Alutor language
Encyclopedia
Alyutor or Alutor is a language
of Russia
that belongs to the Chukotkan branch of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages
.
. The language is unwritten and moribund; in the 1970s residents of the chief Alutor village of Vyvenka under the age of 25 did not know the language. In recent years the Vyvenka village school has started teaching the language. Until 1958 the language was considered the "village" (settled) dialect of the Koryak language
, but it is not intelligible with traditionally nomadic varieties of Koryak. The autonym, [ˈnəməlʔən], means "villager".
The morphology is agglutinative, with extensive prefixes and suffixes.
The argument structure is ergative
.
The word order
is variable, and it is difficult to say which is basic. The verb-absolutive orders AVO and VAO are perhaps most common.
, and cannot be stressed.
Examples: /ˈmi.məl/ 'water', /qə.ˈla.vul/ 'husband', /pə.ˈla.kəl.ŋən/ 'a mukluk
(boot)', /ˈta.wə.ja.tək/ 'to feed'.
Examples are /vi.ˈta.tək/ 'to work', /ˈtil.mə.til/ 'eagle', /ˈʔit.ʔən/ 'parka'.
Alyutor word boundaries always coincide with syllable boundaries.
There are three grammatical number
s: singular, dual and plural.
There are eleven cases: absolutive, ergative
, locative, dative lative, prolative, "contactive", causative
, "equative", comitative, and associative.
Number and case are expressed in a single affix, suffixes apart from the comitative and associative, which are circumfix
es. There are two declination
s, taught as three noun classes. The first class are non-human nouns of the first declension. Number is only distinguished in the absolutive case, though verbal agreement may distinguish number when these nouns are in the ergative. The second class are proper names and kin terms for elders. They are second declension, and distinguish number in the ergative, locative, and lative cases in addition to the absolutive. The third class are the other human nouns; they may be either first or second declension.
Verbs distinguish two aspects, perfective, the bare stom, and imperfective, using the suffix -tkə / -tkən / -tkəni. There are five moods, indicative, imperative
, optative
, potential (marked by the circumfix ta-... (-ŋ)), and conjunctive (prefix ʔ-/a-).
[edit] Non-finite forms
Impersonal forms include the verbal predicate, with the circumfix a-...-ka, and the imperative in ɣa-...-a/-ta.
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
that belongs to the Chukotkan branch of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages
Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages
The Chukotko-Kamchatkan or Chukchi–Kamchatkan languages are a language family of extreme northeastern Siberia. Its speakers are indigenous hunter-gatherers and reindeer-herders....
.
Sociolinguistic situation
The Alutor are the indigenous inhabitants of the northern part of the Kamchatka PeninsulaKamchatka Peninsula
The Kamchatka Peninsula is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of . It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...
. The language is unwritten and moribund; in the 1970s residents of the chief Alutor village of Vyvenka under the age of 25 did not know the language. In recent years the Vyvenka village school has started teaching the language. Until 1958 the language was considered the "village" (settled) dialect of the Koryak language
Koryak language
Koryak is a Chukotko-Kamchatkan language spoken by circa 3,000 people in the easternmost extremity of Siberia, mainly in Koryak Okrug. It is mostly a language spoken by Koryaks. Its close relative, the Chukchi language, is spoken by about twice that number. The language together with Chukchi,...
, but it is not intelligible with traditionally nomadic varieties of Koryak. The autonym, [ˈnəməlʔən], means "villager".
Typology
Alutor is a polysynthetic language.| ŋan(.ina) | ulʲlʲaʔu.tku=ʔuttə-k | na-n.illitə-tkə-ni-na… | ||
| that+3PL | walk.into.woods.masked=stick-LOC | LOW.A-hang-IPF-3.SG.A+3P-3PL.P | ||
| 'Those things on a stick, which wear masks, hung ...' | ||||
The morphology is agglutinative, with extensive prefixes and suffixes.
| qəlʲippə | tətu-kki | ɣeqə-masla-ta | a-mal-ka. | |||
| bread+NOM+SG | eat.with.something-INF | ASSOC⟩butter⟨ASSOC | good | |||
| 'Bread (eaten) with butter is excellent.' | ||||||
The argument structure is ergative
Ergative
The term ergative is used in grammar in three different meanings:* Ergative case* Ergative-absolutive language* Ergative verb...
.
| ə-nannə | ɣəmmə | ina-ɣal-e. | ||
| he-ERG | me+ABS | 1SG.P-walk.past-3SG.A | ||
| 'He walked past me.' | ||||
The word order
Word order
In linguistics, word order typology refers to the study of the order of the syntactic constituents of a language, and how different languages can employ different orders. Correlations between orders found in different syntactic subdomains are also of interest...
is variable, and it is difficult to say which is basic. The verb-absolutive orders AVO and VAO are perhaps most common.
| tita·qa | qutkinʲnʲaqu-nak | maŋ.ki·ʔana | ɣa-laʔu-lin | ənnə-ʔən. | ||||
| once | (name)-ERG+SG | somewhere | RES⟩see⟨RES+3SG.P | fishABS+SG | ||||
| 'Once Qutkinnyaqu saw a fish somewhere.' | ||||||||
| ɣa-nvə-lin | qutkinʲnʲaqu-nak | təlɣə-lŋən | ŋan.tiŋ. | |||
| RES⟩poke⟨RES+3SG.P | (name)-ERG+SG | finger-ABS+SG | there | |||
| 'Qutkinnyaqu stuck his finger there.' | ||||||
Vowels
Alyutor has six vowels, five of which may be long or short. The /ə/ is a schwaSchwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel...
, and cannot be stressed.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | ə | o oː |
| Open | a aː |
Consonants
There are 18 consonants in Alyutor.| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Dentalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Epiglottal | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t tsʲ | k | q | ʡ | ʔ | ||
| Fricative | v | ɣ | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n nʲ | ŋ | |||||
| Approximant | w | l lʲ | j | |||||
| Trill | r |
Stress
Stress is generally on the second syllable of the word. However, it cannot fall on a schwa or the last syllable, so in two-syllable words stress is transfers to the first syllable, as long as that vowel is not a schwa. In cases where it is a schwa, a third syllable is added to the word, and the second syllable is stressed.Examples: /ˈmi.məl/ 'water', /qə.ˈla.vul/ 'husband', /pə.ˈla.kəl.ŋən/ 'a mukluk
Mukluk
Mukluks or Kamik are a soft boot traditionally made of reindeer skin or sealskin and were originally worn by Arctic aboriginal people, including the Inuit and Yupik. The term mukluk is often used for any soft boot designed for cold weather and modern designs are often similar to high-top athletic...
(boot)', /ˈta.wə.ja.tək/ 'to feed'.
Syllable structure
All Alyutor syllables begin with a single consonant. If the vowel is short, including a schwa, they may also close with a single consonant.Examples are /vi.ˈta.tək/ 'to work', /ˈtil.mə.til/ 'eagle', /ˈʔit.ʔən/ 'parka'.
Alyutor word boundaries always coincide with syllable boundaries.
Morphology
Alyutor parts of speech are noun, adjective, numeral, pronoun, verb, participle, adverb, postpositions, conjunctions, and "particles".Nouns
Nouns are inflected for number, case, definiteness, and even grammatical person.There are three grammatical number
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
s: singular, dual and plural.
There are eleven cases: absolutive, ergative
Ergative
The term ergative is used in grammar in three different meanings:* Ergative case* Ergative-absolutive language* Ergative verb...
, locative, dative lative, prolative, "contactive", causative
Causative
In linguistics, a causative is a form that indicates that a subject causes someone or something else to do or be something, or causes a change in state of a non-volitional event....
, "equative", comitative, and associative.
Number and case are expressed in a single affix, suffixes apart from the comitative and associative, which are circumfix
Circumfix
A circumfix is an affix, a morpheme that is placed around another morpheme. Circumfixes contrast with prefixes, attached to the beginnings of words; suffixes, that are attached at the end; and infixes, inserted in the middle. See also epenthesis...
es. There are two declination
Declination
In astronomy, declination is one of the two coordinates of the equatorial coordinate system, the other being either right ascension or hour angle. Declination in astronomy is comparable to geographic latitude, but projected onto the celestial sphere. Declination is measured in degrees north and...
s, taught as three noun classes. The first class are non-human nouns of the first declension. Number is only distinguished in the absolutive case, though verbal agreement may distinguish number when these nouns are in the ergative. The second class are proper names and kin terms for elders. They are second declension, and distinguish number in the ergative, locative, and lative cases in addition to the absolutive. The third class are the other human nouns; they may be either first or second declension.
| 1st declension | 2nd declension | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg. | du. | pl. | sg. | du. | pl. | |
| absolutive | |
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| ergative | |
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| locative | |
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| lative | |
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| lative |
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| prolative | |
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| contactive | |
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| causative | |
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| equative | |
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| comitative | |
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| associative | |
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Case roles
- The absolutive case is the citation form of a noun. It is used for the argument ("subject") of an intransitive clause and the object of a transitive clause, for "syntactic possessives", and for the vocative.
- The ergative is used for the agent ("subject") of a transitive verb, as an instrumental caseInstrumental caseThe instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
, and as the argument of an antipassive clause. - The locative is used for position and direction (essive and lative caseLative caseLative is a case which indicates motion to a location. It corresponds to the English prepositions "to" and "into". The lative case belongs to the group of the general local cases together with the locative and separative case...
s), as well as arguments which are "driven away" - The dative is used for recipients, benefactors, directional objects (allative caseAllative caseAllative case is a type of the locative cases used in several languages. The term allative is generally used for the lative case in the majority of languages which do not make finer distinctions.-Finnish language:In the Finnish language, the allative is the fifth of the locative cases, with the...
), and subjects of experiential verbs - Lative is used for motion toward a goal
- Prolative is used for movement along and movement from (perlative and elative caseElative caseSee Elative for disambiguation.Elative is a locative case with the basic meaning "out of"....
s) - Equative is used with the meanings 'like X', 'as X', usually with verbs like 'to become', 'to turn into', 'to work as' etc.
- Contactive is used for objects that make contact
- Causative is used for the noun phrases that causes or motivates an action
- Comitative is used for ...
- Associative is used for .... It is only attested in the declension of nouns of the first declension, usually inanimate.
Grammatical person
Grammatical first and second person suffixes on nouns are used to equate a noun with participants in the discourse. They only appear in the absolutive, with an intervening j on nouns ending in a vowel, with an i on nouns ending in a consonant.| sg. | du. | pl. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | -j-ɣəm | -muri | -muru |
| 2nd person | -j-ɣət | -turi | -turu |
- …ʡopta am-ʡujamtawilʔ-ə-muru "yes we the people"
- japlə=q ʡujamtawilʔ-iɣəm "and I'm a man"
Numerals
Alyutor has simple numerals for the numbers one to five, ten, and twenty. All other numbers are compounds based on these numerals.| ənnan | one |
| ŋitaq | two |
| ŋəruqqə | three |
| ŋəraqqə | four |
| məlləŋin | five |
| ənnanməlləŋ(in) | six (one-five) |
| ŋitaqməlləŋ(in) | seven (two-five) |
| ŋəruqməlləŋ(in) | eight (three-five) |
| ŋəraqməlləŋ(in) | nine (four-five) |
| mənɣətkin | ten |
| mənɣətək ənnan | eleven |
| qəlikkə | twenty (a score) |
| qəlikək ənnan | twenty one |
| ŋəraqmənɣətkin | forty (four tens) |
| ŋəraqmənɣətkin ŋəraqqə | forty four |
| ŋitaqməlləŋin mənɣətkin | seventy (seven tens) |
| mənɣətək mənɣətkin | hundred (ten tens) |
Polypersonal conjugation
Finite verbs agree in person and number with their nuclear arguments; agreement is through both prefixes and suffixes. Transitive verbs agree with both arguments (ergative and absolutive), whereas intransitive verbs agree with their sole (absolutive) argument.Verbs distinguish two aspects, perfective, the bare stom, and imperfective, using the suffix -tkə / -tkən / -tkəni. There are five moods, indicative, imperative
Imperative mood
The imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...
, optative
Optative mood
The optative mood is a grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope. It is similar to the cohortative mood, and closely related to the subjunctive mood....
, potential (marked by the circumfix ta-... (-ŋ)), and conjunctive (prefix ʔ-/a-).
Monopersonal conjugation
Monopersonal verbs include two declensions, one with the third-person singular in ɣa-...-lin, and the other in n-...-qin.Impersonal conjugation
For non-personal forms of conjugation include verbal predicate (formed with tsirkumfiksa a-...-ka) and imperative (formed by tsirkumfiksa ɣa-... -a/-ta).[edit] Non-finite forms
Impersonal forms include the verbal predicate, with the circumfix a-...-ka, and the imperative in ɣa-...-a/-ta.