Even Alpha bets
Even Alpha betsare the Alpha bets used to write theEven language.During its existence, it functioned on different graphic bases and was repeatedly reformed. At present, Even writing functions in Cyrillic. There are three stages in the history of Even writing:
- until the early 1930s, early attempts to create a written language based on the Cyrillic Alpha bet;
- 1931-1937 - writing on the Latin basis;
- since 1937 - modern writing based on the Cyrillic Alpha bet.
Early Alpha bets
[edit]The first attempts at writings in the Even language were published byNicolaas Witsenin 1692. In the 18th century, separate Even words were published byJacob Johann Lindenau(ru), and also in the comparative dictionaryP. S. Pallas(ru), published in 1787–1789.[1]
In the 1840s, on behalf of the Archbishop of Kamchatka and AleutianInnokentiy (Veniaminov),church texts began to be translated into the Even language.[2]The work was led byOkhotskarchpriest Stefan Popov and the Stanitsky foreman Sheludyakov from theTauisk(ru) second outpost, who was directly involved in the translation. This determined the choice of the dialect for translation: the Oleskii dialect. Translation work was carried out in the years 1851–1854.[3]
The translators' first publication was the 1858Тунгусского букваряon the Church Slavonic chart. The Alpha bet of this primer included the following letters:А а, Б б, В в, Г̱ г̱, Ҥ̱ ҥ̱, Д д, Е е, И и, Ж ж, К к, Л л, М м, Н н, О о, П п, Р р, Т т, У у, Х х, Ч ч, Ш ш, С с, Ъ ъ, Ы ы, Ь ь,Ѣѣ, Э э, Ю ю,Ꙗѧ.Following this Alpha bet came a published dictionary (1859, reprinted in 1900) and the Gospel of Matthew (1880).[2]
In 1926, the Russian-Lamut and Russian-Koryak Dictionary was published inPetropavlovsk-Kamchatskywhich used theRussian Alpha bet.The Russian Alpha bet was used as the basis for Even writing in a handwritten primer written in 1930 by teacher N. P. Tkachik at the Arkinskaya school.[4]
Latin
[edit]| External image | |
|---|---|
 The first issue of the newspaper "Ajӡid orocәl" in the Even Latin script, 1931 |
In the 1920s, theLatinizedwriting process began inUSSR.In April 1930, at the VII Plenum of the Committee of the North, it was decided to create Alpha bets for the peoples of the North. In May 1931Narkompros of the RSFSRwas approved "Unified Northern Alphabet",including its version for Even language.[4]The approved Alpha bet had the following form:A a, Ā ā, B в, Є є, D d, Ӡ ӡ, E e, Ә ә, Ә̄ ә̄, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ņ ņ, Ŋ ŋ, O o, ō, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, W w.[5]
In 1932, the Alpha bet bookAnŋamta torә̄nwas published on this Alpha bet. Other educational, children's, as well as political literature and certain materials in newspapers began to appear.
In 1933–1934, the Alpha bet was somewhat modified and eventually began to look like this:[6]
| A a | B в | C c | D d | Ӡ ӡ | E e | Ә ә | Ә̄ ә̄ | F f |
| G g | H h | I i | J j | K k | L l | M m | N n | Ņ ņ |
| Ŋ ŋ | O o | P p | R r | S s | T t | U u | W w | Z z |
This Alpha bet was officially abolished at the end of 1936 but continued to be used in print until 1939.[2]
Cyrillic
[edit]In 1936–1937, the Even Latin Alpha bet, like other Alpha bets of the peoples of the USSR, wasreplacedby a Cyrillic Alpha bet that contained all Russian letters and the digraphНгнг.[7]However, the Even-language newspaper "Оротта правда", published in the late 1930s inMagadan,used the additional letterә.In the official version of the Even script in 1947, the digraphнгwas officially canceled, but in 1954 it was restored again.[8]
In 1953 the digraphНг нгwas replaced by the letterӇӈ,besides the lettersӨөandӪӫwere added.[9]However, in educational literature (which was published mainly inLeningrad) these letters began to be used only from the beginning of the 1960s, and for a long time they did not find use in literature published in the Even settlement areas.
The vast territory of Even settlement, the differences in dialects, the presence of various letters in typographic fonts caused the fact that different versions of Even script began to spontaneously arise in different regions. Only educational literature for elementary schools, published in Leningrad or Moscow,[1]remained unified.
Thus, inYakut ASSRsince the beginning of the 1960s, a local form of recording the Even language has been developed, graphically approximated toYakut Script.In 1982, this form was legalized by the decision of local authorities, but already canceled in 1987, while continuing to be used unofficially for example, in the newspaperIlken(sah). The difference between this form was the use of the letterҤҥinstead of the standardӇ ӈ,use of additional charactersҔҕ,Һһ,Үү, Ө ө,Дьдь,Ньнь(Ү үwas not officially entered into the Alpha bet, but was used in practice), and also the display long vowels by doubling them.[10]
InMagadan Oblastand inChukotka,the main difference between the local version of the Even script and the standard version was the use of the letterН' н'instead ofӇ ӈ,as well asО о, У уinstead ofӨ өandЁ ёinstead ofӪ ӫ.Since 1983, the Magadan Region, and since 1993, Chukotka switched to the official Alpha bet. At the same time, in Chukotka, in the local press, specific letters of the Even written language were not introduced at the same time — first, theӇ ӈ,thenӨ ө,and finallyӫ.In a number of Chukchi Even editions the use of theӃӄ[11]letter is noted.
InKamchatka Oblast,the Even language has been used in the local press since the late 1980s. In the local version of the Even Alpha bet, the Alpha bet adopted in the 1940s was used. At the beginning of the XXI century, the Even media of Kamchatka (the newspaper "Аборигены Камчатки" ) switched to the official version of the Even Alpha bet.[11]
Thus, outside of school education, which was always and everywhere conducted in the literary Even language, there were 4 regional variants of Even writing and spelling:
- Literary language based on Eastern dialect (Magadan region, Chukotka)
- Kamchatkawriting form
- Indigirskayawriting form (Yakutia)
- Sakkyryrwriting form (Yakutia)
The last two forms have no differences in the Alpha bet, but differ in terms of spelling.[1]
Modern Even Alpha bet
| А а | Б б | В в | Г г | Д д | Е е | Ё ё | Ж ж | З з |
| И и | Й й | К к | Л л | М м | Н н | Ӈӈ | О о | Өө |
| Ӫӫ | П п | Р р | С с | Т т | У у | Ф ф | Х х | Ц ц |
| Ч ч | Ш ш | Щ щ | Ъ ъ | Ы ы | Ь ь | Э э | Ю ю | Я я |
References
[edit]- ^abcПисьменные языки мира: Языки Российской Федерации.Vol. 2 (1000 экзed.). М.: Academia. 2003. pp. 667–697.ISBN5-87444-191-3.
- ^abcА. А. Бурыкин (2000)."Изучение фонетики языков малочисленных народов Севера России и проблемы развития их письменности (обзор)"(PDF).Язык и речевая деятельность.3(1). СПб: 150–180.
- ^Бурыкин 2001,p. 234-235.
- ^abКнижная культура эвенов(PDF).Якутск: Офсет. 2008. pp. 4–26. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2014-03-24.Retrieved2018-12-17.
- ^Материалы 1-й всероссийской конференции по развитию языков и письменностей народов Севера.М.-Л. 1932.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^В. И. Левин (1936).Краткий эвенско-русский словарь.М.-Л. p. 105.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^Бурыкин 2001,p. 240.
- ^Бурыкин 2001,p. 241.
- ^К. А. Новикова(1958).Основные правила произношения и правописания эвенского языка.Л.: Учпедгиз.
- ^Бурыкин 2001,p. 247-249.
- ^abБурыкин 2001,p. 252-254.
Works cited
[edit]- Бурыкин, А. А. (2001).Язык малочисленного народа в его письменной форме: На материале эвенского языка(PhD). St. Petersburg: Петербургское Востоковедение.