Irina Samarina

Researcher, Section of Typology

Employed at the Institute since 1987.

Research interests

Field linguistics, documenting the languages of ethnic minorities, phonetics and phonology, prosody, linguistic typology, areal linguistics, isolating languages, Austroasiatic languages, Vietic languages, Vietnamese, Kra–Dai languages, lexicography, sociolinguistics, databases.

Biography

Irina Samarina graduated from the Division of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at Moscow State University in 1971, special part-time studies in applied mathematics at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics at MSU in 1975, she also undertook her correspondence postgraduate studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

From 1971 to 1975, she worked in the Group for Japanese-Russian Machine Translation at the Central Research Institute of Patented Information and Technical-Economical Studies. From 1974 to 1987, she worked at the Department of Languages of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the USSR Academy of Sciences. Since 1987, Samarina has been working in the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Since 2004, she has been teaching at the Military University of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. In 2007—2017 she taught at the Institute for Oriental and Classical studies at Russian State University for the Humanities. Since 2017, she has been employed as a senior professor at the Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies at HSE University.

Research

  • Studying tonogenesis in Vietic and Kra-Dai languages.
  • Documenting the languages of Vietnam's minority peoples and the Munda languages.
  • Participation in an ongoing project of the Institute of Linguistics for issuing encyclopaedic academic linguistic descriptions of natural languages — "Jazyki mira" [Languages of the World]. Preparing the volumes on Austroasiatic and Andamanese languages.

Science Index

Selected publications

Samarina is the author of more than 80 academic publications, including four monographs (in co-authorship), two dictionaries (in co-authorship), several articles in the Great Russian Encyclopaedia (see the full list of works in Russian).

  • Bitkeeva A.N., Mixal’čenko V.Ju., Kondraškina E.A., Kožemjakina V.A., Kaplunova M.Ja., Kazakevič O.A., Agranat T.B., Kirilenko S.V., Samarina I.V., Kolesnik N.G., Oreškina M.V. et al. Zakonomernosti sociokul’turnogo razvitija jazykov v poliètničeskom gosudarstve: Rossija-V’etnam [Patterns of the sociocultural development of language in a multi-ethnic state]. Мoscow. A.M.Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2020. 754 p. ISBN: 978-5-9208-0642-0.
  • Babaev K.V., Samarina I.V. Jazyk maj. Materialy Rossijsko-v’etnamskoj lingvističeskoj èkspedicii. Vypusk 5 [The May language. Materials from a Russian-Vietnamese linguistic field trip. Issue N5]. — Мoscow. YASK Publishing, 2018. 576 p. ISBN 978-5-907117-16-7
  • Samarina I.V., O.M. Mazo, Nguen Van Loj, Nguen Xyu Xoan’. Jazyki gèlao: materialy k sopostavitel’nomu slovarju kadajskix jazykov [Gelao languages. Data for the contrastive dictionary of Kra-Dai languages]. Chief editor Irina Samarina. Moscow. Academia, 2011. 944 p. + DVD. 
  • Materialy Rossiйsko-v’etnamskoй lingvističeskoй èkspedicii. Vypusk 4. Jazyk ruk [Materials from a Russian-Vietnamese linguistic field trip. Ruc language. Issue N4]. Solncev V.M., Solnceva N.V., Samarina I.V. Мoscow. Vostochnaya Literatura, 2001. Pp. 133–590. 
  • Občšestvennye nauki: Materialy k russko-v’etnamskomu terminologičeskomu slovarju [Social sciences: Data for the Russian-Vietnamese terminological dictionary]. Compiled by E. V. Kobelev, V. M. Mazyrin, I. V. Samarina, M. A. Sjunnerberg; executive editors E.V. Kobelev, Li Toan Txang. Мoscow, Hanoi. Published by the Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia. 2010. 553 p.
  • Terminy občšestvennyx nauk. Materialy k russko-v’etnamskomu terminologičeskomu slovarju [Social sciences terminology: Data for the Russian-Vietnamese terminological dictionary]. Compiled by E. V. Kobelev, V. M. Mazyrin, I. V. Samarina, M. A. Sjunnerberg; executive editors E.V. Kobelev, Li Toan Txang. Мoscow, Hanoi. Published by the Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2009. 281 p.

Grants

Principal investigator

  • Russian Foundation for Basic Research – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2017–2019. № 17-24-09001a, The disappearing languages of Nghệ An and Thanh Hóa Provinces (Vietnam): structural and sociolinguistic description. 
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities, 2015–2016, № 15-04-12052, Website of the "Expedition of the Moscow School of Linguistics". 
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2015, № 15-24-09552, Arem and ruc — relict Vietic languages, a field study.  
  • Foundation for Fundamental Linguistic Studies, А-47-2015, Areal studies of the prosodic systems and peculiarities of South Munda languages.
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities — Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2014–2016, № 14-24-09003, The encyclopaedia of archaic Vietic languages of Vietnam. 
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2013, № 13-24-09551, Linguistic field trip to the Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam (the description of some archaic Vietic languages: May, Chut and Malieng).
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2011–2012, № 11-24-09001а/Vie, Tonal systems of the Kra-Dai languages of Vietnam from synchronic and diachronic perspectives.
  • Foundation for Fundamental Linguistic Studies, 2011/2012, № А-49-2011, A field study of archaic Vietnamese languages: the Malieng language. 
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2008, № 08-04-94891е/V, Linguistic field trip to Vietnam for gathering data on and describing the Gelao language (Vietnam, the Hà Giang Province). 
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2010, № 10-04-18053е/V, Linguistic field trip for documenting the lexis of endangered languages: Laha and Noong Yen languages (the Kra-Dai group of the Thai language family, Vietnam).  
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities, 2010, № 10-04-16037д, The Gelao language: materials for the contrastive dictionary of Kra-Dai languages. Academia Publishing.
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2009–2010, № 09-04-00546а/V, The Kra-Dai languages of Vietnam: contrastive lexicology data. 

Project participant

  • Russian Foundation for Basic Research, 2020–2022, № 20-012-00325a, The realia of traditional material culture int the folklore and languages of East-Asian peoples. Principal investigator Sergei Dmitrenko.
  • The Programme of Basic Research of the Presidium of RAS "Artefacts of material and spiritual culture in the modern digital space." (I.25). The project: Data for the comparative multimedia dictionary "Material culture of East-Asian peoples", 2018-2020. Principal investigator Sergei Dmitrenko.
  • Russian Foundation for Basic Research, 2018–2020, № 18-012-00846, The Russian language in the multinational regions of the Russian Federation: Legal issues. Principal investigator Vida Mikhalchenko.
  • Russian Foundation for Basic Research, 2017, № 17-04-18029, Bahnaric languages of Cambodia: lexis, grammar, texts. Principal investigator Sergei Dmitrenko.
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2015–2017, № 15-24-09001, The patterns of sociocultural development in multiethnic countries (Russia - Vietnam). Principal investigator Aisa Bitkeeva.
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities, 2015–2017, № 15-34-11114а(ц), Target competition of interdisciplinary research projects of 2015 "Sociocultural aspects of Russian national security": Solving national and language problems as a factor in strengthening the Russian national security. Principal investigator Evgeny Chelyshev.
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2014–2016, № 14-24-09002 а(м), Cultural and linguistic worldview of the Thai people based on the analysis of the language of folklore texts and weaving ornaments (an ethnolinguistic approach). Principal investigator Natalia Krayevskaya.
  • Foundation for Linguistic Research, А-12, 2014/2015, Documenting the Kullui language (Western Pahāṛi), a field study. Principal investigator Yulia Mazurova. 
  • Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Federal contract 2010-2011, № 02.740.11.0595, Languages of the world: Informational resources for typological, comparative-historical and areal studies. Principal investigator Andrey Kibrik.
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities, 2009–2010, № 09-04-00255а, Language and society. Principal investigator Vida Mikhalchenko.
  • Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2008–2010, № 08-04-94872а/V, Russian-Vietnamese terminology in social sciences. Principal investigator Evgeny Kobelev.

Fieldwork

  • 2019. Russian Foundation for Basic Research – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 17-24-09001a, The disappearing languages of Nghệ An and Thanh Hóa Provinces (Vietnam): structural and sociolinguistic description, 2017–2019. 07.06–17.06.2019, Vietnam, the Thanh Hóa Province. Six participants including one from Russia (Irina Samarina). Documenting the Tho language in the Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam: compiling a glossary (4,000 lexemes), a corpus of sentences and folklore texts. All audio and video recordings included. Led by Irina Samarina.
  • 2019. A linguistic field trip on the invitation by the Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia (on the account of the host party) as part of the Vietnamese state program, dedicated to defining the languages/dialects of Vietnam and itemising the language composition of the Republic. 03.08–26.08.19. Vietnam, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh Provinces. Eight participants including one from Russia (Irina Samarina). Led by Nguen Huu Hoang.
  • 2018. Russian Foundation for Basic Research – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 17-24-09001-ОГН «The disappearing Vietic languages of Nghệ An and Thanh Hóa Provinces (Vietnam): structural and sociolinguistic description». 21.09.2018 — 17.10.2018; Nhu Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province (Vietnam). Two Russian researchers, five Vietnamese researchers. Led by Irina Samarina.
  • 2017. Russian Foundation for Basic Research, № 17-04-18029, Bahnaric languages of Cambodia: lexis, grammar, texts. 02.08 — 04.09. 2017, Cambodia (Banlung, Ratanakiri province). Four participants. Led by Sergei Dmitrenko.
  • 2017. 24.01 – 15.02.2017, India (Bhubaneswar, the state of Odisha). Three participants. Led by Irina Samarina.
  • 2017. Russian Foundation for Basic Research – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia № 17-24-09001a, The disappearing languages of Nghệ An and Thanh Hóa Provinces (Vietnam): structural and sociolinguistic description. 29.11 – 24.12.2017, Vietnam (Con Cuong district, Nghe An province). Eight participants. Led by Irina Samarina.
  • 2016. Foundation for Fundamental Linguistic Research, А-47-2015, Areal studies of the prosodic systems and peculiarities of South Munda languages. Led by Irina Samarina.
  • 2015. Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2015, № 15-24-09552, Arem and ruc — relict Vietic languages, a field study. Led by Irina Samarina.
  • 2015. Expedition to describe the Campuon language (the Bahnaric group). Banlung, Ratanakiri province, Cambodia. Led by Sergei Dmitrenko.
  • 2014. Foundation for Fundamental Linguistic Research, А-12, 2014/2015, Documenting the Kullui language (Western Pahāṛi), a field study. Led by Yulia Mazurova.
  • 2013. Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia, 2013, № 13-24-09551 Linguistic field trip to the Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam (the description of some archaic Vietic languages: May, Chut and Malieng). Led by Irina Samarina.
  • 2012. Foundation for Fundamental Linguistic Research, 2011/2012, № А-49-2011, A field study of archaic Vietnamese languages: the Malieng language. Led by Irina Samarina.
  • 2010. Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia 2010 № 10-04-18053е/V Linguistic field trip for documenting the lexis of endangered languages: Laha and Noong Yen languages (the Kra-Dai group of the Thai language family, Vietnam). Led by Irina Samarina.
  • 2009, October. Linguistic expedition to gather a thesaurus dictionary of the Qabiao language. Led by Irina Samarina. 
  • 2009, July. Linguistic expedition to describe a Chuvash dialect in Maloe Karachkino village. Led by Anna Dybo.
  • 2009, April. Linguistic expedition to gather grammatical data and texts in the language of the White Gelao. Led by Irina Samarina.
  • 2008. Russian Foundation for Humanities – Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopedia 2008 № 08-04-94891е/V «Linguistic field trip to Vietnam for gathering data on and describing the Gelao language (Vietnam, the Hà Giang Province).» Led by Irina Samarina.
  • 2007. Department of Historico-Philological Sciences of RAS. Organisation of scientific expeditions in 2007. "A field study of the linguistic contacts of the aboriginal peoples of Primorye". Led by Irina Samarina. 
  • 2006. Department of Historico-Philological Sciences of RAS. Organisation of scientific expeditions in 2006. "Lingustic and ethnosociolinguistic studies of minority aboriginal peoples of the Primorsky Krai (Taz and Nanai people)". Led by Irina Samarina. 
  • 2005. Russian Foundation for Basic Research 2005 № 05-06-88019 "Organising and leading the expedition to Evenks and Kets, Baykitsky district, Evenk Autonomous Okrug". Led by Olga Kazakevich.
  • 2005. Russian Foundation for Humanities 2005 № 05-04-18009е, An expedition to Primorsky Krai: language functioning and contacts. Led by Vida Mikhalchenko.
  • 2004. A sociolinguistic study of Chuvash-exclusive locations. Led by Irina Samarina, Atner Huzangai.
  • 2004. Russian Foundation for Humanities, 2004, № 04-0412028в. Expedition to Kets (Sulomai village, Baykitsky district, Evenk Autonomous Okrug). Led by Olga Kazakevich.
  • 2001. An expedition to Vietnam as part of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig) programme "Intercontinental Dictionary Series. Austroasiatic Languages, Tai Languages". Led by Bernard Comrie, coordinated by Ilya Peiros. 
  • 2001. Russian Foundation for Humanities, 2001, № 01-0688020е Organising and leading an expedition to the Selkup people of the Purovsky District (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug). Led by Olga Kazakevich.
  • 2000. An expedition to Vietnam as part of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig) programme "Intercontinental Dictionary Series. Austroasiatic Languages, Tai Languages". Led by Bernard Comrie, coordinated by Ilya Peiros.
  • 2000. РГНФ, 2000, № 00-0418013е An expedition to the forest Nenets people (Purovsky District, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug). Led by Vida Mikhalchenko.
  • 1997. Vietnam. The Pa Theng language. Led by Vadim Solntsev.
  • 1995. Vietnam. The Lachi language. Led by Vadim Solntsev.
  • 1991. Vietnam. The Xao Do language. Led by Vadim Solntsev.
  • 1986. Vietnam. The Katu, Pnong and Ruc languages. Led by Vadim Solntsev.
  • 1984. Vietnam. Collecting data on mon-khmer languages. Led by Vadim Solntsev.
  • 1973-1977. Five expeditions to Dagestan and Azerbaijan. Led by Andrey Kibrik, Boris Gorodetsky.
  • 1972. Expedition to Khinalug village (Kubinsky disctrict, Azerbaijan). Led by Andrey Kibrik. 
  • 1969. Expedition to the Pamir Mountains. Shughni language. Led by Abdrey KIbrik.
  • 1968. Expedition to Archi village (Dagestan). Archi language. Led by Andrey Kibrik.

Conferences

Samarina partook in numerous international conferences and in conferences and research seminars organised by academic and educational centres of the Russian Federation, including the following:

 

  • Guest lecturer of the Brazilian Linguistics Association (abralin.org) as part of the international project «Abralin ao Vivo - Linguists Online» (aovivo.abralin.org). — Online lecture “Have tonal languages always been tonal? Vietic languages and the monosyllabisation process” (Video)
  • ICAAL8 (International Conference on Austroasiatic languages), 2019. Organised by the Myanmar Center at the Faculty of Humanities, Chiang Mai University. Chiang Mai, Thailand. 29–31.08.2019. — Some Remarks on Vietic Finals: Poong and Dan Lai Languages (Nghe An Province, Vietnam).
  • Conference «Vietnamese Minority Languages and the Ways to Revitalise Them." Organised by the Univesrity of Thái Nguyên. Thái Nguyên, Vietnam. 11.06.2019. — Kinh nghiệm Việt – Nga trong nghiên cứu sưu tầm các ngôn ngữ nguy cấp ở Việt Nam: 1979-2019.
  • The 29th Annual Congress of the Southeast Asia Linguistics Society: SEALS XXIX. Organised by the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. Tokyo, Japan, 27-29.05/2019. — The Evolution of the Prosodic System in the Vietic Language May.
  • Typology of small-scale multilingualism. Laboratoire Dynamique du Langage (DDL), the Laboratory of Linguistic Convergence (HSE, Moscow), Institute of Linguistics (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow). Lyon, France. 15–17.04.2019 — Small-scale multilingualism in Vietic ethnic communities in North-Central Vietnam.
  • Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 28 (SEALS28) conference. Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages. Kaohsiung, Taiwan — 17–19 May 2018. — Some phonetic and phonological notes on Dan Lai and Tay Poong - two Vietic languages in North-Central Vietnam.
  • Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 27 (SEALS27) conference, Padang (South Sumatra, Indonesia), 11–13 May 2017. — «On the phonological status of minor syllable vowels in Vietic».
  • 3rd International Conference of the Linguistics of Vietnam “Modern linguistic trends and language studies in Vietnam”. Institute of Linguistics, Vietnamese Academy of Social sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam, 22 April 2017. – «Russian–Vietnamese experience of language documentation of endangered languages in Vietnam» (in Vietnamese).
  • Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 26 (SEALS26) conference, Manila, Philippines. 26.05–28.05.2016. — Prosodic systems in Vietic languages: The case study of Sach language.
  • IIAS. Conference “Language, Power and Identity in Asia: Creating and Crossing Language Boundaries”. Leiden, the Netherlands, 14–16 March 2016. — “Ethnic identity through the prism of ethnic minorities’ mentality and official population census in Vietnam”.
  • 8th International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS 8), 24–27 June 2013, Macao. — “Endangered Vietic languages in Vietnam and the experience in fieldwork on them”.

Teaching

Senior Professor at the Military University of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (since 2004):    
– practical course of Vietnamese;    
– theory of the Vietnamese language;    
– academic supervisor of term papers and diploma theses.

Senior professor at Russian State University for the Humanities, Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies (2008–2017):    
– director of studies in "Vietnamese philology" (2008–2013), "Language and literature of Vietnam" (2013–2017), "History and philology of Vietnam and Laos (2010–2015);    
– author of BA curricula "Vietnamese philology", "History and philology of Vietnam and Laos;    
– author of the curricula for the disciplines and extra courses in Languages and literature of Asia and Africa (BA in specialisation "Oriental and African Studies") ;    
– teaching the practical course of Vietnamese;    
– teaching introductory courses in Vietnamese studies, the theory of the Vietnamese language, typology of isolating languages;
– academic supervisor of term papers and diploma theses.

Employed as a senior professor at the Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies at HSE University (since 2017), head of the specialisation "Languages and literature of South-East Asia" (since 2019).

In the media

  • 11.06.2019. Interview to a Vietnamese TV channel (VTV4): the problems of revitalising endangered languages of the minority peoples of Vietnam (in Vietnamese).
  • From 2008 to 2014 the Vietnamese office of the radio company Voice of Russia was preparing annual broadcasts (in Vietnamese) about Russian-Vietnamese collaborations under the leadership of Irina Samarina and with the support of the Russian Science Foundation for Humanities. The materials were published on the company's website rus.ruvr.ru 
  • A talk at the Society of Russian-Vietnamese Friendship (Hanoi, August 2014): "Encyclopaedic description of the archaic Vietic languages of Vietnam — a Russian-Vietnamese collaboration" (in Vietnamese).
  • Presentations on the languages of the peoples of Vietnam at the 14th (2009), 17th (2012), 18th (2013) and 19th (2014) International Festivals of Languages in Cheboksary, organised by the open society "Youth Esperanto Association of the Chuvash Republic" with the support of the Ministry of Economic Development.
  • In 2009, a two-episode documentary was released on Vietnamese TV channels VTV4 and VTV2 as part of the series "Friends of Ours". The film was about Irina Samarina's long-standing linguistic research that she conducted with her Vietnamese colleagues and about her impressions of Vietnam.
  • Samarina partook in a TV broadcast dedicated to the International Day of Aboriginal Peoples (2009) on "Zvezda" channel.

Awards and acknowledgements

  • Awarded the Order of Friendship by the Republic of Vietnam for her contributions to the development of collaboration, solidarity and friendship between the peoples of Russia and Vietnam. The document was signed by the President of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong on the 26 October 2018. The award was given by the Prime Minister of the Republic Nguyen Xuan Phuc on the 23 May 2019 at the Vietnamese Embassy in Moscow.
  • Awarded the medal "100th Anniversary of the Military University of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation". Order of the head of the University from 02.10.2019 № 1549.
  • Acknowledgement for organising and conducting the international conference "Language policies and language conflicts in the modern world", Moscow, 16-19 September 2014, Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (funded by the Russian Science Foundation for Humanities, project № 14-04-14041, principal investigator Vida Mikhalchenko). 
  • Certificates and diplomas from the Ministry of Education and Youth Policies of the Chuvash Republic for presenting the Languages of Vietnam at the 14th (2009), 17th (2012), 18th (2013) and 19th (2014) International Festivals of Languages in Cheboksary.
полевая лингвистика
документирование малых языков
фонетика
фонология
просодия
типология
ареальная лингвистика
австроазиатские языки
лексикография
социолингвистика
лингвистическое обеспечение баз данных