Эвэды̄ турэ̄н
Evenki
Tungusic (Northern)
Evenki is the most widely distributed Tungusic language by territory, spoken from the Yenisei River to Kamchatka and into northeastern China — a vast 7M km² range matching that of Russia itself. Only ~5K-10K mostly elderly speakers remain. Highly polysynthetic and agglutinative with vowel harmony, evidentiality marking, and possessive-classifier verbal morphology. Reindeer-herding nomadic culture. Cyrillic-based orthography in Russia (since 1937), Mongolian script in China. Critically endangered; teaching efforts since the 1990s.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Evenki
Water
му
/mu/
Fire
того
/toɡo/
Sun
дылача
/dɯlatɕa/
Moon
бега
/beɡa/
Mother
эни
/eni/
Father
ама
/ama/
Eat
дептэ
/depte/
Drink
умӣ
/umiː/
Love
аявдави
/ajavdavi/
Heart
меван
/mevan/
Tree
мо
/mo/
House
дю
/dʒu/
Dog
нгинакин
/ŋinakin/
Cat
кошка
/koʂka/
Hand
нгалэ
/ŋale/
Eye
эса
/esa/
Hello
дорообо
/doroːbo/
Thank you
пасиба
/pasiba/
One
умун
/umun/
Good
ая
/aja/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Tungusic (Northern) languages
| Meaning | Evenki | Even (Lamut) | Nanai | Udege | Jurchen | Sibe | Manchu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | му /mu/ | му /mu/ | муэ /mue/ | уй /uj/ | muke /muke/ | ᠮᡠᡴᡝ /mukə/ | ᠮᡠᡴᡝ /mukə/ |
| Fire | того /toɡo/ | тоог /toːɡ/ | това /tova/ | тогбо /toɡbo/ | tuwa /tuwa/ | ᡨᡠᠸᠠ /tuwa/ | ᡨᡠᠸᠠ /tuwa/ |
| Sun | дылача /dɯlatɕa/ | нөлтэн /nølten/ | сиун /siun/ | даигаси /daiɡasi/ | šun /ʃun/ | ᠰᡠᠨ /sun/ | ᡧᡠᠨ /ʃun/ |
| Moon | бега /beɡa/ | бяг /bjaɡ/ | биа /bia/ | биа /bia/ | biya /bija/ | ᠪᡳᠶᠠ /bija/ | ᠪᡳᠶᠠ /bija/ |
| Mother | эни /eni/ | эньэн /eɲen/ | энин /enin/ | энэ /ene/ | eme /eme/ | ᡝᠨᡞᠶᡝ /ənije/ | ᡝᠨᡳᠶᡝ /ənijə/ |
| Father | ама /ama/ | ама /ama/ | ама /ama/ | амэ /amə/ | ama /ama/ | ᠠᠮᠠ /ama/ | ᠠᠮᠠ /ama/ |
| Eat | дептэ /depte/ | дьэб /dʒeb/ | депу /depu/ | джевэ /d͡ʒevə/ | jefu /dʒefu/ | ᠵᡝᠮᠪᡞ /d͡ʒəmbi/ | ᠵᡝᠮᠪᡳ /dʒəmbi/ |
| Drink | умӣ /umiː/ | ум /um/ | омичи /omitʃi/ | омимэ /omimə/ | omi /omi/ | ᠣᠮᡳᠪᡞ /omibi/ | ᠣᠮᡳᠪᡳ /omibi/ |
| Love | аявдави /ajavdavi/ | аякан /ajakan/ | эйини /ejini/ | чисанай /t͡ʃisanaj/ | gosi /ɡosi/ | ᠴᡳᠯᡨᡠᠮᠪᡳ /t͡ʃiltumbi/ | ᡥᠠᡳᡵᠠᠮᠪᡳ /xairambi/ |
| Heart | меван /mevan/ | мяван /mjavan/ | миаван /miavan/ | миаван /miavan/ | niyaman /nijaman/ | ᠨᡳᠶᠠᠮᠠᠨ /nijaman/ | ᠨᡳᠶᠠᠮᠠᠨ /nijaman/ |
| Tree | мо /mo/ | мо /mo/ | мо /mo/ | мо /mo/ | mo /mo/ | ᠮᠣᠯᠣ /molo/ | ᠮᠣᠣ /moː/ |
| House | дю /dʒu/ | дьу /dʒu/ | дё /dʒo/ | дзугди /d͡zuɡdi/ | boo /boː/ | ᠪᠣᠣ /boː/ | ᠪᠣᠣ /boː/ |
| Dog | нгинакин /ŋinakin/ | нгин /ŋin/ | инда /inda/ | инай /inaj/ | indahǔn /indahuːn/ | ᠨᡳᠨᠳᠠᡥᡡᠨ /nindaxun/ | ᡳᠨᡩᠠᡥᡡᠨ /indaxuːn/ |
| Cat | кошка /koʂka/ | кошка /koʂka/ | коси /kosi/ | кошк /koʃk/ | kesike /kesike/ | ᡴᡝᠰᡳᡴᡝ /kəsikə/ | ᡴᡝᠰᡳᡴᡝ /kəsikə/ |
| Hand | нгалэ /ŋale/ | нгал /ŋal/ | нгала /ŋala/ | нала /nala/ | gala /ɡala/ | ᡤᠠᠯᠠ /ɡala/ | ᡤᠠᠯᠠ /ɡala/ |
| Eye | эса /esa/ | яса /jasa/ | насал /nasal/ | писа /pisa/ | yasa /jasa/ | ᠶᠠᠰᠠ /jasa/ | ᠶᠠᠰᠠ /jasa/ |
| Hello | дорообо /doroːbo/ | дорова /dorova/ | банди-банди /bandi bandi/ | бандиба /bandiba/ | — /—/ | ᠨᡳᠩᡤᡝ ᠰᠠᡳᠨ /niŋɡe sain/ | ᠰᡳ ᠰᠠᡳᠨ /si sain/ |
| Thank you | пасиба /pasiba/ | пасиба /pasiba/ | банихан /banihan/ | нюхча /ɲuxt͡ʃa/ | — /—/ | ᠪᠠᠨᡳᡥᠠ /banixa/ | ᠪᠠᠨᡳᡥᠠ /banixa/ |
| One | умун /umun/ | омэн /omen/ | эмун /emun/ | омо /omo/ | emu /emu/ | ᡝᠮᡠ /əmu/ | ᠡᠮᡠ /əmu/ |
| Good | ая /aja/ | ай /aj/ | ая /aja/ | ая /aja/ | sain /sain/ | ᠰᠠᡳᠨ /sain/ | ᠰᠠᡳᠨ /sain/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.