E.S. Atlasova

Department of the Northern Philology,
Philological and Linguistic Faculty, Yakutsk State University

Problems of Teaching of the Yukagir Language at the Department of the Northern Philology

Yukagirs (Tungus name of Oduls means “ice people”: дю – “ice”, гир – “kin, tribe”) are considered to be one of the most ancient populations of North-Eastern Asia; by the moment of arrival of Russians to the north of present day Yakutia they populated the vast areas stretching from the lower reaches of Lena River to the middle reaches of Anadyr River. According to well-known researcher I.V. Konstantinov, Yukagir ancestors inhabited Yakutia already in the end of the II – in the beginning of the I millennia B.C. At present Yukagirs are among most numerically small peoples of the world. According to Population Census 2002, their total number in Russian Federation equaled to 1509 people. According to 1989 census, approximately 697 Yukagirs lived in Yakutia. E.S. Maslova [Maslova, 2003] wrote that in 1987 total number of Yukagirs in Andryushkino village was 130 people, in Kolymskoe village – 40, in Nelemnoe village – 133. 90 of them had a command of the Yukagir language in Andryushkino and Kolymskoe villages, 29 people – in Nelemnoe village. The data on Yukagirs collected by the Institute of the Problems of Numerically Small Peoples of the North, Siberian Branch, RAS in 1993 showed that only around 10% of Yukagirs have a different level of command of the native language and knowledge of culture of their own people. Therefore, the preservation and development of the Yukagir language can be considered an immediate goal in the aspect of preservation of Yukagirs as an ethnic group. This goal cannot be reached without thorough studies of the features of this language.

In the Yukagir language tundra and Kolyma dialects are traditionally distinguished. In his grammatical essay of the Yukagir language published in 1968 E.A. Kreinovich said: “in the process of the further studies these dialects should be defined as closely related, independent languages”. The research of the last quarter of the XX century demonstrated that those dialects, in fact, should be defined as independent languages: the Vadul language (former tundra dialect) and the Odul language (former Kolyma dialect). The hypothesis of I. Nikolaeva and E. Khelimskiy [1997, 155-156], based on the studies of lexicon, grammar and phonology, supports the idea that these languages diverged approximately two millennia ago. The differences found in these languages can be explained both by the fact that the speakers of these dialects have lived as a dispersed population from the times immemorial up to the present day and by the fact of their interaction with different ethnic environments. For instance, Upper Kolyma Yukagirs who were being in contact with Russian Kazak population for a long time did not only enriched the vocabulary of their native language with some lexemes (e.i., тобоко – “dog”, тэрикэ – “old woman”, кашнай – “everyone”, муорта – “snout”, пэриэндьэ – “feathered”, etc.) but also transformed several phonemes in a Russian way. In contrast to them, tundra Yukagirs were keeping contact with Evens which resulted in a number of Even words borrowed into their language. Differences in the sphere of phonetics are explained by the fact that they obviously relied on the languages historically opposed as the languages retaining the unstressed Oand the unstressed A. Thus, linguistic facts witness that the language of tundra Yukigirs belongs to the one retaining the unstressed A, whereas the language of Kolyma Yukagirs pertains to the one retaining unstressed O: compare лачил (the tundra Yukagir dialect) – лочил (the Kolyma Yukagir dialect) “fire”, ибал - ибол «rock», вадул – одул «Yukagir», etc. These languages are contraposed according to accentuated с-ш paradigm: саал (the tundra Yukagir dialect) – шаал (the Kolyma Yukagir dialect) “tree”, “pole”, сайдэ – шайдэ “accross”, лол5асум – лол5ашум «boiled» [48, p.5-6]. The present differences determine the necessity of the studies of these languages on a case by case basis.

The problem of studies and preservation of the native language is becoming a burning issue at present. The Yukagir language is one the most ancient, presently endangered languages of North-Eastern Asia.

Yukagir language is taught at schools of Andryushkino village, Nizhnekolymskiy District and Nelemnoe village, Verkhnekolymskiy District. From 1977 the work on the studies of the culture and language has started in Andryushkino village, Nizhnekolymskiy District. This work was initiated by the Ministry of Education of our republic and by G.N. Kurilov, a famous linguist and Yukagir poet. At present three teachers of Yukagir work in the school: A.G. Vyrdylina, F.N. Tataeva, A.A. Kurilova. Yukagir language is also taught in the day nursery school by A.P. Kurilova. All teachers ethnically belong to Yukagirs and have a perfect command of the native language. Since 1987 Yukagir language has been taught as an elective subject in Nelemnoe high school, Verchnekolymskiy District. Since 1993 Nelemnoe high school became a republican experimental ground under the title of “Formation and Development of the Personality of the Yukagir Child in a Multiethnic Environment”. Teaching of Yukagir as a school subject from the first to the tenth grade was launched, studies of the native literature, history and culture of Yukagirs started. Presently three teachers work in this school.

In the early 80s of the last century Yukagir written language was created on the basis of the language of tundra Yukagirs. The studies of the recent years demonstrated the fact that two dialects (Kolyma Yukagir and tundra Yukagir) should be distinguished as independent languages: the language of tundra Yukagirs and the language of forest Yukagirs.

Since 1991 Yukagir, Even and Evenk languages have been taught at the department of the northern philology, philological and linguistic faculty, Yakutsk State University named after M.K. Ammosov. During 13 years of the department’s work seven Yukagirs received higher education diplomas with qualification “a teacher of the native language and literature”. Two of the Yukagirs graduated from the graduate school of the Institute of the Problems of Numerically Small Peoples of the North, Siberian Branch, RAS, other two entered a graduate school in 2004. At present 8 Yukagir students study at the department as full-time students and 6 as part-time students.

Teaching of the Yukagir language at the department of the northern philology is aimed at mastering practical aspects of language use and formation of skills of independent work with the literature.

In the context of part-time and full-time studies such aspects of speech as oral speech (talking and auding) and writing are practiced during the whole course as a means of teaching. Translation (both oral and written) are practiced all through the course as 1) as a means of teaching, 2) as an optional means of transmission of the information acquired in the process of reading, 3) as a means of controlling the perception of the text being read.

During the course of the Yukagir language different technical means of instruction are widely used, with the focus on different types of audio records. First of all, students should learn to read and pronounce words and sentences correctly. In order to learn to pronounce sounds and to correctly read the text in Yukagir one should: 1) remember the rules of pronunciation of separate letters and letter combinations, as well as the rules of stressing the word and the sentence while making an accent on pronunciation of the sounds with no analogues in other languages; 2) regularly exercise in reading and pronunciation of Yukagir words.

In general, teaching of Yukagir should be facilitated by the use of new information technologies. Namely, special educational computer programs should be developed, digital data bank of audio records with the pronunciation of words and word combinations by the native speakers themselves should be created.

Translated into English by O.A. Povoroznyuk

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