Northern Mansi

Northern Mansi (ма̄ньси ла̄тыӈ, pronounced [maːnʲɕilaːtəŋ] ⓘ) is the sole surviving member of the Mansi languages, spoken in Russia in the Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Sverdlovsk Oblast.

Northern Mansi has strong Russian, Komi, Nenets, and Northern Khanty influence, and is the literary Mansi language. There is no accusative case; that is, both the nominative and accusative roles are unmarked on the noun. */æ/ and */æː/ have been backed to [a] and [aː].

This article focuses on the Severnaya Sosva dialect of Northern Mansi, considered the literary language.

Dialects

Dialects are named after the rivers their speakers originally lived next to. Mutual intelligibility between dialects can vary.

• Sosva/Severnaya Sosva (Next to the Northern Sosva river)
• Sygva (Next to the Sygva river)
• Upper Lozva (Next to the upper part of the Lozva river)
• Ob (Near or next to the Khanty-Mansi part of the Ob river, sub-dialectal differentiation to upper, middle, lower Ob dialect)

Differences

The main difference between dialects is phonetic, grammar is usually universal across the Northern Mansi, though vocabulary differences also occur.

Sosva dialect

Which could be considered the literary dialect of Northern Mansi, has several differentiating features:

• The infinitive verb ending is, -ӈкве
• It uses сь for the [ɕ] sound in its written form.

Sygva dialect

• If the [k] sound appears before [e] or [i], it turns into [tʲ], an example is two being тит

Upper Lozva dialect

It is the second most used dialect of Northern Mansi, after the Sosva dialect, its features consist of:

• The infinitive verb ending is, -ӈкв
• It uses щ for the [ɕ] sound in its written form.
• The [ɣ] sound changes to [j], in writing it is also changed from г to й

Ob dialects

They don't have an official written form in Cyrillic writing, but their phonetic features include:

• The absence of the [kʷ] sound, subsidized with a [k] sound

Examples

• Sosva: "Ханисьтан хум ханисьтаӈкве ха̄сыс, ханисьтахтын ня̄врам ханисьтахтуӈкве ат таӈхыс." — "A teacher could teach, but a student couldn’t study."
• Upper Lozva: "А̄йирищум иӈ ма̄нь, но̄х-яныймаӈкв ат паты" - "My daughter is still small, she won't grow up."

Phonology

Consonants

The inventory presented here is a maximal collection of segments found across the Mansi varieties. Some remarks:

1. /ɕ/ is an allophone of /sʲ/.
2. The labialization contrast among the velars dates back to Proto-Mansi, but was in several varieties strengthened by labialization of velars adjacent to rounded vowels. In particular, Proto-Mansi *yK → Core Mansi *æKʷ (a form of transphonologization).

Vowels

Northern Mansi has a largely symmetric system of 8 vowels, though lacking short **/e/ and having a very rare long [iː]:

Remarks:

1. ы/и /i/ has a velar allophone [ɨ] before г /ɣ/ and after х /x/.
2. Long [iː] occurs as a rare and archaic phonetic variant of /eː/, cf. э̄ти ~ ӣти (‘in the evening, evenings’)
3. Long /eː/ and /oː/ can be pronounced as diphthongs [e͜ɛ] and [o͜ɔ].
4. у /u/ is found in unstressed (“non-first”) syllables before в /w/, in the infinitive suffix -ункве /uŋkʷe/ and in obscured compound words.
5. Reduced /ə/ becomes labialized [ə̹] or [ɞ̯] before bilabial consonants м /m/ and п /p/.

Alphabet

The highlighted letters, and Г with the value /ɡ/, are used only in names and loanwords. The allophones /ɕ/ and /sʲ/ are written with the letter Щ or the digraph СЬ respectively.

Grammar

Northern Mansi is an agglutinating, subject–object–verb (SOV) language.

Article

One way to express a noun's definiteness in a sentence is with articles, and Northern Mansi uses two articles. The Indefinite is derived from the demonstrative pronominal word ань ('now'), the definite is derived from the number аква/акв ('one'); ань ('the'), акв ('a/an'). They both are used before the defined word. And if their adverbial and numeral meanings are to be expressed; ань always stands before the verb or a word with a similar function and is usually stressed, акв behaves the same and is always stressed.

It's worth noting that the Northern Mansi newspaper, Lūimā sēripos (Лӯима̄ сэ̄рипос), doesn't use the before-mentioned words as articles.

Definiteness (determination) can also be expressed by the third (less often second) person singular possession marker, or in case of direct objects, using transitive conjugation. E.g. а̄мп (’dog’) → а̄мпе (’his/her/its dog’, ’the dog’); ха̄п (’boat’) → ха̄п на̄лув-нарыгтас (’he/she pushed a boat in the water’) ≠ ха̄п на̄лув-нарыгтастэ (’he/she pushed the boat in the water’).

Nouns

There is no grammatical gender. Mansi distinguishes between singular, dual and plural number. Six grammatical cases exist. Possession is expressed using possessive suffixes, for example -ум, which means "my".

Grammatical cases, declining

There are 5 ways the case suffix can change.

Missing cases can be expressed using postpositions, such as халныл (χalnəl, 'of, out of'), саит (sait, 'after, behind'), etc.

Possession

Possession is expressed with possessive suffixes, and the suffix change is determined by the last letter of a word. There are 5 ways that the suffixes can change:

Verbs

Northern Mansi conjugation has three persons, three numbers, two tenses, and five moods. Active and passive voices exist.

There is no clear distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs.

The verb can conjugate in a Definite and Indefinite way which depends on if the sentence has an object, which the action depicted by the verb refers to directly.

Personal suffixes

Personal suffixes are attached after the verbal marker. The suffixes are the following:

Tenses

Tenses are formed with suffixes except for the future.

Present tense

The tense suffix precedes the personal suffix. The form of the present tense suffix depends on the character of the verbal stem, as well as moods. Tense conjugation is formed with the suffixes -эг, -э̄г, -и, -э, -э̄, -г, or -в. In the following examples, the tense suffix is in bold and the personal ending is in italic.

The present tense suffix -э̄г is used if the following personal marker contains a consonant or a highly reduced vowel; the suffix -эг is used if the following personal marker has a stronger vowel, as it is the case in 2nd person dual and plural. 1st person dual has no tense marker but rather a ы between the verb stem and personal ending.

Verb stems that end in a vowel, have -г as verbal marker. Verb stems that end with the vowel у have -в as verbal marker.

3rd person dual has no personal ending. If the verbal stem ends in a vowel, the tense suffix becomes -ыг.

1st person plural personal ending is -в if the verbal stems ends in a consonant; the personal ending becomes -ув if the verbal stem ends in a vowel.

Past tense

The past tense suffix if the verb stem is monosylabalic is -ыс- and if the verb is polysyllabic it is -ас-:

3rd person dual in past tense has a -ы̄г personal ending.

The 1st person plural personal suffix turns into -ув.

Future "tense"

To represent the Future, the verb патуӈкве (not dissimilar to Hungarian use of the verb fogni) is used as an auxiliary verb conjugated in the Present Indicative:

Definiteness

Verbs can conjugate two ways to show agreement with the sentence's object.

Indefinite conjugation

In Indefinite verb conjugations, no object is present. Any suffix does not represent it.

Definite conjugation

In Definite verb conjugations there are three ways the verb can represent the direct object's number.

The singular object is expressed with the -ыл- suffix which changes depending on the mood and tense.

The dual object is expressed with the -ыяг- suffix which changes depending on the mood and tense.

The plural object is expressed with the -ыян- suffix which changes depending on the mood and tense.

Moods

There are four moods: indicative, mirative, optative, imperative and conditional.

Indicative mood has no suffix. Imperative mood exists only in the second person. Optative and Imperative don't have tenses.

Mirative mood

Is a mood presented in the present indefinite by the -не suffix and by the -но in definite.

In the past tense it is represented by the -ам suffix, both in indefinite and definite.

Optative mood

The mood is represented by the -нӯв and -нув suffixes, determined by the vowel in the next suffix.

Imperative mood

It exists only in the second person, and in indefinite conjugation, it doesn't show any personal markers, and it is represented by the -эн and -э̄н suffixes.

Active/Passive voice

Verbs have active and passive voice. Active voice has no suffix; the suffix to express the passive is -ве-.

Verbal prefixes

Verbal prefixes are used to modify the meaning of the verb in both concrete and abstract ways.

э̄л – 'away'

юв – 'back'

хот – 'direction away from something and other nuances of action intensity'

Vocabulary

The vocabulary of the Mansi languages is distinguished by a fairly large number of forms for denoting concepts related to hunting, reindeer husbandry, fishing (the main traditional occupations of the Mansi). For example, there are about seven words are used to define different types of swamps. At the same time, the language almost lacks its socio-political vocabulary. To denote such concepts that appeared in the life of Mansi in the 20th century; compounding, derivation (rarely affixation), and or borrowings were used. For example, "hospital" can be described by a borrowing пӯльница and derivation пусмалтан кол literally "medicinal/curative house".

Words from extinct dialects could also be revitalized in the literary language [citation needed]

Noteworthy lexical items

Kinship terms

Northern Mansi differentiates between relatives based on from which side of the family they came from and also their relative age, for example:

Siblings are similarly differentiated to Hungarian and other Uralic languages:

Examples

Numbers

Whole and below ten numbers

Numbers 1 and 2 also have attributive forms: акв (1) and кит (2); compare with Hungarian két, Old Hungarian kit).

The ма̄нь and яныг before 7 and 100 are there to differentiate between the two if both are in the same number or sentence; meaning small and big respectively.

Numbers between twenty and ten

The Mansi numbering system is different in this range than after twenty.

Here, you form a number with the word хуйп (above, more than);

Therefore, аквхуйплов means "one over/above ten", in a similar way to other Uralic languages.

Numbers above twenty

Numbering in this range uses the word нупыл (towards);

Therefore, ва̄т нупыл аква means "Towards thirty with one".

Exepction can be found in the Ob dialects, where the postposition of нупыл isn't used;

Numbers above ninety

Above 89, the postposition of нупыл isn't used;

Numbers above hundred

You just add the number after the biggest number;

In the Ob dialect, the word denoting the number that counts approaches is suffixed with the -н, similarly when counting from 21 to 89.

Ordinal numbering above 100

Sample vocabulary

Conversation

Media

Since 1989, the Lūimā sēripos ("Northern dawn") newspaper has been the only and most prominent Mansi media. As of 2024 , most articles on the , have their authors read the articles out loud, so people can not just read the news in their native language but listen to it as well. This initiative was taken as the UN declared 2022-2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

"Scholars and linguists believe that the Khanty and Mansi languages are dying; we, in turn, are making attempts to preserve and promote our native languages. Thus, to learn languages, it will be convenient and interesting to listen to the live speech of native speakers"

said Галина Кондина (Galina Kondina) the head editor of the newsagency.

The Gospel of Mark in Northern Mansi is available online on site, can also be found

Sample text

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Northern Mansi:

Ма̄ янытыл о̄лнэ мир пуссын аквхольт самын патэ̄гыт, аквте̄м вос о̄лэ̄гыт, аквте̄м нё̄тмил вос кинсэ̄гыт. Та̄н пуӈк о̄ньщēгыт, номсуӈкве ве̄рме̄гыт, э̄сырма о̄ньщэ̄гыт, халанылт ягпыгыӈыщ-яга̄гиӈыщ вос о̄лэ̄гыт. ⓘ

Mā ânytyl ōlnè mir pussyn akvholʹt samyn patè̄gyt, akvtēm vos ōlè̄gyt, akvtēm në̄tmil vos kinsè̄gyt. Tān puňk ōnʹsēgyt, nomsuňkve vērmēgyt, è̄syrma ōnʹsʹè̄gyt, halanylt âgpygyňysʹ-âgāgiňysʹ vos ōlè̄gyt.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Article 1 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Northern Mansi:

Соссаӈ мирыт, акв хо̄тпа манос са̄в хо̄тпа пуссын аквъёт, сакконыт щирыл тэ̄ланыл та̄нти ва̄руӈкве ве̄рмияныл, та̄наныл вуянтан сакконыт Ма̄ янытыл о̄лнэ мирыт Акван-потыртахтам Мирколаныл Устав нэ̄пакт, Ма̄ янытыл о̄лнэ мир ма̄гыс хансым ма̄к потрыт ос мирхал сакконыт палт хансым о̄лэ̄гыт.

Sossaň miryt, akv hōtpa manos sāv hōtpa pussyn akvʺët, sakkonyt siryl tè̄lanyl tānti vāruňkve vērmiânyl, tānanyl vuântan sakkonyt Mā ânytyl ōlnè miryt Akvan-potyrtahtam Mirkolanyl Ustav nè̄pakt, Mā ânytyl ōlnè mir māgys hansym māk potryt os mirhal sakkonyt palt hansym ōlè̄gyt.

Article 1 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in English:

Indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law.

Notes

• A világ nyelvei. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. 1999. ISBN 963-05-7597-3.
• Honti, László (1998). "ObUgrian". In Abondolo, Daniel (ed.). The Uralic Languages. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-415-08198-X.
• Nanovfszky, György, ed. (2000). [Our Language Relatives] (PDF) (in Hungarian). Budapest: Teleki László Alapítvány.
• Kálmán, Béla (1965). Vogul Chrestomathy. Indiana University Publications. Uralic and Altaic Series. Vol. 46. The Hague: Mouton.
• Kálmán, Béla (1989). Chrestomathia Vogulica (in Hungarian and German) (3rd ed.). Budapest: Tankönyvkiadó. ISBN 963-18-2088-2.
• Kulonen, Ulla-Maija (2007). Itämansin kielioppi ja tekstejä. Apuneuvoja suomalais-ugrilaisten kielten opintoja varten (in Finnish). Vol. XV. Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura. ISBN 978-952-5150-87-2.
• Munkácsi, Bernát and Kálmán, Béla. 1986. Wogulisches Wörterbuch. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest. [In German and Hungarian.]
• Riese, Timothy. Vogul: Languages of the World/Materials 158. , 2001. ISBN 3-89586-231-2
• Ромбандеева, Евдокия Ивановна. Мансийский (вогульский) язык, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Linguistics, 1973. [In Russian.]
• Susanna S. Virtanen; Csilla Horváth; Tamara Merova (2021). [Northern Mansi basic course] (PDF). Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto.
• T.P.Bakhtiarova; S.S.Dinislamova (2016). [Mansi-Russian dictionary (Upper Lozva dialect)] (PDF) (in Russian). Khanty-Mansiysk: ФОРМАТ. ISBN 978-5-9906863-8-0.
• L.N. Panchenko (2017). [MANSI TOUNG-TWISTERS AND COUNTERS] (PDF). Tyumen: ФОРМАТ. ISBN 978-5-6040210-0-2.
• Rombandeeva, E. I.; Ромбандеева, Е. И. (2017). Sovremennyĭ mansiĭskiĭ i︠a︡zyk : leksika, fonetika, grafika, orfografii︠a︡, morfologii︠a︡, slovoobrazovanie. Obsko-ugorskiĭ institut prikladnykh issledovaniĭ i razrabotok, Обско-угорский институт прикладных исследований и разработок. Ti︠u︡menʹ. ISBN 978-5-6040210-8-8. OCLC .{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links