Northern Mansi

Northern Mansi (, ) 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.

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 (on the Northern Sosva river) Sygva (on the Sygva river) Upper Lozva (on the Lozva river) Ob (on or near the Khanty-Mansi part of the Ob river; sub-dialectal differentiation in upper, middle, lower Ob dialects)

The Upper Lozva dialect was restricted to the upper course of the river around the turn of the 20th century, but following migrations of reindeer-herding families southward in the 1930s, today extends along the whole river basin down to the vicinity of Ivdel, while the Lower Lozva dialect of Western Mansi earlier spoken there has become extinct. In this region Northern Mansi continues to be actively learned by children.

Differences The main differences between dialects are phonetic, though vocabulary differences also occur. Grammar is usually universal across the Northern Mansi varieties.

The infinitive verb ending is -ӈкве at Sosva, -ӈкв at Upper Lozva. /ɣ/ г becomes /j/ й at Upper Lozva. /k/ к before the front vowels /e/ or /i/ is palatalized to /tʲ/ т + и/е at Sygva, resulting in e.g. тит 'two' for literary кит. /kʷ/ кв becomes /k/ before front vowels at Sygva, and in general at Ivdel and at the Ob.Dictionary of Middle-Ob dialect Mansi (И.А.Стенин, Ю.В.Норманская)

Minor differences exist also in orthography: сь is preferred at Sosva for the [ɕ] sound, щ at Upper Lozva, щь at Ivdel.

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 + Sosva Northern Mansi consonants Labial Alveolar (Alveolo-)Palatal Velar Nasals Stops Fricatives ~ ~ Semivowels Laterals Trill /ɕ/ is an allophone of /sʲ/.

The Ob dialect preserves Proto-Mansi *š /ʃ/ and has adopted, from the Ob dialects of Northern Khanty, the lateral fricatives /ɬ/ and /ɬʲ/ in place of /l/ and /lʲ/. The Ob and Ivdel dialects lack /kʷ/; the latter also uses [kʲ] for /tʲ/.

Vowels Northern Mansi has a largely symmetric system of 8 vowels, though lacking short ** and having a very rare long :

+ Northern Mansi stressed vowels UnroundedRoundedClose 1, ( 2) , Mid3 , 3Open,

+ Northern Mansi unstressed vowels FullReducedClose 1, ( 4) , Mid 5Open

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

Unlike other recorded Mansi varieties, there are no front open vowels /æ/, /æː/; Proto-Mansi *ä and *ǟ have generally developed to /a/, /aː/. Vowel harmony has been likewise lost.

Alphabet

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

А аА̄ а̄Б бВ вГ гД дЕ еЕ̄ е̄Ё ёЁ̄ ё̄Ж жЗ зИ иӢ ӣЙ йК кЛ лМ мН нӇ ӈО оО̄ о̄П пР рС сТ тУ уӮ ӯФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЫ̄ ы̄Ь ьЭ эЭ̄ э̄Ю юЮ̄ ю̄Я яЯ̄ я̄

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.

{| class=wikitable |+ If the word last letter is a consonant; Example with: пӯт /puːt/ (cauldron) Современный мансийский язык: лексика, фонетика, графика, орфография, морфология, словообразование: монография; page 288 !case||sing.||dual||plural

!nom. |пӯтpuːt||пӯтыгpuːtɪɣ||пӯтытpuːtət

!loc. |пӯттpuːtt||пӯтыгтpuːtɪɣt||пӯтыттpuːtətt

!lat. |пӯтнpuːtn||пӯтыгнpuːtɪɣn||пӯтытнpuːtətn

!abl. |пӯтнылpuːtnəl||пӯтыгнылpuːtɪɣnəl||пӯтытнылpuːtətnəl

!trans. |пӯтыгpuːtɪɣ||-||-

!instr. |пӯтылpuːtəl||пӯтыгтылpuːtɪɣtəl||пӯтытылpuːtətəl

{| class=wikitable |+If the word last letter is a vowel; Example with: э̄ква /eːkʷa/ (wife) !case||sing.||dual||plural

!nom. |э̄кваeːkʷa||э̄квагeːkʷaɣ||э̄кватeːkʷat

!loc. |э̄кватeːkʷat||э̄квагтeːkʷaɣt||э̄кваттeːkʷatt

!lat. |э̄кванeːkʷan||э̄квагнeːkʷaɣn||э̄кватнeːkʷatn

!abl. |э̄кванылeːkʷanəl||э̄квагнылeːkʷaɣnəl||э̄кватнылeːkʷatnəl

!trans. |э̄квагeːkʷaɣ||-||-

!instr. |э̄квалeːkʷal||э̄квагтылeːkʷaɣtəl||э̄кватылeːkʷatəl

{| class=wikitable |+ If the word has a vowel (ы, и) as the last letter; Example with: са̄лы /saːli/ (deer) !case||sing.||dual||plural

!nom. |са̄лыsaːli||са̄лыйигsaːlijiɣ||са̄лытeːkʷat

!loc. |са̄лытsaːlit||са̄лыйигтsaːlijiɣt||са̄лыттsaːlitt

!lat. |са̄лынsaːlin||са̄лыйигнsaːlijiɣn||са̄лытнsaːlitn

!abl. |са̄лынылsaːlinəl||са̄лыйигнылsaːlijiɣnəl||са̄лытнылsaːlitnəl

!trans. |са̄лыйигsaːlijiɣ||-||-

!instr. |са̄лылsaːlil||са̄лыйигтылsaːlijiɣtəl||са̄лытылsaːlitəl

{| class=wikitable |+ If the word last letter is a palatalized con.; Example with: ся̄нь /ɕaːnʲ/ (mother) !case||sing.||dual||plural

!nom. |ся̄ньɕaːnʲ||ся̄ньыгɕaːnʲɪɣ||ся̄ньытɕaːnʲət

!loc. |ся̄ньтɕaːnʲt||ся̄ньыгтɕaːnʲɪɣt||ся̄ньыттɕaːnʲətt

!lat. |ся̄ньнɕaːnʲn||ся̄ньыгнɕaːnʲɪɣn||ся̄ньытнɕaːnʲətn

!abl. |ся̄ньнылɕaːnʲnəl||ся̄ньыгнылɕaːnʲɪɣnəl||ся̄ньытнылɕaːnʲətnəl

!trans. |ся̄нигɕaːnʲiɣ||-||-

!instr. |ся̄нилɕaːnʲil||ся̄ньыгтылɕaːnʲɪɣtəl||ся̄ньытылɕaːnʲətəl

{| class=wikitable |+ If the word has a syncopating stem; Example with: сасыг /sasɪɣ/ (uncle) !case||sing.||dual||plural

!nom. |сасыгsasɪɣ||сасгыгsasɣɪɣ||сасгытsasɣət

!loc. |сасыгтsasɪɣt||сасгыгтsasɣɪɣt||сасгыттsasɣətt

!lat. |сасыгнsasɪɣn||сасгыгнsasɣɪɣn||сасгытнsasɣətn

!abl. |сасыгнылsasɪɣnəl||сасгыгнылsasɣɪɣnəl||сасгытнылsasɣətnəl

!trans. |сасгыгsasɣɪɣ||-||-

!instr. |сасгылsasɣəl||сасгыгтылsasɣɪɣtəl||сасгытылsasɣətəl

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:

{| class=wikitable |+ If the word has a consonant as the last letter; Example with: пӯт /puːt/ (cauldron) !possessor||single||double ||multiple

!1st person sing. |пӯтумpuːtɞ̯m||пӯтагумpuːtaɣɞ̯m||пӯтанумpuːtanɞ̯m

!2nd person sing. |пӯтынpuːtən ||пӯтагынpuːtaɣən||пӯтанpuːtan

!3rd person sing. |пӯтэpuːte||пӯтагеpuːtaɣe||пӯтанэpuːtane

!1st person dual |пӯтме̄нpuːtmeːn||пӯтагаме̄нpuːtaɣameːn||пӯтанаме̄нpuːtanameːn

!2nd person dual |пӯты̄нpuːtiːn||пӯтагы̄нpuːtaɣiːn||пӯтаны̄нpuːtaniːn

!3rd person dual |пӯтэ̄puːteː||пӯтаге̄нpuːtaɣeː||пӯтанэ̄нpuːtaneː

!1st person plu. |пӯтувpuːtuw||пӯтагувpuːtaɣuw||пӯтанувpuːtanuw

!2nd person plu. |пӯты̄нpuːtiːn||пӯтагы̄нpuːtaɣiːn||пӯтаны̄нpuːtaniːn

!3rd person plu. |пӯтанылpuːtanəl||пӯтага̄нылpuːtanəl||пӯта̄нылpuːtanəl

{| class=wikitable |+ If the word has a vowel as the last letter; Example with: э̄ква /eːkʷa/ (wife, older woman) !possessor||single||double ||multiple

!1st person sing. |э̄квамeːkʷam||э̄квагумeːkʷaɣɞ̯m||э̄кванумeːkʷanɞ̯m

!2nd person sing. |э̄кванeːkʷan ||э̄квагынeːkʷaɣən||э̄кванeːkʷan

!3rd person sing. |э̄кватэeːkʷate||э̄квагеeːkʷaɣe||э̄кванэeːkʷane

!1st person dual |э̄кваме̄нeːkʷameːn||э̄квагаме̄нeːkʷaɣameːn||э̄кванаме̄нeːkʷanameːn

!2nd person dual |э̄кванeːkʷan||э̄квагы̄нeːkʷaɣiːn||э̄кваны̄нeːkʷaniːn

!3rd person dual |э̄кватэ̄нeːkʷateːn||э̄кваге̄нeːkʷaɣeː||э̄кванэ̄нeːkʷaneː

!1st person plu. |э̄квавeːkʷaw||э̄квагувeːkʷaɣuw||э̄кванувeːkʷanuw

!2nd person plu. |э̄кванeːkʷan||э̄квагы̄нeːkʷaɣiːn||э̄кваны̄нeːkʷaniːn

!3rd person plu. |э̄кванылeːkʷanəl||э̄кваганылeːkʷanəl||э̄квананылeːkʷanəl

{| class=wikitable |+ If the word has a vowel (ы, и) as the last letter; Example with: са̄лы /saːli/ (deer) !possessor||single||double ||multiple

!1st person sing. |са̄лымsaːlim||са̄лыягумsaːlijaɣɞ̯m||са̄лыянумsaːlijanɞ̯m

!2nd person sing. |са̄лынsaːlin ||са̄лыягынsaːlijaɣən||са̄лыянsaːlijan

!3rd person sing. |са̄лытэsaːlite||са̄лыягеsaːlijaɣe||са̄лыянэsaːlijane

!1st person dual |са̄лыме̄нsaːlimeːn||са̄лыягаме̄нsaːlijaɣameːn||са̄лыянаме̄нsaːlijanameːn

!2nd person dual |са̄лынsaːlin||са̄лыягы̄нsaːlijaɣiːn||са̄лыяны̄нsaːlijaniːn

!3rd person dual |са̄лытэ̄нsaːliteː||са̄лыяге̄нsaːlijaɣeː||са̄лыянэ̄нsaːlijaneː

!1st person plu. |са̄лыювsaːlijuw||са̄лыягувsaːlijaɣuw||са̄лыянувsaːlijanuw

!2nd person plu. |са̄лынsaːlin||са̄лыягы̄нsaːlijaɣiːn||са̄лыяны̄нsaːlijaniːn

!3rd person plu. |са̄лыянылsaːlijanəl||са̄лыяганылsaːlijaɣanəl||са̄лыянанылsaːlijananəl

{| class=wikitable |+ If the word has a palatalized consonant as the last letter; Example with: ся̄нь /ɕaːnʲ/ (mother) !possessor||single||double ||multiple

!1st person sing. |ся̄нюмɕaːnʲɞ̯m||ся̄нягумɕaːnʲaɣɞ̯m||ся̄нянумɕaːnʲanɞ̯m

!2nd person sing. |ся̄нинɕaːnʲən ||ся̄нягынɕaːnʲaɣən||ся̄нянɕaːnʲan

!3rd person sing. |ся̄неɕaːnʲe||ся̄нягеɕaːnʲaɣe||ся̄нянэɕaːnʲane

!1st person dual |ся̄няме̄нɕaːnʲameːn||ся̄нягаме̄нɕaːnʲaɣameːn||ся̄нянаме̄нɕaːnʲanameːn

!2nd person dual |ся̄нӣнɕaːnʲiːn||ся̄нягы̄нɕaːnʲaɣiːn||ся̄няны̄нɕaːnʲaniːn

!3rd person dual |ся̄не̄ɕaːnʲeː||ся̄няге̄нɕaːnʲaɣeː||ся̄нянэ̄нɕaːnʲaneː

!1st person plu. |ся̄нювɕaːnʲuw||ся̄нягувɕaːnʲaɣuw||ся̄нянувɕaːnʲanuw

!2nd person plu. |ся̄нӣнɕaːnʲiːn||ся̄нягы̄нɕaːnʲaɣiːn||ся̄няны̄нɕaːnʲaniːn

!3rd person plu. |ся̄нянылɕaːnʲanəl||ся̄няга̄нылɕaːnʲanəl||ся̄ня̄нылɕaːnʲanəl

{| class=wikitable |+ If the word has a syncopating stem; Example with: сасыг /sasɪɣ/ (uncle) !possessor||single||double ||multiple

!1st person sing. |сасгумsasɣɞ̯m||сасгагумsasɣaɣɞ̯m||сасганумsasɣanɞ̯m

!2nd person sing. |сасгынsasɣən ||сасгагынsasɣaɣən||сасганsasɣan

!3rd person sing. |сасгэsasɣe||сасгагеsasɣaɣe||сасганэsasɣane

!1st person dual |сасыгме̄нsasɪɣmeːn||сасгагаме̄нsasɣaɣameːn||сасганаме̄нsasɣanameːn

!2nd person dual |сасгы̄нsasɣiːn||сасгагы̄нsasɣaɣiːn||сасганы̄нsasɣaniːn

!3rd person dual |сасгэ̄sasɣeː||сасгаге̄нsasɣaɣeː||сасганэ̄нsasɣaneː

!1st person plu. |сасгувsasɣuw||сасгагувsasɣaɣuw||сасганувsasɣanuw

!2nd person plu. |сасгы̄нsasɣiːn||сасгагы̄нsasɣaɣiːn||сасганы̄нsasɣaniːn

!3rd person plu.