This article outlines the grammar of the Evenki language spoken in Russia, in both Cyrillic and Latin scripts. Since the Cyrillic script does not usually mark long vowels, macrons will be used in this article (excepting (ē), which is always long, at least in native words). Example sentences will be taken from either the Evengus () website, or from Nadezhda Bulatova and Lenore Grenoble's book Evenki Grammar in 1997.
Morphology notes Vowel harmony Like other Tungusic languages, Evenki employs vowel harmony. There are two rows ("first and second row") with two neutral vowels, (i) and (u). For simplicity, archiphonemes will be used for alternating vowels in suffixes, with capital (O) for (a/ə/o), (A) for (a/ə), and their iotated counterparts (JO) for (ja/jə/jo), (JA) for (ja/jə). First row Neutral Second row a i ə e u o Syllables containing first row vowels can only be followed by another syllables that contain first row vowels, and vice versa. (anaktaʒaran) (əməktəʒərən) (i) and (u) can be followed by either first or second row vowels. (sulakiva), of (sulaki). (ulukivə), of (uluki). Short (o) can be followed by (o); however, (o) cannot follow long (ō) or being intervened by neutral vowels. In this place, (a) is used instead. (soŋoktoʒoron) (ōʒaran), not (*ōʒoron). (oronʒivar), not (*oronʒivor).
Nominals Pluralization Here are some rules of forming Evenki plurals: The plural suffixes -л (-l) after vowels or -ил (-il) after consonants are usually used. бур (bur) : бурил (buril) "islands" дю̄ (ʒū) : дю̄л (ʒul) "yurts" However, after -н (-n), -р (-r) is used instead and the final consonant before the suffix is removed. орон (oron) : орор (oror) "deers" Some nouns use -сал (-sal) in addition to the previous two suffixes. Notice that this suffix also removes -н (-n) from the stem. киран (kiran) : кирасал (kirasal) "eagles" Some kinship terms are irregularly pluralized: амын (amin) : амтыл (amtil) "fathers" эмын (əmin) : эмтыл (əmtil) "mothers" акин (akin) : акнил (aknil) "older brothers" экин (əkin) : экнил (əknil) "older sisters" нэкун (nəkun) : нэкнил (nəknil) "younger brothers, younger sisters" аса (asa) : асил (asil) "women" хунаг (hunag) : хунил (hunil) "girls"
Grammatical cases Evenki nouns are inflected for 13 grammatical cases: nominative, accusative, accusative indefinite, dative, allative, locative, prolative (longitudinal), allative locative, allative prolative, ablative, elative, instrumental, and comitative cases. + List Case Suffix -V -C[+V] -N -C[-V] Nominative -∅ (no marker)-∅ Accusative -vO -mO -pO Accusative indefinite -JO Dative -dū -tū Allative -tkī -tikī Locative -lŌ -dulĀ -tulĀ Prolative -lī -dulī -tulī Allative locative -klŌ -iklŌ Allative prolative -klī -iklī Ablative -duk -tuk Elative -gīt -ŋīt -kīt Instrumental -t -it -ʒi -it Comitative -nūn
Possession Evenki nouns can also be inflected for possession, where a possessive suffix is attached to the noun based on features of the noun which possesses it. : (oron·mī) "my deer" : (oron·nī) "your deer" : (oron·in) "his/her/its deer" When declined in grammatical cases, case suffixes are placed between the noun and the possessive suffixes: : (oron·∅·mī) : (oron·mo·v) : (oron·o·v) There are also reflexive-possessive suffixes; they do not inflect in the nominative, and instead use null on the accusative: : (oron·∅·mī) : (oron·o·mī). Some kinship nouns, as well as body part names (usually), are inalienable: (aminmī) "my father", but (amin) "father" can't stand alone (-ŋī) is used to mark non-attributive possessive: (oron·∅·ŋī) To negate presence of an object, (āčin) is used: Final element in the stem → Singular Plural Person ↓ -V -C[+V] -C[-V] -n -l -r Singular 1st person -v -iv -mī -vī 2nd person -s -is -nī -lī -rī 3rd person -n -in reflexive -vī -pī -mī -vī Plural 1st person exclusive -vun -mun -vun inclusive -t -it -ty 2nd person -sun -nun -lun -run 3rd person -tyn reflexive -vOr -pOr -mOr -vOr
Adjectives Evenki adjectives can be declined, and agree with the noun's inflection: : (xulama osikta) "red star" : (xulama·va ōsikta·va) To create comparative degree forms, (-dimAr) after consonants and (-tmOr) after vowels are used: (xəgdi·tmər) "taller" (ŋonim·dimar) "longer" To create superlative degree forms, (-digū) after consonants and (-tkū) after vowels are used: (xəgdi·tkū) "tallest" (ŋonim·digū) "longest"
Pronouns Unlike other nominals, personal pronouns in Evenki have significantly irregular inflection: 1st person 2nd person 3rd person Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural Exclusive Inclusive Nominative бӣbī бӯbū митmit сӣsī сӯsū нуӈанnuŋan нуӈартынnuŋartin Accusative минэ(вэ)minə(və) мунэ(вэ)munə(və) митпэmitpə синэ(вэ)sinə(və) сунэ(вэ)sunə(və) нуӈанма̄нnuŋanmān нуӈарватынnuŋarvatin Dative миндӯmindū мундӯmundū миттӯmittū синдӯsindū сундӯsundū нуӈандӯнnuŋandūn нуӈардӯтынnuŋardūtin Allative минтыкӣmintikī мунтыкӣmuntikī миттыкӣmittikī синтыкӣsintikī сунтыкӣsuntikī нуӈантыкӣнnuŋantikīn нуӈартыкӣтынnuŋartikītin Locative миндулэ̄mindulə̄ мундулэ̄mundulə̄ миттулэ̄mittulə̄ синдулэ̄sindulə̄ сундулэ̄sundulə̄ нуӈандулэ̄нnuŋandulə̄n нуӈардулэ̄тынnuŋardulə̄tin Prolative миндулӣmindulī мундулӣmundulī миттулӣmittulī синдулӣsindulī сундулӣsundulī нуӈандулӣнnuŋandulīn нуӈардулӣтынnuŋardulītin Allative locative миныклэ̄miniklə̄ муныклэ̄muniklə̄ митыклэ̄mitiklə̄ синыклэ̄siniklə̄ суныклэ̄suniklə̄ нуӈаныклэ̄нnuŋaniklə̄n нуӈарыклэ̄тынnuŋariklə̄tin Allative prolative миныклӣminiklī муныклӣmuniklī митыклӣmitiklī синыклӣsiniklī суныклӣsuniklī нуӈаныклӣнnuŋaniklīn нуӈарыклӣтынnuŋariklītin Ablative миндукminduk мундукmunduk миттукmittuk синдукsinduk сундукsunduk нуӈандукинnuŋandukin нуӈардуктынnuŋarduktin Elative минӈитminŋit мунӈитmunŋit миткитmitkit синӈитsinŋit сунӈитsunŋit нуӈанӈидынnuŋanŋidin нуӈаргидитынnuŋargiʒitin Instrumental миндиminʒi мундиmunʒi мититmitit синдиsinʒi сундиsunʒi нуӈандынnuŋanʒin нуӈардитынnuŋarʒitin Comitative миннӯнminnūn муннӯнmunnūn митнӯнmitnūn синнӯнsinnūn суннӯнsunnūn нуӈаннӯнынnuŋannūnin нуӈарнӯнтынnuŋarnūntin
There are three types of reflexive pronouns in Evenki. (Impersonal) reflexive pronouns can be inflected into number and cases. мэ̄нмӣ (mə̄nmī) : мэ̄рвэр (mə̄rvər) Details differ regarding declension of these pronouns. Bulatova and Grenoble implied that the ending -мӣ (-mī) remains unchanged, while Evengus has the ending changed into -вӣ (-vī). Both agree that case endings are placed between the stem and the ending. мэ̄ндӯмӣ (mə̄n·dū·mī) v. мэ̄ндӯвӣ (mə̄n·dū·vī)
Singular Plural Accusative мэ̄нмӣmə̄nmī мэ̄рвэрmə̄rvər Dative мэ̄ндӯвӣmə̄ndūvī мэ̄рдӯвэрmə̄rdūvər Allative мэ̄нтыкӣвӣmə̄ntikīvī мэ̄ртыкӣвэрmə̄rtikīvər Locative мэ̄ндулэ̄вӣmə̄ndulə̄vī мэ̄рдулэ̄вэрmə̄rdulə̄vər Prolative мэ̄ндулӣвӣmə̄ndulīvī мэ̄рдулӣвэрmə̄rdulīvər Allative locative мэ̄ныклэ̄вӣmə̄niklə̄vī мэ̄риклэ̄вэрmə̄riklə̄vər Allative prolative мэ̄ныклӣвӣmə̄niklīvī мэ̄риклӣвэрmə̄riklīvər Ablative мэ̄ндуквӣmə̄ndukvī мэ̄рдуквэрmə̄rdukvər Instrumental мэ̄ндивӣmə̄nʒivī мэ̄рдивэрmə̄rʒivər Comitative мэ̄ннӯнмӣmə̄nnūnmī мэ̄рнӯнмэрmə̄rnūnmər
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