Study and documentation of endangered languages presupposes linguistic fieldwork. On the basis of our laboratory expeditions are organized and led every summer. We regularly involve linguistic students into our fieldwork.
Since 2001 fourteen expeditions have been held. The expeditions worked in different villages with Selkup, Ket, Evenki, and Forest Nenets population of the Pur and Krasnoselkup districts of the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous area, and of the Turukhansk and Evenki districts of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The expeditions were supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Researches and Russian Foundation for the Humanities. As a by-products of our fieldwork we are developing a video-archive of Selkup, Ket, and Evenki speech.
A new expedition was held in 2010 with the support of RFFI (grant 10-06-10029к) to the Sym Evenkis and Ket and Tym Selkups in Verkhneketsky and Kargasoksky districts of Tomsk area.
Two expeditions were held in 2009. The expedition to the Evenki village of Sym in Yenisey Region and to the South Ket villages of Verkhneimbatsk and Kellog in Turukhansk Region was held in August 2009 with the support of RGNF (grant 09-04-18036е). Students of Russian State University for the Humanities took part in the expedition. The expedition to the Selkup village (Tarko-Sale) was supported by the Department of Science and Innovations of the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous area.
In 2008 we organized an expedition to the Lower Tunguska villages of Evenki district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The objective of the expedition was audio recording of texts and lexical materials in the dialects of the Western Evenki. Students of the Institute of Linguistics and of the Centre for Social Anthropology of Russian State University for the Humanities participated in the expedition.
The expedition worked in the villages of Tura (district centre), Tutonchany and Kislokan in July and August. It was organized within the project "The Changing Russia in life stories of the Ket, Selkup, and Evenki" which is being realized at the Laboratory with financial support from Russian Foundation for the Humanities, grant 07-04-00332a. The students participation in the expedition was also supported by the Russian State University for the Humanities.
Participants:
Olga Kazakevich (group leader), Evgeniya Golovko, Kseniya Yershova, Elena Kliachko, Mariya Luneva, Julia Sapach (students of the Institute of Linguistics, Russian State University for the Humanities) and Nadezhda Mamontova (student of the Centre for Social Anthropology, Russian State University for the Humanities).
During the expedition the following types of data have been collected:
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Demographic and sociological data
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Sociolinguistic data
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Linguistic data
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Folklore
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Data on traditional & modern culture
Linguistic information was in the focus. It was collected through
- audio recording of materials for a sounding thematic dictionary of Evenki local dialects; besides the word list we also used some grammar questionnaires,
- audio and video recording of Evenki texts,
- transcribing and translating of the recorded texts with the help of Evenki speakers.
The data collected during the expedition include:
- 49 Evenki texts lasting 2 to 40 minutes (life stories (37), folklore texts (8), songs (4): audio recordings, video recordings, transcription; the age of the performers varies from 18 to 73;
- the Evenki word list with some grammar information containing over 2000 entries and audio recorded from 5 Tutonchany informants (18 to 73 years old) and from 4 Kislokan informants (51 to 63 years old):
- fragments of the Evenki 2000 word list audio recorded from 2 Tutonchany informants (72 and 77 years old) and one Kislokan informant (51 years old):
- the reduced Evenki word list containing 400 entries and audio recorded from one Tutonchany informant (45 years old) and 3 Kislokan informants (17 to 51 years old);
- materials characterizing linguistic situation in the villages (72 questionnaires filled in Tutonchany, 46 questionnaires filled in Kislokan and 55 questionnaires filled in Tura, as well as copies of the household lists of the villages);
- video recordings reflecting both the functioning of Evenki in the villages and some ethno cultural features of the village everyday life (12 hours);
- photo materials (over 4000 photos).
The villages where the expedition worked are doomed to disappear in case the project of the "Evenk Hydropower Station" starts to be realized. The construction of the Evenk Hydropower Station on the Lower Tunguska River is planned to start in the nearest future, which is supposed to lead to an ecological catastrophe in the territory of the Lower Tunguska basin. Attending the public hearings on the project in Tura and speaking with the people in villages, the expedition participants could fully realize the danger of the situation. The people do not want to be resettled, they want to stay and live on the land where several generations of their ancestors lived, and they raise their voices against the project. Let their voices be heard!
Some data on the villages where the expedition worked
Tura
Population 5616 people
Among them
Evenkis 1079 (19 %)
Kets 21
Dolgans 16
Nganasans 4
Nenets 1
Others 4495 (80 %)
The intergenerational transmission of Evenki is broken
Tutonchany
Population 298 people
Evenkis 156 (52 %)
Nganasan 1
Others 141 (47 %)
Evenki speakers (including half-speakers) 40-45 people
The intergenerational transmission of Evenki is broken
Kislokan
Population 193 people
Evenkis 118 (61 %)
Yakuts 3
Kets 1
Others 71 (37 %)
Evenki speakers (including half-speakers) 20-25 чел.
The intergenerational transmission of Evenki is broken
In 2007 we organized two expeditions to the Evenki district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The objective of the expeditions was audio recording of texts and lexical materials in the dialects of the Western Evenki. Students of the Institute of Linguistics and of the Centre for Social Anthropology of Russian State University for the Humanities participated in both of the expeditions.
The first expedition worked in the North of Evenkiya in the villages of Tura (district centre), Chirinda and Ekonda in July and August. It was supported by Russian Foundation for the Humanities, grant 07-04-18027e.
Participants:
Olga Kazakevich (group leader), Leonid Zakharov (Philological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University), Evgeniya Renkovskaya (graduated from the Institute of Linguistics in 2007), Evgeniya Golovko, Elena Karvovskaya, Evgeniya Korovina, Sofiya Lakhuti, Peter Slezkin (students of the Institute of Linguistics, Russian State University for the Humanities).
The second expedition worked in the South-East of Evenkiya in the villages of Vanavara, Strelka-Chunia, and Mutorai in August and September. It was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Researches, grant 07-0610017.
Participants:
Olga Kazakevich (group leader), Evgeniya Renkovskaya (graduated from the Institute of Linguistics in 2007), Dariya Vakhoneva (student of the Institute of Linguistics, Russian State University for the Humanities), Nadezhda Mamontova (student of the Centre for Social Anthropology, Russian State University for the Humanities).