Eastern Khanty (, , ) is a Uralic language, frequently considered a dialect of a Khanty language, spoken by about 1,000 people. The majority of these speakers speak the Surgut dialect, as the Vakh-Vasyugan and Salym varieties have been rapidly declining in favor of Russian. The former two have been used as literary languages since the late 20th century, with Surgut being more widely used due to its less isolated location and higher number of speakers.

Classification

Dialects Classification of Eastern Khanty dialects:

Far Eastern (Vakh, Vasjugan, Verkhne-Kalimsk, Vartovskoe) Surgut (Jugan, Malij Jugan, Pim, Likrisovskoe, Tremjugan-Tromagan) The Vakh, Vasyugan, Alexandrovo and Yugan (Jugan) dialects have less than 300 speakers in total.

Transitional The Salym dialect can be classified as transitional between Eastern and Southern (Honti 1998 suggests closer affinity with Eastern, Abondolo 1998 in the same work with Southern). The Atlym and Nizyam dialects also show some Southern features.

Examples Surgut; () ― The war has begun, men must take up arms Vakh; ()

Phonology Eastern Khanty corresponds to in the northern and southern languages.

Vakh Vakh has the richest vowel inventory, with five reduced vowels and full . Some researchers also report . +Vakh Khanty consonantsBilabialDentalPalatal/izedRetroflexVelarNasalPlosiveAffricateFricativeLateralTrillSemivowel

Surgut Surgut Khanty has five reduced vowels and full vowels . + VowelsOb-Ugric Languages, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Phoneme table including FUT and IPA character correspondences (comparison of publications) Front Central Back Close Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Open ~

+ConsonantsBilabialDental /AlveolarPalatal/izedPost-alveolarVelarUvularNasal Plosive / Affricate ~ Fricativemedian () ~ lateral Approximant ~ () Trill

Alphabet

+Surgut alphabet (ԯ ң typeface)А аӐ ӑӒ ӓВ вИ иЙ йК кҚ қЛ лЉ љԮ ԯМ мН нЊ њҢ ңО оӨ өӨ̆ ө̆Ӧ ӧП пР рС сТ тᲉ ᲊУ уЎ ўӰ ӱҲ ҳҶ ҷШ шЫ ыЭ эӘ ә

+Vakh-Vasyugan alphabet (ԯ ң typeface)А аӐ ӑӒ ӓВ вИ иЙ йК кҚ қЛ лԮ ԯМ мН нҢ ңО оӨ өӨ̆ ө̆Ӧ ӧП пР рС сТ тУ уЎ ўӰ ӱҲ ҳҶ ҷШ шЫ ыЭ эӘ әӚ ӛЯ яЮ ю

The Khanty letters with a tick or tail at bottom, namely Қ Ԯ Ң Ҳ Ҷ, are sometimes rendered with a diagonal tail, i.e. , and sometimes with a curved tail, i.e. . However, in the case of Surgut such graphic variation needs to be handled by the font, because there are no Unicode characters to hard-code Ҷ with a diagonal tail, and Unicode has refused a request to encode a variant of Ҷ with a curved tail (, approximated in unicode as Ч̡ч̡), the reasoning being that it would be an allograph rather than a distinct letter. (The same is true of the other curved-tail variants in Unicode; those were encoded by mistake.)L2/23-015 Comments on CYRILLIC CHE WITH HOOK’s use in Khanty and Tofa (Tofalar) (L2/22-280).

Grammar The Vakh dialect is divergent. It has rigid vowel harmony and a tripartite (ergative–accusative) case system, where the subject of a transitive verb takes the instrumental case suffix -нә-, while the object takes the accusative case suffix. The subject of an intransitive verb, however, is not marked for case and might be said to be absolutive. The transitive verb agrees with the subject, as in nominative–accusative systems.

Nouns +Case and number inflection in Surgut Khanty of the word /qɒːt/ 'house'NumberSingularDualPluralrowspan="100%" Nominativehousetwo houseshouses Dative + Lativeto the houseto the two housesto the houses Locativein the housein the two housesin the houses Ablativefrom the housefrom the two housesfrom the houses Aproximativetowards the housetowards the two housestowards the houses Translativeas the house as the two housesas the houses Instructivewith the housewith the two houses with the houses Comitativewith the housewith the two houses with the houses Abessivewithout the housewithout the two houses without the houses

Pronouns +Personal Pronouns in Surgut KantySingularDualPlural1. 2. 3.1. 2. 3.1. 2. 3.Nominativemɐːnʉŋɬʉβ, ɬʉɣmiːnniːnɬiːnməŋnəŋ, niŋɬəɣ, ɬiɣAccusativemɐːntnʉŋɐtɬʉβɐt ɬʉβətmiːnt miːnɐtniːnɐtɬiːnɐtməŋɐtnəŋɐtɬəɣɐtDativemɐːntemnʉŋɐtiɬʉβɐtimiːnɐtem miːntem minɐtiniːnɐtiɬiːnɐtiməŋɐtem məŋɐtinəŋɐti niŋɐtiɬəɣɐtiLativemɐːntemɐnʉŋɐtinɐ nʉŋɐtenɐ nʉŋɐtijɐɬʉβɐtiɬɐ ɬʉβɐtinɐ ɬʉβɐtɐmiːnɐtemɐ miːntemɐniːnɐtinɐ niːnɐtenɐ niːnɐtijɐɬiːnɐtiɬɐ ɬiːnɐtinɐməŋɐtinɐ məŋɐtemɐnəŋɐtinɐ nəŋɐtenɐ nəŋɐtijɐɬəɣɐtiɬɐ ɬəɣɐtinɐLocativemɐːntemnə mɐːnə, mɐːnnə mɐːnnʉŋɐtinə nʉŋnə nʉŋən, nʉŋnɬʉβɐtiɬnə ɬʉβɐtinə ɬʉβnə, ɬʉβənmiːnɐtemnə miːntemnə miːnnə, miːnənniːnɐtinnə niːnənɬiːnɐtiɬnə ɬiːnɐtinnə ɬiːnnə, ɬiːnənməŋɐtemnə məŋɐtinnə məŋnə, məŋənnəŋɐtinnə nəŋən, niŋnəɬəɣɐtiɬnə ɬəɣɐtinnə ɬəɣnə, ɬəɣənAblativemɐːntemi mɐːninʉŋɐtini nʉŋɐteni nʉŋiɬʉβɐtiɬi ɬʉβɐtini ɬʉβɐti, ɬʉβimiːnɐtemi miːntemi miːnɐti, miːniniːnɐtini niːnɐteni niːniɬiːnɐtiɬi ɬiːnɐtini ɬiːnɐti, ɬiːniməŋtemi məŋɐtini məŋɐti, məŋinəŋɐtini nəŋɐteni niŋɐtiji, nəŋiɬəɣɐtiɬi ɬəɣɐtini ɬəɣɐti, ɬəɣiAproximativemɐːntemnɐm mɐːnnɐmnʉŋɐtəɬnɐm nʉŋɐtinɐm nʉŋɐtenɐm nʉŋnɐmɬʉβɐtiɬnɐm ɬʉβɐtinɐm ɬʉβnɐmmiːnɐtemnɐm miːnɐtimənɐ miːnɐmniːnɐtinɐm niːnɐtenɐm niːnɐnɐmɬiːnɐtiɬnɐm ɬiːnɐtinɐm ɬiːnɐtijɐtməŋɐtemnɐm məŋɐtinɐm məŋnɐmnəŋɐtinɐm niŋɐtinɐm nəŋɐtenɐm nəŋɐtijɐɬəɣɐtiɬnɐm ɬəɣɐtinɐm ɬəɣnɐmTranslativemɐːntemɣə mɐːnɣənʉŋɐtinɣə nʉŋɐtiɣə nʉŋɐtenɣə nʉŋkəɬʉβɐtiɬɣə ɬʉβɐtinɣə ɬʉβɐtiɣə ɬʉβkəmiːnɐtemɣə miːnɐtikkə miːnɣəniːnɐtinɣə niːnɐtiɣə niːnɐtikkə niːnɣəɬiːnɐtiɬɣə ɬiːnɐtinɣə ɬiːnɐtikkə ɬiːnɣəməŋtemɣə məŋɐtinɣə məŋɐtikkə məŋkənəŋɐtinɣə nəŋɐtiɣə nəŋɐtikkə nəŋkəɬəɣɐtiɬɣə ɬəɣɐtinɣə ɬəɣɐtikkə ɬəɣkəInstructivemɐːntemɐtnʉŋɐtinɐt nʉŋɐtenɐt nʉŋɐtijɐtɬʉβɐtinɐt ɬʉβɐtiɬɐt ɬʉβɐtijɐtmiːntemɐtniːnɐtinɐt niːnɐtenɐt niːnɐtijɐtɬiːnɐtinɐt ɬiːnɐtiɬɐt ɬiːnɐtijɐtməŋɐtemɐt məŋɐteβɐtnəŋɐtinɐt nəŋɐtenɐt nəŋɐtijɐtɬəɣɐtinɐt ɬəɣɐtiɬɐt ɬəɣɐtijɐtComitativemɐːntemnɐt mɐːnnɐtnʉŋɐtinɐt nʉŋɐtenɐt nʉŋnɐtɬʉβɐtiɬnɐt ɬʉβɐtəɬnɐt ɬʉβɐtinɐt ɬʉβnɐtmiːnɐtemnɐt miːntemnɐt miːnnɐtniːnɐtinɐt niːnɐtenɐt niːnnɐtɬiːnɐtiɬɐt ɬiːnɐtinɐt ɬiːnnɐtməŋɐtinɐt məŋɐtemnɐt məŋɐtiβnɐt məŋnɐtnəŋɐtinɐt nəŋɐtenɐt nəŋnɐtɬəɣɐtiɬnɐt ɬəɣɐtinɐt ɬəɣnɐtAbessivemɐːntemɬəɣnʉŋɐtiɬəɣ nʉŋɐtinɬəɣɬʉβɐtiɬəɣ

+ Posessive in Surgut Kanty possessee singular dual plural rowspan="100%" 1stperson singular -əm -ɣəɬɐm -ɬɐm dual -imen -ɣəɬəmən -ɬəmən plural -iβ -ɣəɬəβ -ɬəβ 2ndperson singular -ən, -ɐ, -ɛ -ɣəɬɐ -ɬɐ dual -n -ɣəɬən -ɬən plural -in -ɣəɬən -ɬən 3rdperson singular -əɬ -ɣəɬ -ɬɐɬ dual -in -ɣəɬən -ɬən plural -iɬ -ɣəɬ -ɬɐɬ

Verbs

Eastern Khanty verbs must agree with the subject in person and number. There are two paradigms for conjugation. Subjective conjugation agrees only with the subject, and objective conjugation agrees with both the subject and the object. In a sentence with both a subject and an object, the subjective conjugation puts the object in focus, and the objective conjugation puts the object as a topic.

Vocabulary

Numerals No.Surgut Khanty numeralsVakh Khanty numerals1 (attributive), (non-attributive)2 (attributive), (non-attributive), (attributive), (non-attributive)34, 56, 78910111220253031404280100255800100030943

Sample EnglishSurgut KhantyVakh KhantyHello!What is your name?namefishhousewoman, man, childriver

References

Notes

Sources