Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Institute
    • About the Institute
    • History
    • Directorate
    • Senate
    • Dissertation Councils
    • Trade Union
    • Young Scientists Council
    • Contact
  • Research
    • Research Departments
      • Department of African languages
      • Department of Applied Linguistics
      • Department of Asian and East Asian languages
      • Department of Caucasian Languages
      • Section of Comparative Linguistics
      • Department of experimental study of speech
      • Department of Indo-European languages
        • Section of Anatolian and Celtic languages
        • Section of Germanic languages
        • Section of Iranian languages
        • Section of Romance languages
      • Laboratory for study and preservation of minority languages
      • Laboratory for multichannel communication
      • Research center for national linguistic relations
      • Research center for the preservation, revitalization and documentation of the languages of Russia
      • Department of Theoretical Linguistics
      • Department of typology and areal linguistics
        • Section of typology
        • Section of areal linguistics
      • Department of Ural-Altaic languages
        • Group for Finno-Ugric languages
      • Yuri Stepanov Department for Theory and Practice of Communication
    • Researchers
    • Research projects
    • Popular science
    • Publications
    • Partnerships
    • Languages of Russia
  • Conferences
    • Upcoming Conferences
    • Linguistic Forum
      • Linguistic Forum 2022
      • Linguistic Forum 2021
      • Linguistic Forum 2020
      • Linguistic Forum 2019
  • Workshops
    • Discussion and Analytical Club on the Language Policy
    • Other workshops
  • Education
  • Publishing

logo

Mobile logo English

Dynamics of language contact in the circumpolar region

(2017-2021, with support of RSF grant No. 17-18-01649)

Main project website: http://circumpolar.iling-ran.ru/en/

Keywords: Circumpolar region, language contact, languages of Siberia and Far East, languages of Alaska, areal linguistics, sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, grammar, lexicon, phonology, traditional culture, oral history, linguistic maps

Circumpolar header photo

The central question of our project is ‘Are there any specific features of language contact in the circumpolar world?’.

A series of case studies devoted to specific contact areas in the North will guide us towards an answer. Besides, we are compiling a geographic database of all circumpolar languages that will be visualized with the help of dynamic maps, both online and printed. The database will provide a background for our case studies and will facilitate future linguistic research of the circumpolar world.

The case studies include the following traditionally multilingual linguistic areas:

  1. Middle and Upper Taz and middle Yenisey region (Olga Kazakevich, Elena Klyachko): Northern Selkup, Southern Selkup, Ket, Evenki, Russian;
  2. Tajmyr peninsula (Olesya Khanina, Valentin Gusev, Maria Amelina, Andrey Shluinsky, Olga Kazakevich, Elena Klyachko): Tundra Nenets, Tundra Enets, Forest Enets, Nganasan, Dolgan, Evenki, Russian-based pidgin Govorka, Russian;
  3. Lower Kolyma region (Maria Pupynina): Yukaghir, Even, Chukchee, Yakut, Russian;
  4. Kenai peninusula in Alaska (Andrej Kibrik, Mira Bergelson): Alutiiq, Dena’ina, Russian, English;
  5. Interior Alaska (Andrej Kibrik, Mira Bergelson): Upper Kuskokwim, Dena’ina, Koyukon, Ingalik, Central Yup'ik, Russian, English.

Besides, we have an extra case study on the Lower Amur and Sakhalin region (Valentin Gusev, Natalia Stoynova, Olga Kazakevich, Elena Klyachko) where Tungusic languages Nanaj, Ulchi, Oroch, Negidal, and Evenki are spoken along Nivkh and Russian. We take this linguistic area to check the relative importance of cultural vs. geographical features. The former are common for language communities of this region and the circumpolar communities mentioned above, while the latter are quite different.

Example of a map: Indigenous languages of the lower Ob’ river

Dynamics of language contact in the circumpolar region

  • Main Page
  • About the Project
  • Project Members
  • Project Publications
  • Project Events

Choose Language

  • English
  • Русский

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Research Departments
  3. Department of Typology and Areal Linguistics
  4. Dynamics of language contact in the circumpolar region
  • English
  • Русский

User account menu

  • Log in

Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences
1 bld. 1 Bolshoy Kislovsky Lane, 125009 Moscow, Russia (map)
Phone: (495) 690-35-85
Phone/Fax: (495) 690-05-28
E-mail: iling@iling-ran.ru
Twitter | YouTube
Map and contact information

© 2011–2022 Федеральное государственное бюджетное учреждение науки Институт языкознания Российской академии наук