Itelmen language

Itelmen, formerly also known as Kamchadal, is a language belonging to the Chukotko-Kamchatkan family traditionally spoken in the Kamchatka Peninsula. Fewer than a hundred native speakers, mostly elderly, in a few settlements in the southwest of Koryak Autonomous Okrug, remained in 1993. The 2002 Census counted 3,180 ethnic Itelmen, virtually all of whom are now monolingual in Russian. However, there are attempts to revive the language, and it is being taught in a number of schools in the region.

Classification

Itelmen is not closely related to other Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages, and forms a distinct southern branch of the family. Some linguists have questioned whether it is related at all, treating it instead as a language isolate. It has some general morphological similarities with Chukchi and Koryak, which comprise the northern branch of Chukotko-Kamchatkan but also some striking contrasts, especially in the area of phonology. Originally there were three distinct dialects, or closely related languages, in western, eastern and southern Kamchatka, but only Western Itelmen remains.

History

Originally Itelmen was spoken throughout Kamchatka, and possibly also in the northern Kuril Islands. Vladimir Atlasov, who annexed Kamchatka and established military bases in the region, estimated in 1697 that there were about 20,000 ethnic Itelmens. The explorer Stepan Krasheninnikov, who gave the first detailed description of the Itelmen language and culture, identified the three main dialects, but explained that all Itelmens could understand each other.

From the time of Atlasov, Russian fur traders began to settle in the region. There were frequent clashes between Cossacks and Itelmens, who rebelled against Russian domination. Many Itelmen were forcibly converted to Christianity, and by the early nineteenth century all Itelmen were forced to adopt Russian names. Intermarriage with Russian settlers led to the development of a creole known as Kamchadal, traces of which remain in the Russian dialect now spoken in Kamchatka.

During the Soviet era the process of assimilation intensified, as Itelmen communities were moved by force and children were sent to boarding schools, where they were required to speak Russian. By the end of the 1930s Russian was the medium of instruction in all schools, and children grew up speaking Russian as their main language.

However it was also during this period that Itelmen was written down for the first time. In 1930 a Latin-based alphabet was designed for all the native languages of northern Siberia, and in 1932 a 27-letter Itelmen alphabet was created. A few textbooks were written in this alphabet during the 1930s, but it was quickly abandoned. More recently a Cyrillic-based alphabet, designed in 1986 and consisting of 32 letters, has been used.

Present situation

Itelmen is now highly endangered, and most speakers are aged over sixty and live in scattered communities. However there is a movement to revive the language, and educational materials are being developed. Modern Itelmen has been heavily influenced by Russian, lexically, phonologically and grammatically.

Phonology

Itelmen has a larger phonological inventory than other Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages, and permits complex consonant clusters in some environments, but lacks the system of vowel harmony characteristic of Chukchi and Koryak.

Volodin (1997) gives the following consonant inventory, shown here with both the Cyrillic and IPA forms:

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Plosive and Affricate	voiceless	п /p/	т /t/	ч /ʧ/	к /k/	ӄ /q/
	ejective	п' /pʼ/	т' /tʼ/	ч' /ʧʼ/	к' /kʼ/	ӄ' /qʼ/
Fricative/ Approximant	voiceless	ф /ɸ/	с /s/		х /x/	х̡ /χ/
	voiced	в /β/	з /z/	й /j/
Nasal		м /m/	н /n/	нь /ɲ/	ӈ /ŋ/
Lateral			л /l/	ль/л̡ /ʎ/
Trill			р /r/

In addition to the consonants shown above, some sources also include the glottal stop /ʔ/, as well as glottalised nasal and lateral phonemes, including /mˀ/, /nˀ/, and /lˀ/. 's' and 'z' may be apical post-alveolar fricatives rather than alveolar fricatives. There may also be distinct labialised consonant phonemes.

There are five vowel phonemes: schwa ([ə]) also appears but its phonemic status is unclear.

Morphology and syntax

Orthography

А а	Ă ă	Б б	В в	Г г	Д д	Е е	Ё ё
Ж ж	З з	И и	Й й	К к	К’ к’	Ӄ ӄ	Ӄ’ ӄ’
Л л	Љ љ	Ӆ ӆ	М м	Н н	Њ њ	Ӈ ӈ	О о
Ŏ ŏ	П п	П’ п’	Р р	С с	Т т	Т’ т’	У у
Ў ў	Ф ф	Х х	Ҳ ҳ	Ц ц	Ч ч	Ч’ ч’	Ш ш
Щ щ	Ъ ъ	Ы ы	Ь ь	Ә ә	Э э	Ю ю	Я я

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

• Ethnologue report
• How to save the Itelmen language
• The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire
• Ительменский язык
• ИТЕЛЬМЕНСКИЙ ЯЗЫК (А. П. Володин)
• Bobalijk Papers