Even and the Northern Tungusic languages

• Main Authors: Pakendorf, Brigitte, Aralova, Natalia
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Oxford University Press 2020
• Subjects: Evenki; Tungusic languages
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198804628.003.0019

This chapter provides a concise structural overview of the three Northern Tungusic languages spoken in the Russian Federation, namely Even, Evenki, and Negidal. Even and Evenki are spoken by people who traditionally were fully nomadic hunters and reindeer herders, whereas Negidal is spoken by a small group who were traditionally semi-sedentary fishers and hunters. Typical features of these languages are root-based vowel harmony, large case systems, an extensive system of verbal inflection and derivation, and the widespread use of nonfinite verb forms in subordination. The three languages discussed here share large numbers of cognate forms, but also have notable individual features, such as the indefinite accusative case found in Evenki and Negidal, the refactive verb derivation that Negidal shares with other Tungusic languages of the Amur region, or the use of evaluative morphology to express (in)definiteness in Even.