An overview on the languages spoken in Siberia

Whenever we think of Siberia, we imagine a land full of ice and snow but nothing of the languages. The different languages spoken here are rich, full of tones and tell us much about the history of the land and its fascinating people.

Siberia is located in the western regions of the Russian steppes. The Russian language is still very much the dominant language spoken here, but this North Asian land has more than 40 different languages spoken by its different communities. However, preserving, cataloguing and understanding these languages have not been a priority for the government or scholars; this is such a shame as we are gradually losing the opportunity to do so as younger generations are more frequently using the most dominant languages in the country, ignoring their past languages.

There are several language groups in Siberia belonging to what is known as the Paleo-Asiatic or Paleo-Siberian languages. These include the Yukaghir, Nivkh, and Ket.

The Ket language is the most famous and widely known to scholars and the world. It has been known in the past as the Yenisei Ostyak language. Ket is the only spoken language from the Yenisei language family unfortunately. It is spoken by the Ket ethnic group, a people who live along the Yenisei River, running throughout Central Siberia.

The Ket language has managed to survive into this century despite the centuries under Russian rule and their dominating language. However, it is still faces the high risk of extinction. Those who speak the language are quickly diminishing and the younger generation are choosing to speak Russian instead of Ket; by the end of the 20^th century, it was estimated that only 500 people knew and spoke the language.

Yukaghir is also known as Jukagir, a language mixed up of the Tundra and Kolyma dialects. It is spoken in the far east of the Kolyma River by the Yukaghir people.

Nivkh is part of the Paleo-Siberian language group, spoken by the people living the border of what used to be Manchuria. It is what is called an ‘isolate’ language, spoken in the Amur region, possibly down to the north of Sakhalin Island.

Another language spoken in Siberia is the Ainu language. Although closely associated with Japan, the Ainu language is spoken by a few communities in the Kamchatka Peninsula region.

Other language umbrella groups spoken in Siberia include the Chukotko-Kamchatkan. Including in this group are the Chukchi, or Chukot, Chukcha or Luoravetlan, as well as other smaller languages. These are used by the Chukchi people, who live in the far east of the country.

In the late 19^th century and early 20^th century, scholars from Germany, Poland, Hungary, Russia and other nearby countries started to record some of the languages spoken in Siberia. It is only hoped that we continue to do so before time runs out and the languages are dead.

Ulalinka: the Oldest Palaeolithic Site in Siberia

Siberia is a land which is often overlooked in history and archaeology. This is such a shame as there are many wonderful sites and archaeological discoveries to be found. The oldest Palaeolithic site in Siberia is Ulalinka.

Ulalinka was discovered in 1961 and is situated on the right tributary of the Maima River, on the left side of the Ulalinka below the cemetery of Gorny Altaisk. The site is located on the edge of the Iogola Ridge, which is composed of flint limestone, quartzite and other rock material dating from the late Proterozoic Age.

The site has two cultural layers that were exposed to the ridge as well as well as in a pit in the hilltop dug to a depth of 5.8 meters. “This section’s strata differ in genesis and form three informal units. In one of the pits walls this section was as follows: (1) modern black soil, 0.70 m; (2) grey-brownish loam with worm tunnels and roots of vegetation, 0.3 m; (3) loessy light grey loam with columnar parting and lime nodules, 0.3 m; and (4) loessy light brown loam with lime nodules, 0.4 m”. Confirmed by finds of molluscs, these four layers make up a typical late Quaternary loam unit.

The first cultural layer is found on the lower part of this loam unit, which then proceeds with lumpy brown clay, 0.45 m, then brown clay with iron hydrates, followed by yellowish brown clay with crushed stone. These particular layers and make up the middle section and indicates, along with the general appearance of the loan unit, a much earlier Quaternary age.

The upper cultural layer has yielded a vast array of archaeological artefacts, particularly Palaeolithic implements. Some of these include a few flakes, fragments of a prismatic core, a point, and a small scraper of a semi-lunar blade made of obsidian. These tools are from an age younger then the Sartan glaciation, which is less than 25,000 years ago.

One of the interesting things about this site is the fact that the stoning inventory and the way the tools were manufactured are not only so primitive, but they are so peculiar that they do not belong in the usual classification of the Lower Palaeolithic typology. Even the classic western European nomenclature schemes cannot be applied here.

The archaeological data was enough to date the site, however geological, paleogeographical paleontological methods were used as well. These methods by did not produce a common date; some scholars believe the site be no more than 40,000 years old, others dated it to the Middle Pleistocene, whilst others believed to it today from the Early Pleistocene. “A further group of scholars assigned it to the Late Pliocene on the basis of paleogeographical environments and lithology of the cultural layer”. However, we know now that the site itself is definitely more than 690,000 years old, making Ulalinka the oldest Palaeolithic site in Siberia.

Bibliography:

Okladnikov, A. L. & Pospelova, G. A. (1982) Ulalinka, the Oldest Palaeolithic Site in Siberia, Current Anthropology, The University of Chicago Press on behalf of Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.

Who is Otshirvani in Mythology

Mythology has always played an important role in the history of the cultures in this world. Not only were they the explanations of how the world and everything in it came to be, they were moral guides to live your life by, the means to record the history of your culture and a form of entertainment.

In all of the cultures in the world, ancient Greek myths are probably the best well-known, with Egyptian, Roman and Norse myths coming in behind her. However, if we look at the mythology of other places, like Siberia, we find not only similarities, but fascinating accounts of gods, goddesses, monsters, men and divine creatures.

In Siberian mythology, Otshirvani was a god of light. He was sent by the supreme god to fight Losy, a serpent of monstrous appearance and temperament who killed all mortal beings by covering the world with poison. Taking the form of a gigantic bird, Otshirvani swooped down and seized Losy in his claws and threw him against the world mountain, killing him instantly.

Another myth that concerns Otshirvani is regarding immortality amongst mortals. This myth is found among the Buriats of Siberia. In it, Otshirvani “wished to sweeten life for mankind and animals, so he let the sun and the moon prepare the water of life, but Arakho drank it up and soiled the cup. Having inquired the beast's dwelling place from the moon, Otshirvani hurried there and cut him in two. The forepart, having thus become immortal, pursues the moon. The Arakho who causes eclipses of the sun and the moon and who has only a head but nobody is known also among the Mongols”.

The logical implication of this story is that in illo tempore Otshirvani made the sun and the moon prepare a cup of the waters of life, a drink of which would make men immortal, but probably on the way down from heaven the waters of life were drunk and the cup soiled by Arakho, so that men lost the precious chance to obtain immortality.

Like with many deities, Otshirvani has his roots in another culture. He was a distortion of the Indian Bodhisattva Vajrapani and originates in India where the monster's name is Rahu. Arakho and Alkha are corrupt variants of this name. Despite this, Otshirvani is an interesting character in the mythology of the world and deserves attention.

Bibliography:

Waida, Manabu (1977) Symbolisms of the Moon and the Waters of Immortality, History of Religions, The University of Chicago Press.