoc platform. The latest field data on the Vakh Khanty dialect was collected in the village of Korliki in 2019. More than 6,000 words of data are posted on the endangered languages documentation platform LingvoDoc. Part of the material used in the analysis is being processed and integrated on the LingvoDoc platform. The underlying opinion of this study draws on the seminal work by N.I. Tereshkin, as well as other prominent researchers of the Khanty language, and their description of the declension system of the Eastern dialect. The latest field data contains texts and questionnaires allowing researches to examine functioning of the morphological markers and compare results with the findings previously presented in the literature. Such approach entails observations leading to the systematization of the case category in this dialect at its current state of development. The examination of the range of meanings conveyed by the Vakh Khanty case markers at present has made it possible to distribute them into groups of semantic and syntactic case markers. As a result, the study confirmed that the nominal declension system encompasses such case markers as the abessive, ablative, allative, distributive, comitative, comparative, lative, locative, nominative, oblicative, and translative cases. The recent field data confirms the presence of the distributive case within the case paradigm and the status of the comparative element niŋit as a postposition. Each case marker of the Vakh Khanty dialect is terminologically specified which is essential for developing a parser for this dialect on the LingvoDoc platform. The development of the parser in the future will speed up the process of processing and analyzing language material and lead to the elimination of errors.

Коммуникативная вариативность типовой синтаксической структуры движения в сургутском диалекте хантыйского языка

The standard syntactic structure of motion comprises three elements referred to in this paper as subject, localizer, and predicate. The proto-typical meaning of this structure is represented by simple sentences of motion. This paper examines 144 realizations of this structure selected from a collection of texts of different genres and idioms to examine its communicative variation in the Surgut dialect of the Khanty language. Three main variations of the structure have been identified, with allowance for both constituent order and intonation structure. The first variant is found in contexts describing the activity of a specified subject, with the subject being the theme of the utterance and the localizer and predicate representing its rheme. The other two are used when a particular situation is presented as an event unfolding against a specified localizer, with the communicative roles of the subject and the localizer reversed. While both of the latter were found with various types of localizers, the data suggest a substantial preference for using one of them with typical noun phrases and the other with preverbs, adverbs, and adverbial pronouns. Several cases of using a typical syntactic structure of motion at the beginning of texts have been identified, illustrating a tendency to present events from the subject's perspective when there is no contextual stimulus to warrant adopting the opposite perspective. The findings of the study reveal the similarities in communicative variation patterns between typical structures of motion and existence.

Преверб та̄ра / мухты / мувты ‘насквозь’ в обско-угорских языках

the article considers the change in the semantics and valence of Mansi and Khanty verbs with the preverb tāra / mukhty / muvty ‘through’ based on the material of the Ob-Ugric languages. Objective: to identify the features of the transition of verbs with the preverb tāra / mukhty / muvty from one lexical and semantic group to another. Research materials: verb sentences with the preverb tāra / mukhty / muvty ‘through’ ‘through’ of the Sosva dialect of the Mansi language and the Kazym and Surgut dialects of the Khanty language collected by the author from informants and extracted from dictionaries. Results and novelty of the research: for the first time, the most complete list of verbs with the preverb tāra / mukhty / muvty ‘through’ of different lexical and semantic groups has been revealed. It is established that this preverb is attached primarily to verbs with the semantics of action and movement. As a result, the number of valences of derived verbs either persists or decreases. Verbs of movement lose their locative valence; verbs of action retain their valence. The composition of the semantic group of verbs changes due to the compatibility of a verb with different types of subjects and objects (animate, inanimate). The results of the research may be in demand when comparing related and differently structured languages, as well as for writing the scientific grammar of the Khanty language

Prominence as an anchor for a clitic: prosody-sensitive placement of the conditional subordinator <em>ki</em> 'if' in Kazym Khanty

Research on clitics usually distinguishes between syntactic and phonological clitics (e.g. Embick & Noyer 2001; Anderson 2005). The latter ones are treated as highly locally restricted (Embick & Noyer 2001): they can be dislocated to the nearest possible host, i.e. attach to a nearest overtly realized head in the clausal spine or flip order with the nearest full word, irrespective of its category. Such analyses makes a prediction that phonological clitics cannot skip full words or overtly realized heads, when they are seeking for a host. In more recent research some counterarguments to this prediction have been introduced, e.g. Irish pronominal clitics (Bennett et al. 2016) and Tiwa focus clitic (Dawson 2017), which are displaced in the prosodic structure and are sensitive to bigger constituents, i.e. phonological phrases. A goal of this paper is to provide one further counterexample to this generalization and to argue that not only phonological phrases, but also prosodic prominence can play a role in clitic displacement. Namely, I describe the behavior of the conditional clitic in Kazym Khanty (Ob-Ugric, Uralic) and argue that its placement can be only analyzed as a prominence-sensitive displacement in the hierarchically organized prosodic structure. I argue that the conditional clitic in Kazym Khanty attaches to the most prosodically prominent prosodic phrase, which is defined independently. The distribution of Kazym Khanty ki ‘if’ also allows to falsify a descriptive generalization that all C-clitics stay close to the edges of a clause. This is indeed not the case with ki, since the correct analysis of the data must allow it to leave its base-position and occur clause- and phrase-internally (contra Embick & Noyer 1999). The study is based on my own fieldwork with native speakers of Kazym dialect of Nothern Khanty language (Ob-Ugric, Uralic).

Semantics of Verbs of Rotation in the Khanty language

The article is devoted to the identification of the national specifics of the representation of rotational movement in the Khanty linguoculture, the analysis of the semantics of verbs of rotation, the possibility of their lexical compatibility on the material of the Western dialects of the Khanty language (Kazym, Shuryshkar, Uralic) and one of the eastern (Surgut) by the types of situations described by them. The purpose of our study is to identify the parameters relevant to the lexical rotation zone. The article uses the method of corpus research: a sample of examples with verbs of rotation is analyzed and the boundaries of their compatibility are determined. The method of field research is used. There is a difference between movement along a trajectory close to an ideal circle (rotation in a circle) and movement along a chaotic trajectory, i.e. rotation of a set of homogeneous objects / gaseous particles (deer, snow vortex, smoke). In this case, the second type of rotation is marked. The subject performs multiple or single rotations around its axis or causates a rotational movement. The key parameter for distinguishing verbs of rotation and skating is animateness. Verbs of rotation around a landmark reflect the way of movement. Verbs of rolling and rotation do not reflect the environment of movement, but may reflect the direction of movement, which is regulated by the special compatibility of the subject and the predicate, or the word-formation capabilities of the predicate. The rolling zone reflects rotation in contact with the plane during translational motion and multidirectional rotation (about natural phenomena and about the movement of deer). The selected parameters and values are not lexicalized into separate verbs, but are combined inside lexemes. One lexeme describes situations of rotation in the same plane with and above the landmark, however, skating on the surface and rotation around the landmark is marked in dialects by separate lexemes.

Культура жизнеобеспечения и язык хантов: прагматика, синтактика, образность

The article is devoted to one aspect of the linguistic justification of the connection between language and culture: the identification in the lexicon, syntactic models and figurative schemes of the language of units with a figurative and potential conceptual meaning. The presentation is based on the analysis of the material of the Khanty language, for comparison, data from the Russian and Khakass languages are used. From the standpoint of linguistic typology, common words denoting geographical objects, certain categories of earth names, the names of the most common representatives of the fauna, as well as words that make up the core of the vocabulary of economic activity are considered. As sources of illustrative material, samples of colloquial speech, proverbs and aphorisms of the Khanty people, works of art in the Khanty language are used. The empirical basis of the study was the author’s records of the Khanty spoken language, dictionaries of the Khanty language, a collection of Khanty proverbs, sayings and aphorisms. As a result of the study, the range of the most indicative words and idioms of the Khanty language with a distinct cognitive, pragmatic, worldview basis is outlined. The methods used are the method of typological interpretation of lexical material and the descriptive method. When analyzing the semantics of lexical units, special attention is paid to the identification of regular idioms: it is the combination reserve that is the basis for the development of further connotations, the logical conclusion of which is the participation of certain words in idioms. Analysis of language material at the specified angle of view makes it possible to identify distinctive cognitive and communicative-pragmatic features of the language. The conclusion that natural language provides its speakers with the richest tools for expressing all possible, any thoughts is also natural.

Функциональные особенности падежных показателей в ваховском хантыйском языке (на материале базы современных полевых данных на платформе ЛингвоДок)

In this study the object of analysis is a set of case morphemes of nouns, identification of which draws on the semantics they mark. The range of meanings of these morphemes allows us to combine them into a group of semantic cases in the Vakh Khanty language, as opposed to the group of syntactic case markers. In the dialect under study the category of nominal cases is actively discussed in connection with the controversial issues regarding the terminology used, composition, quantity, morphemic status and functional features of case markers. Using the latest field data on this dialect collected in the village of Korliki in 2019, we were able to compare field data and data already known in Khantalogy thus systematizing the case category of this dialect. Field data of more than 10,000 words was processed using the functions of the LingvoDoc platform.

DIALECTAL CLASSIFICATION OF KHANTY IN THE LIGHT OF BASIC VOCABULARY

This paper looks at the relationship between Khanty dialects from the perspective of the “language vs dialect” problem, applying the method of lexicostatistics to new archival and field data. Dialectal classification of Khanty is still a debatable issue with no reached consensus among researchers. The borders between dialectal groups within the Khanty language are mostly drawn by the phonetic and morphological criteria. Scholars traditionally separate Khanty dialect continuum into two dialectal groups: Northern (Western) and Eastern Khanty. However, recently many Khanty sources have become available to researchers, ranging from the unpublished 18th century archives to the printed dictionaries and digital field corpora. Having applied the method of lexicostatistics to this new material, the article shows that the Eastern group is not homogenous. As a result, the study identifies three contemporary Khanty languages: Northern Khanty, Vakh Khanty, and Surgut Khanty. Also, the article observes the correlation between these three groups and traditional ones that are distinguished by phonological and grammatical criteria (Eastern, Northern and dead Southern Khanty). Also, 13 new basic vocabulary lists based on the sources from the 18th to 21st centuries are published, which makes it possible to trace evolution of the dialects. Etymological notes and references, as well as proto-form reconstructions, are provided along the lists, which makes the supplementary material a miniversion of an etymological dictionary of Khanty dialects.

Из истории разработки хантыйской письменности: среднеобской диалект как основа литературного языка (40-50-е гг. ХХ в.)

In the history of the development of writing in the Khanty language, different dialects successively replaced each other as the basis for the literary language. The initial variants of the written language were developed on the basis of the northern Obdorsk and Kazym dialects; however, in the 1940s-1950s the transition was made to the Middle Ob dialect, in which a large quantity of educational and fictional literature was translated and published. The present article analyzes the materials of the District Conference on the selection of the literary Khanty language, published in the newspaper «Ostyako-Vogulskaya PRAVDA» dated June 29, 1940, which substantiates the need to switch to the Middle Ob dialect. The contribution of P. K. Zhivotikov to the justification of the choice of a new dialect basis for the formation of a literary language is noted.

Функционально-семантические особенности личных местоимений «ԓўв» и «тав» в хантыйском и мансийском языках

The purpose of the study is to determine the functional and semantic features of the personal pronouns ԓўв and тав in the Khanty and Mansi languages. The study is novel in that it is the first to provide a deeper insight into the functioning of the personal third-person pronouns singular ԓўв and тав, using the material of the Ob-Ugric languages. It is shown that these word forms take part in the deictic, anaphoric function, as well as in the function of social deixis. The study discussed the issues of using the pronouns to refer to animals and the peculiarities of some subdialects of the Shuryshkar dialect of the Khanty language in terms of person-verb agreement. As a result of the analysis, the researchers have determined the scope of meanings and have described the features characteristic of the Ob-Ugric languages.

Topical issues of modern didactics of regional professional education in native language teaching

The article analyzes the actual problems of the methodology of professional education in the humanities field of knowledge, in particular, the Surgut dialect of the Khanty language in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra. In modern vocational education, the study of native language becomes an integral part of national culture, which absorbs history, spiritual values, moral norms and models of speech etiquette. That is why it is important to preserve the native language of each ethnic group. There is an urgent need for the socialization and development of the student's personality as a subject of ethnicity and as a citizen of the Russian Federation. Preservation and development of native languages and traditional culture of indigenous peoples of the North is one of the state tasks facing Russia and Yugra as a subject of the Federation at the present stage. The absence of the uniform approved alphabet on the Khanty language and the educational-methodical complexes recommended by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation does not allow studying a native (Khanty) language in vocational education. We believe that it is unacceptable to study the subjects Native Language and Native Literature (subject area Native (Khanty) Language and Literature) at the expense of the academic time allocated by the educational organization within the framework of extracurricular activities and educational work. Hence, there is a need to develop the content and methodological organization of the educational process of the Native Language discipline at vocational and specialized secondary educational institutions and universities, as well as for the course training in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Yugra. Native language serves not only as a means of communication and cognition of the surrounding reality, but also as a means of recording, preserving national and cultural traditions and introducing them to future generations. That is why the quality of education of the native (Khanty) language at professional institutions in general depends on the quality of education of the modern generation of indigenous peoples of the North of the Russian Federation. We believe that the improvement of skills and development of abilities in the subject Native language will be successful if we implement an effective methodological system based on integration of phonetic, word-formation, lexical, grammatical and syntactical levels of Khanty language.

THE CAT IS A SACRED IMAGE OF THE KAZYM GODDESS: ON THE PERMIAN COMPONENT IN THE KHANTY CULTURE

One of the most significant Ob-Ugric deities is the Kazym goddess (Wŭt imi, Kasәm naj, Kasәm imi); she is revered not only by the Kazym Khanty, who consider her their legendary ancestor, but also by other dialect-ethnographic groups of the Ob Ugrians. Like other patron spirits of the Ob-Ugric peoples, the Kazym goddess can take zoomorphic images, the most popular of them, associated with the goddess, is a black white-breasted cat. The research is based on ethnographic information, folklore materials, as well as sources on Khanty and Komi linguistics. The purpose of the work is to consider the data of the language and culture associated with the cult of the cat among the Kazym Khanty, as well as to compare them with the materials characterizing the image of the cat in the Perm cultures: the authors give its description (the sacred appearance of the animal into which the Kazym goddess is reincarnated), reveal the semiotic meaning, and carry out a comparative analysis. The nomination kań , presumably originating from the Komi language, is of interest. However, the analysis of the Khanty-Russian dictionaries revealed a similar vocabulary unit kɔń , káń , kań with the meaning ‘arctic fox; white beast’ in the eastern and southern dialects of the Khanty language. A special language intended for cats and dogs by the Kazym Khanty, personifying images of deities, is considered. From the general Ugro-Permian ideas about a cat: it is considered a “medium” and is able to protect from trouble.

Linguistic areas in the history of the Mansi language

The article is devoted to the reconstruction of historical contacts of the Mansi language with Samoyedic languages. On the modern linguistic map of Western Siberia these languages are not in direct contact, however, linguistic data make it possible to reconstruct several contact situations of varying degrees of temporal depth. I suppose that in the region of the Upper Ob there was a historical linguistic area, which included the Mansi, Selkup, and Kamas languages. In the eastern periphery of this zone, some limited contacts between the Selkups and the Kets took place. The Khanty language was widespread north of the Mansi language, possibly, in the northern periphery of this area. The ancestor of the modern Eastern Khanty language was located closest to the Mansi language. The Mansi contacted with the speakers of the Southern Samoyedic languages most probably across the rivers of Chizhapka and Parabel. Within the same area E. G. Bekker identifi ed the zone of distribution of the Kamas toponymy. During the period of these contacts, in my opinion, Kamas and Selkup were already two separate languages, but the dialectal diff erentiation of Selkup had not yet begun: the article proposes a number of Mansi-Selkup areal isoglosses, equally represented in all Selkup dialects. Subsequently, the relative position of the Khanty and Mansi languages on the linguistic map of Western Siberia changed. The Eastern Khanty penetrated the Upper Ob area. Then the Northern and Southern Khanty settled in a wide zone stretching from north to south along the course of the Middle Ob and Irtysh. This interrupts the connection between the Mansi and the Eastern Khanty and cuts off the Mansi from the Upper Ob area. During this period, the modern “Ostyak” area including the Selkup, Ket, and Khanty languages began to form in the Upper Ob region. The formation of this “Ostyak” area should be attributed to the period after the dialectal differentiation of the both mentioned Uralic languages: this area includes only the easternmost dialects of Khanty and only the Northern and Tym dialects of Selkup.

Participation of somonyms in the nomination of animals in the Khanty language

Participation of somonyms in the nomination of animals in the Khanty language

Prose folklore of the Vakh Khanty (to the interpretation of contemporary records)

The article is devoted to interpreting audio recordings of prosaic folklore made during the expedition to the Khanty of the Vakh river, the group of Eastern Khanty. Twenty-four texts recorded in the Vakh dialect of the Khanty language were translated into Russian by the informants themselves. Russian-language texts are used for genre-plot characterization of samples, and sound recordings are analyzed to reveal the intonation specifics. Several publications of Vakh Khanty oral folklore samples collected during the century were considered, the largest being the collections published in Russian by N. V. Lukina and in Khanty by N. I. Tereshkin and L. E. Kunina. The author summarizes the information on genres and their folk names and briefly describes the plots and characters of folklore prose. Many plots common among the Vakh Khanty are known to the neighboring peoples: Selkups and Kets. Folk tales and non-fairytale prose have been found to be the main types of the Vakh Khanty prose. Non-fairytale prose texts are easily identified by the genre marker, the initial word formulas. All narrations have been found to be intoned in the usual speech manner: melodious performance is not typical for Vakh folktales and non-fairytale prose. No musical episodes sung or performed on musical instruments were found. To some extent, the “musicalization” of folktales and non-fairytale prose is due to the various onomatopoeia. The melodious performance has been found only in the cumulative folktale “Pyut’kyali” (“The Birdie”), with the main intonation of the Khanty telling preserved even in the sounding of the Russian translation.

Памятник хантыйской письменности Л. П. Вологодского «Matveĭ elta jemyń aĭkol-jastypsa» (1868): именная морфология

The missionary stage of the Khanty script has not been considered in Khanty linguistics. Of particular interest is the dialect belonging to the Khanty script monument of the Vologodski priest “The Evangel of Matthew” (“Matveĭ elta jemyń aĭkol-jastypsa”, London, 1868). The Obdorsky dialect is marked on the title page of this publication, but researchers note that “Obdorsky dialect of Vologodski” is a mixed idiom with birch features. This paper considers the grammatical indicators of the noun and the paradigm of personal pronouns compared with materials on western dialects of the Khanty language and the monument of the Khanty script “Sacred history” (Tobolsk, 1900). The analysis of grammatical indicators of the noun has not found any anomalous deviations in the category of number: the text contains both dual and plural forms; the case system has the nominative, illative, and locative; the values of the illative and locative coincide with the data of published works. However, additional values not identified in previous works were found: temporary semantics for the illative and translative, onomasiative for the locative. Also, the locative has a static and dynamic value, which is typical for the Priuralsky (obdorsky) dialect, and the comitative, marked in the monument, is inherent in the Sredneobsky dialect. The personal pronoun declension system has forms corresponding to the markers of the Priuralsky, Shuryshkarsky, and middle Ob dialects. Thus, the monument concerned was found to have formal indicators typical for the Sherkal Sredneobsky and Nizyamsky dialects and some features inherent in the Priuralsky (obdorsky) dialect.

Словообразовательная структура фитонимической лексики в хантыйском языке

The aim of the research is to determine the structural and semantic features of plant names in the Khanty language. The scientific originality of the work lies in the fact that for the first time the methods of forming phytonyms in the Khanty language (word composition, suffixation, borrowing) are described and analysed. The results obtained have shown that, depending on the peculiarities of their structural composition, the Khanty names of plants are divided into the following types: simple (root), affixal, complex (fused), compound. Among phytonyms, complex compound names of plants consisting of two or more roots occupy the leading place.

Лексика говора села Каменное Октябрьского района ХМАО-Югры в аспекте межъязыковых и междиалектных контактов

The aim of the work is a semantic-thematic analysis of the dialect vocabulary of the Kamennoye village in the Oktyabrsky district of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District-Yugra. The work considers more than 100 lexical units obtained by the field method. The scientific originality of the work lies in the fact that the vocabulary of the named dialect for the first time becomes the object of scientific research. As a result, it was established that the basis of its vocabulary is the North Russian dialect continuum. A number of lexemes are borrowed from the South Russian dialects, sociolects and the contact Khanty language. The adopted lexical units contribute to the effective speech communication of residents in the multiethnic environment of the village, as well as the preservation of the dialect.