Even language

The Even language /eɪˈvɛn/, also known as Lamut, Ewen, Eben, Orich, Ilqan (Russian: Эве́нский язы́к, earlier also Ламутский язы́к), is a Tungusic language spoken by the Evens in Siberia. It is spoken by widely scattered communities of reindeer herders from Kamchatka and the Sea of Okhotsk in the east to the River Lena in the west, and from the Arctic coast in the north to the River Aldan in the south. Even is an endangered language, with only some 5,700 speakers (Russian census, 2010). Dialects are Arman, Indigirka, Kamchatka, Kolyma-Omolon, Okhotsk, Ola, Tompon, Upper Kolyma, Sakkyryr, Lamunkhin.

Language contact

In some remote Arctic villages, such as Russkoye Ustye, whose population descended from Russian-Even intermarriage, the language spoken into the 20th century was a dialect of Russian with a strong Even influence.

Orthography

Cyrillic

А а	Ӑ ӑ	Б б	В в	Г г	Д д	Е е	Ё ё
Ж ж	З з	И и	Й й	К к	Л л	М м	Н н
Ӈ ӈ	О о	Ө ө	Ӫ ӫ	Ӧ ӧ	П п	Р р	С с
Т т	У у	Ф ф	Х х	Ц ц	Ч ч	Ш ш	Щ щ
Ъ ъ	Ы ы	Ь ь	Э э	Ю ю	Я я

Latin

A a	A‘ a‘	Aw aw	B b	Ch ch	D d	E e	F f
G g	G‘ g‘	H h	I ı	İ i	J j	K k	L l
M m	N n	N‘ n‘	O o	O‘ o‘	P p	Q q	R r
S s	Sh sh	T t	U u	U‘ u‘	V v	W w	X x
Y y	Z z	’

External links

• Endangered Languages of Siberia - The Even Language
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Even language
• Vergleich der Reziproken des Ewenischen mit verwandten Sprachen