Brief Information
До 1920-х гг. орочский считался диалектом удэгейского. В 1920-е получает статус самостоятельного языка. В 2008 г. перестал существовать.
К началу XX в. орочи жили на обширной территории от бухты Де-Кастри на севере до р. Ботчи на юге и от побережья Татарского пролива до среднего течения рек Анюй и Хунгари (ныне Гур). Здесь имелось около 50 стойбищ, в каждом из которых жило по 2-3 семьи. По переписи
В связи с мероприятиями, проводившимися в Советское время (сселение кочевых народов в постоянные поселки, коллективизация, создание предприятий рыбной промышленности) орочи оказались расселены по нескольким поселкам Хабаровского края. Основные территориальные группы орочей просуществовали до 1960-х гг. [Ларькин 1964]. Самым крупным поселком, местом компактного проживания орочей, была Уська-Орочская (до
В орочском языке выделялось три диалекта: тумнинский (был распростран в бассейне р. Тумнин), хунгарийский (по р. Хунгари), хадинский (диалект орочей, живших по рекам Хадя, Уй, Коппи, Ботчи и Нельма, был близок к самаргинскому диалекту удэгейского языка).
Genealogy
The Oroch language is traditionally classified within the southern (Nanai) subgroup of the Tungusic branch of the Tungusic languages. However, due to many shared features with the Negidal language (northern subgroup), some believe that Oroch should be considered a language belonging to the northern subgroup but influenced by languages of the southern subgroup, especially Nanai and Ulch.
Distribution
The last speakers of the Oroch language lived in the city of Sovetskaya Gavan and its surrounding villages.
According to the censuses of 2002 and 2010, the Oroch people were dispersed in the Sovetskaya Gavan, Vanino, Amursk, and Komsomolsk districts of the Khabarovsk Krai (426 people): Vanino District: Vanino, Datta, Uska-Orochskaya, Kennada, Snezhny; Sovetskaya Gavan District: Sovetskaya Gavan with the Gatka settlement, Sovety Ilyicha settlement; Amurskij District: Novoe Ommi settlement. In none of these settlements do the Oroch people constitute a significant part of the population. Several Oroch families live in the Primorsky Krai (according to the census, 19 people).
In the Oroch language, three dialects were distinguished:
1. Tumnin dialect (was prevalent in the Tumnin River basin),
2. Hungariysky dialect (along the Hungari River),
3. Khadinsky dialect (spoken by Oroch people along the Hadya, Uy, Koppi, Botchi, and Nelma rivers, closely related to the Samarginsky dialect of the Udege language).
Dialects and their distribution
Language contacts and multilingualism
The Oroch language had contact with Nanaian, Ulch, Udege, Evenki, and Russian.
In the second half of the 20th century, there was widespread Oroch-Russian and later Russian-Oroch bilingualism. Some Oroch individuals were proficient in Nanaian, Ulch, Udihe, Evenki languages.
Language functioning
- Legal status
- Writing system
- Language standardization
- Domains of language usage
The language of an indigenous minority people in the Russian Federation.
Practical writing for the Oroch language was developed in the 1990s by G.S. Abramova based on the Cyrillic script. This writing system was used in educational materials, with the first one being the Pictorial Dictionary of the Oroch Language (2001).
There is also a scholarly writing system based on the Cyrillic alphabet, created and used by V.I. Avrorin and E.P. Lebedeva for recording and publishing Oroch texts.
A literary norm has not been established.
Family / everyday communication
Education
Education
In the years 1932-1936, Oroch children studied the Khorsky dialect of the Udihe language at school, which served as the basis for the literary Udihe language. However, due to the difficulty for children to learn an unfamiliar language and the rapid spread of knowledge of the Russian language among the Oroch people, the teaching of Udihe ceased in the places where the Oroch people lived.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, there were discussions about the possibility of introducing optional classes on the Oroch language in schools where the Oroch people lived, but these discussions did not progress further. In the early 2000s, there were reports that at A.I. Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University, one student was studying in the specialty "Oroch language and literature."
Mass media
Culture
Science
Folklore
Folklore
There are publications of Oroch folklore. Texts were recorded in the 1920s and the 1950s and have been published both in Russia and abroad.
Literature
Religion
Legislation
Administrative activities
Legal proceedings
Industry
Dynamics of language usage
Already in the late 1950s, linguists working with the Oroch people noted that children and youth did not know the Oroch language, and the older generation, which was proficient in their ethnic language, tried to speak Russian with their children and grandchildren. Apparently, the language shift (transition to Russian) began no later than the 1940s and was fully completed by 2008.
Language experts
Boris Boldyrev
(Institute of Philology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk)Research centres
Core references
Selected papers on grammatical issues
Avrorin V.I. Rodstvennye svyazi orochskogo yazyka s drugimi tunguso-man'chzhurskimi // Istoriya i dialektologiya yazykov Sibiri. Novosibirsk, 1979 [Avrorin V.I. Genetic relations of the Oroch language with other Tunguso-Manchu languages // History and Dialectology of Siberian Languages. Novosibirsk, 1979]
Avrorin V.I. Fonetika orochskogo yazyka // Izuchenie yazykov Sibiri. Novosibirsk, 1978 [Avrorin V.I. Phonetics of the Oroch language // Study of the Languages of Siberia. Novosibirsk, 1978]
Grammatical descriptions: grammars, sketches
Avrorin V.I., Boldyrev B.V. Grammatika orochskogo yazyka. Novosibirsk, SO RAN, 2001 [Avrorin V.I., Boldyrev B.V. Grammar of the Oroch Language. Novosibirsk, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2001]
Publications of texts
Avrorin V.I., Lebedeva E.P. Orochskie skazki i mify. Novosibirsk, 1966 [Avrorin V.I., Lebedeva E.P. Oroch Tales and Myths. Novosibirsk, 1966]
Avrorin V.I., Lebedeva E.P. Orochskie teksty i slovar'. L.: Nauka, 1978 [Avrorin V.I., Lebedeva E.P. Oroch Texts and Dictionary. Leningrad: Science, 1978]
Работы по этнологии
Bereznitsky S.V. Mifologiya i verovaniya orochey. SPb.: Peterburgskoye vostokovedeniye, 1999 [Bereznitsky S.V. Mythology and Beliefs of the Oroks. St. Petersburg: Petersburg Oriental Studies, 1999]
The book explores the spiritual culture of the Orochs.