Ненэцяˮ вада

Nenets

Uralic (Samoyedic)

FamilyUralic (Samoyedic) Speakers~22K ScriptCyrillic CountriesRussia (Yamalo-Nenets, Nenets, Taimyr) Official inNenets Autonomous Okrug (co-official) Vitalityvulnerable ISO 639-3yrk

Tundra Nenets is the most widely spoken Samoyedic language, a small but distinct branch of Uralic stretching across the Russian Arctic from the Kola Peninsula to the Yenisei. Speakers are reindeer-herding nomads of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The language has a rich case system, vowel harmony, and an unusual phonemic glottal stop denoted by the modifier letter ˮ in Cyrillic orthography.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Nenets

Water

ӣд

/iːd/

Fire

ту

/tu/

Sun

хаер

/xajer/

Moon

ирий

/irij/

Mother

небя

/nebja/

Father

нися

/nʲisʲa/

Eat

ёлась

/jolasʲ/

Drink

я

/ja/

Love

садось

/sadosʲ/

Heart

сей

/sej/

Tree

пя

/pja/

House

мяˮ

/mjaʔ/

Dog

вэно

/weno/

Cat

кошка

/koʂka/

Hand

ӈуда

/ŋuda/

Eye

сэв

/sew/

Hello

аньˮторова

/anʔtorova/

Thank you

спасибо

/spasibo/

One

ӈопой

/ŋopoj/

Good

сава

/sawa/

Words compared

Compared with related Uralic (Samoyedic) languages

Meaning NenetsForest EnetsNganasanKhantySelkupEvenkiKet
Water ӣд /iːd/ biː /biː/ быʼ /bɨʔ/ йиңк /jiŋk/ ӱт /yt/ му /mu/ уьл /ulʲ/
Fire ту /tu/ too /toː/ туй /tuj/ тут /tut/ тӱ /ty/ того /toɡo/ бок /bok/
Sun хаер /xajer/ kayua /kajua/ койка /kojka/ хатәл /xatəl/ нэлмо /nelmo/ дылача /dɯlatɕa/ и /i/
Moon ирий /irij/ ireʔ /ireʔ/ кичеа /kitʃea/ тылащ /tɯlaɕ/ ариаа /ariaː/ бега /beɡa/ ӄип /qip/
Mother небя /nebja/ ebya /ebja/ ниӈӈы /niŋːɨ/ ӑңки /ɐŋki/ эма /ema/ эни /eni/ ам /am/
Father нися /nʲisʲa/ niʃe /niʃe/ десы /desɨ/ аӂи /adʑi/ ача /at͡ʃa/ ама /ama/ об /oːp/
Eat ёлась /jolasʲ/ nyaʔ /ɲaʔ/ нягү /ɲaɡu/ лэты /lətɯ/ амгу /amɡu/ дептэ /depte/ сьел /sʲel/
Drink я /ja/ ya /ja/ быр /bɨr/ яңхты /jaŋxtɯ/ ӱдыргу /ydɨrɡu/ умӣ /umiː/ уьлся /ulʲsja/
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