Tofa language
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Tofa (Tofa: Тоъфа дыл Tòfa dıl), also known as Tofalar or Karagas, is a Turkic language spoken in Russia's Irkutsk Oblast by the Tofalars, an indigenous people of the region. Tofa forms a dialect continuum with the closely related Tuvan language, and shares many features with Tuvan. Tofa is a critically endangered language, as classified by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger,[2] and recent estimates for speakers run from 67[1] to fewer than 40 individuals.[3] Only 3 people can speak it fluently.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Classification
Tofa is most closely related to the Tuvan language[2]Script error: No such module "Unsubst". and forms a dialect continuum with it. Tuha and Tsengel Tuvan may be dialects of either Tuvan or Tofa. Tofa shares a number of features with these languages, including the preservation of *d as /d/ (as in hodan "hare" - compare Uzbek quyon) and the development of low tones on historically short vowels (as in *et > èt "meat, flesh").
Alexander Vovin (2017) notes that Tofa and other Siberian Turkic languages, especially Sayan Turkic, have Yeniseian loanwords.[4]
Geographic and demographic distribution
The Tofa, who are also known as the Tofalar or Karagas, are an indigenous people living in southwestern Irkutsk Oblast, in Russia. The region they inhabit is informally known as Tofalariya. They are traditionally a nomadic reindeer-herding people, living on or near the Eastern Sayan mountain range. However, reindeer herding has greatly declined since the 20th century, with only one Tofa family continuing the practice since 2004[update]Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"..[5] Recognized by the former USSR in 1926 as one of the "Small Numbered Minorities of the North," (Russian: коренные малочисленные народы Севера, Сибири и Дальнего Востока) the Tofa have special legal status and receive economic support from Russia. The Tofa population is around 750 people; around 5% of the population spoke Tofa as a first language in 2002, (although that number has likely declined since then, due to the age of the speakers).[5][6] Although the population of Tofalaria appears to be growing, the number of ethnic Tofalar seems to be in decline.
Effects of language contact
Language contact—mainly with Russian speakers—has been extensive since 1926, when the Tofa officially received their "Small Numbered Minorities of the North" status from the USSR (Russian: коренные малочисленные народы Севера, Сибири и Дальнего Востока) and underwent significant cultural, social, and economic changes. Most notably, this traditionally nomadic, reindeer-herding people have since become sedentary and reindeer herding has all but vanished among the Tofa.[7] In addition to visiting tax collectors and tourists, many other Russians have come to the Sayan mountain range to live. Russian migration and intermarriage also has had an effect, according to a citation by Donahoe: "In 1931, of a total population in Tofalaria of 551, approximately 420 (76%) were Tofa, and the remaining 131 (24%) were non-Tofa, predominantly Russian (Mel'nikova 1994:36 and 231). By 1970, the population in Tofalaria had increased to 1368, of whom 498 (36%) were Tofa, and 809 (59%) were Russian (Sherkhunaev 1975:23)."[5](p. 159) There were approximately 40 speakers of various fluency levels by 2002, and this number has likely continued to decrease in the intervening time.[6][8]
Phonology
Vowels
The following table lists the vowels of Tofa. The data was taken from Ilgın[9] and Rassadin.[10]
Rassadin also indicates that Tofa has a short [Script error: No such module "IPA".].[10] All vowels except [Script error: No such module "IPA".] can be pharyngealized [Script error: No such module "IPA".]. According to Rassadin[10] pharyngealization is realized as creaky voice [Script error: No such module "IPA".]; Harrison and Anderson represent this feature as low tone.
Consonants
The following table lists the consonants of Tofa. The data was taken from Ilgın[9] and Rassadin.[10]
Vowel harmony
Many dialects of Tofa exhibit vowel harmony, although this harmony seems to be linked to fluency: as one decreases, so does the other.[11] Tofa vowel harmony is progressive and based on two features: backness and rounding, and this occurs both root-internal and in affixes.[11] Enclitics do not appear to trigger backness harmony, and rounding harmony in Tofa has been undergoing changes, and may apply inconsistently. In some cases this may be due to opaque rules resulting in an apparent "disharmony", especially among speakers of the younger generation.[3] The complications surrounding Tofa vowel harmony may also be due to fluctuations from language endangerment.[12] In general, Russian loanwords do not appear to conform to vowel harmony.[11] Given the increasing quantity of these loanwords, leveling may also be a factor in the inconsistent application of vowel harmony.
Writing system
Tofa, although not often written, employs a Cyrillic alphabet:
| А а | Б б | В в | Г г | Ғ ғ | Д д | Е е |
| Ә ә | Ё ё | Ж ж | З з | И и | I i | Й й |
| К к | Қ қ | Л л | М м | Н н | Ң ң | О о |
| Ө ө | П п | Р р | С с | Т т | У у | Ү ү |
| Ф ф | Х х | Һ һ | Ц ц | Ч ч | Ҷ ҷ/Ч̡ ч̡ | Ш ш |
| Щ щ | ъ | Ы ы | ь | Э э | Ю ю | Я я |
Tofa has letters that are not present in the Russian alphabet: Ғғ Script error: No such module "IPA"., Әә Script error: No such module "IPA"., Ii Script error: No such module "IPA"., Ққ Script error: No such module "IPA"., Ңң Script error: No such module "IPA"., Өө Script error: No such module "IPA"., Үү Script error: No such module "IPA"., Һһ Script error: No such module "IPA"., and Ҷҷ Script error: No such module "IPA".. Additionally, the letter ъ is sometimes used after a vowel to mark pharyngealization [ˤ], as in эът [ʔɛˤt̪] "meat".
An earlier version of the alphabet from 1988 looks like this:
| А а | Б б | В в | Г г | Ғ ғ | Д д | Е е | Ә ә |
| Ё ё | Ж ж | З з | И и | I i | Й й | К к | Қ қ |
| Л л | М м | Н н | Ң ң | О о | Ө ө | П п | Р р |
| С с | Т т | У у | Ү ү | Ф ф | Х х | Һ һ | Ц ц |
| Ч ч | Ӌ ӌ | Ш ш | Щ щ | Ъ ъ | Ы ы | Ь ь | Э э |
| Ю ю | Я я |
Morphology and syntax
Tofa is an agglutinative language with a few auxiliary verbs.[3] The bare stem of a verb is only used in the singular imperative; other categories are marked by suffixation, including the singular imperative negative.[3] The Tofa suffix /--sig/ is an especially unusual derivational suffix in that it attaches to any noun to add the meaning 'smelling of + [NOUN]' or 'smelling like + [NOUN]'.[13] Grammatical number in Tofa includes singular, plural, dual inclusive ('you and me'), and plural inclusive, tense includes the present and past, and aspect includes the perfective and imperfective. Historically suffixes conformed to Tofa vowel harmony rules, but that appears to be changing. Some example sentences are included below to illustrate suffixation:[3]
| Rounding harmony in roots | Gloss | Rounding harmony in suffixes | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| [oruk] | 'road' | gøk-tyɣ | Template:Interlinear |
| [tyŋgyr] | 'drum' | tyŋgyr-lyɣ | Template:Interlinear |
| [kuduruk] | 'wolf' | kuduruk-tuɣ | Template:Interlinear (literally Template:Interlinear) |
Plural Perfective
Singular Imperative
Singular Imperative Negative
Pronouns
Tofa has six personal pronouns:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | Template:Fs interlinear | Template:Fs interlinear |
| 2nd person | Template:Fs interlinear | Template:Fs interlinear |
| 3rd person | Template:Fs interlinear | Template:Fs interlinear |
Tofa also has the pronouns бо "this", тээ "that", кум "who", and чү "what".
Vocabulary
Tofa words are very similar to many other Turkic Languages, but not more than Tuvan. English and Russian are provided for reference.
| Tofalar | Tuvan | Russian | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aът (At) | Aът (Àt) | Конь (KonTemplate:') | Horse |
| Cөөк (Söök) | Cөөк (Söök) | Кость (KostTemplate:') | Bone |
| Боос (Boos) | Боостаа (Boostaa) | Горло (Gorlo) | Throat |
| Даң Аътары (Daŋ Atary) | Даң Хаяазы (Daŋ Khayaazy) | Рассвет (Rassvet) | Dawn |
| Һартыға (Hartyğa) | Xартыга (Khartyga) | Сокол (Sokol) | Falcon |
References
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- ↑ a b Том 5. «Национальный состав и владение языками». Таблица 7. Население наиболее многочисленных национальностей по родному языку
- ↑ a b Lars Johanson (1998) "The History of Turkic". In Lars Johanson & Éva Ágnes Csató (eds) The Turkic Languages. London, New York: Routledge, 81-125. Classification of Turkic languages at Turkiclanguages.com
- ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Vovin, Alexander. 2017. "Some Tofalar Etymologies." In Essays in the history of languages and linguistics: dedicated to Marek Stachowski on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Krakow: Księgarnia Akademicka.
- ↑ a b c Donahoe, Brian Robert (2004) A line in the Sayans: History and divergent perceptions of property among the Tozhu and Tofa of South Siberia. Doctoral Thesis. Indiana University.
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Further reading
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