Arman language

Arman
Armanskij
ääwnä
Native toRussia
RegionArman river
EthnicityEvens
Extinct1970s
Tungusic
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologarma1243
Linguasphere44-CAA-aad
Arman is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Arman (also known as Armanskij) is an extinct language or dialect of Even that was around the Arman river in Magadan Oblast, Russia. Arman is known as a transitory variety of Evenki and Even. Arman went extinct in the 1970s.

Classification

Arman has been classified as a Ewenic language in the Tungusic language family.

The classification of Arman as a language or dialect of Even is more controversial. Initially, L. D. Rišes and V. I. Cincius stated Arman as a dialect of Evenki. E. A. Kreĭnovich agreed with them, stating that Arman is a linguistic autonomous system of Even. Japanese scholars such as Jiro Ikegami have so far ignored the topic.

Gerhard Doerfer was the first person to argue for Arman being a separate language from Even, which Klavdiya Novikova and José Andrés Alonso de la Fuente has also echoed among other scholars. Glottolog has also classified Arman as a separate language from Even under their Ewenic languages. Natalia Aralova stated that the question if Arman was a language or dialect cannot be answered.

Features

Arman has archaic features also found in Evenki such as the word-initial consonants of s-, l-, n- and j-.

Glossary

The separation between Arman and Even can be shown with the Arman word boro-n’či(horsehair), which in Even is mura-nra. Malchukov also presents different words such as ewne (Ewen) and ŋees (nose).

The following is a list of Arman compared to Even dialects and other Tungusic languages from José Andrés Alonso de la Fuente.

English Arman Literary Ewen East Ewenki West Ewenki Literary Ewenki Proto-Tungusic Northern Tungusic
sunɥoolteŋyultän ~ ñultän ~ dilacaañööltin ~ ñuëltinñööltəndilacaa ~ siguun
small; little, lessabla*abul.ĭ*abŏl
netadlaadӛladaladol*adŏl/*adul.ĭ
little; lessabaltï/ablajïabӛlӛcabalac/*abŏlabolot
tumoraval**avla
eveningsisäätnähiisäcin
seanamlam
Armanääwnääwən
swanüüsïxüüsï
shamansamaanhamaan
fishol’cïolrӛ
allkupsäkubəc
to killwaa-maa-*waa-

References

  1. 1 2 3 Alonso de la Fuente 2014, p. 413.
  2. 1 2 Christopher Moseley; Alexandre Nicolas (2010). "Atlas of the world's languages in danger". UNESCO. p. 52. Retrieved 2026-05-10. Languages that have become extinct ... Arman (an archaic variety of Even, in the 1970s
  3. ↑ Juha Janhunen; Tapani Salminen (2000). "UNESCO RED BOOK ON ENDANGERED LANGUAGES: NORTHEAST ASIA". Archived from the original on 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2026-08-22.
  4. 1 2 Alonso de la Fuente 2014, p. 414.
  5. ↑ Hölzl, Andreas (2018). The Tungusic languages family through the ages:Interdisciplinary perspectives. Tallinn: University of Zurich. p. 6. Retrieved 2 September 2026.
  6. 1 2 Cincius, V. I. (December 1965). "Manchu-Tunguz Data on the Word "Horse"". Central Asiatic Journal. 10 (3/4): 152–153. JSTOR 41926729. Retrieved 9 September 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 Natalia Aralova (2015). Vowel harmony in two Even dialects: Production and perception (PDF). University of Amsterdam. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 11 September 2026.
  8. ↑ Alonso de la Fuente 2014, p. 413-414.
  9. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Arman". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  10. 1 2 Malchukov, Andrej (31 August 2023). Vovin, Alexander; Alonso de la Fuente, José Andrés; Janhunen, Juha (eds.). "Ewen". The Tungusic Languages. Routledge: 261, 288. doi:10.4324/9781315728391-9. ISBN 9781317542797.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
  11. ↑ Alonso de la Fuente 2014, p. 414-415.

Bibliography