Material on Manchurian Khamnigan Evenki

Preface

The present publication constitutes the second part of the author’s preliminary notes on the linguistic situation among the Manchurian Khamnigan. While the earlier notes, published as Castrenianumin toimitteita 37 (Helsinki 1990), concentrated on the Khamnigan Mongol language, the focus will now be on the Evenki language, as spoken by the same, largely bilingual, population. As the corpus still remains far from complete, the data quoted and analyzed below should be accepted as a mere first step towards an understanding of the synchronic and diachronic problems involved.

An initial skeleton of grammatical information on Khamnigan Evenki was obtained during the author’s stay in Hulun Buir between August 16 and September 13, 1990. Most of this time, from August 20 to September 8, was spent at Adagai, the centre of the Evenki Sumun of the Old Bargut Banner. A number of scattered Khamnigan camps on the steppe was also visited, and special efforts were made to gather any available oral information of ethnohistorical relevance. Unfortunately, only short samples of true folklore were recorded during this field season.

In view of the complicated dialectological situation among the speakers of Manchurian Khamnigan Evenki, it turned out to be necessary to carry out additional field work before the completion of the present publication. Therefore, another visit to Hulun Buir was made between June 15 and July 14, 1991. From June 18 to July 11 the author again stayed at Adagai and its surroundings. Fresh grammatical and dialectological material was obtained, and the recording of folklore in both Khamnigan Mongol and Khamnigan Evenki finally got well under way. As a result, it now seems possible to present for a wider readership a selection of the grammatical and ethnohistorical data gathered so far.

A large part of the financial costs of the above-mentioned two field trips was, like before, carried by the Academy of Finland (Helsinki), while organizational cooperation was provided by the Inner Mongolian Academy of Social Sciences (Huhehoto). For the smoothness of this cooperation, the author is particularly grateful to Mr. Zhang Fuguo and Mr. Ju Leping. During the practical work in the field the author enjoyed the helpful assistance and company of Mr. Erdenitoqtaqu (Chi. Taogetao), in 1990, and Mr. Bükecilaq̈u (Chi. Buhe), in 1991.

Among the several informants on Manchurian Khamnigan Evenki, two extraordinary personalities should be specially mentioned: Mr. Goncig (Ru. Nikolai Petrovich Vikulov) and Mr. Tumaa (Ru. Pëtr Semënovich Sukhanov). The former is the only university-educated Khamnigan philologist in China, with a thorough knowledge of a variety of local languages and dialects, while the latter is the foremost living preserver and performer of Khamnigan narrative folklore today.

In the future, the author plans to continue visiting the Manchurian Khamnigan annually, if possible. It is hoped that these visits will also help the Khamnigan gain some increased publicity in the administrative bureaucracy of Inner Mongolia and China. Only
a policy of non-interference with the languages, traditions, and present-day territory of the Manchurian Khamnigan can guarantee
their preservation as such a vigorous ethnolinguistic group as they still are today.

October, 1991
Helsinki