Evenki grammar

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 е (ē), which is always long, at least in native words). Example sentences will be taken from either the Evengus (Russian: Эвенгус) 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, и (i) and у (u).^[1] For simplicity, archiphonemes will be used for alternating vowels in suffixes, with capital О (O) for а/э/о (a/ə/o), А (A) for а/э (a/ə), and their iotated counterparts Ё (JO) for я/е/ё (ja/jə/jo), Я (JA) for я/е (ja/jə).

First row	Neutral	Second row
а a	и i	э ə
е e	у u
о o

Syllables containing first row vowels can only be followed by another syllables that contain first row vowels, and vice versa.	анактадяран (anaktaʒaran) эмэктэдерэн (əməktəʒərən)
и (i) and у (u) can be followed by either first or second row vowels.	сулакива (sulakiva), ACC of сулаки (sulaki). улукивэ (ulukivə), ACC of улуки (uluki).
Short о (o) can be followed by о (o); however, о (o) cannot follow long о̄ (ō) or being intervened by neutral vowels. In this place, а (a) is used instead.	соӈоктодёрон (soŋoktoʒoron)
	о̄дяран (ōʒaran), not *о̄дёрон (*ōʒoron). орондивар (oronʒivar), not *орондивор (*oronʒivor).

Nominals

Pluralization

Here are some rules of forming Evenki plurals:^[2]

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.^[3]

List^[4]

Case	Suffix
	-V[a]	-C[+V][b]	-N[c]	-C[-V][d]
Nominative	-∅ (no marker) -∅
Accusative[5][e]	-вО -vO		-мО -mO	-пО -pO
Accusative indefinite[6][f]	-Ё -JO
Dative[7]	-дӯ -dū			-тӯ -tū
Allative[8]	-ткӣ -tkī	-тыкӣ -tikī
Locative[9]	-лО̄ -lŌ	-дулА̄ -dulĀ		-тулА̄ -tulĀ
Prolative[10]	-лӣ -lī	-дулӣ -dulī		-тулӣ -tulī
Allative locative[11]	-клО̄ -klŌ	-иклО̄ -iklŌ
Allative prolative[12]	-клӣ -klī	-иклӣ -iklī
Ablative[13]	-дук -duk			-тук -tuk
Elative[14]	-гӣт -gīt		-ӈӣт -ŋīt	-кӣт -kīt
Instrumental[15][g]	-т -t	-ит -it	-ди -ʒi	-ит -it
Comitative[16]	-нӯн -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.[17][18][19]	1SG: оронмӣ (oron·mī) "my deer" 2SG: ороннӣ (oron·nī) "your deer" 3SG: оронин (oron·in) "his/her/its deer"
When declined in grammatical cases, case suffixes are placed between the noun and the possessive suffixes:[20]	NOM: оронмӣ (oron·∅·mī) ACC: оронмов (oron·mo·v) ACC.INDEF: оронов (oron·o·v)
There are also reflexive-possessive suffixes; they do not inflect in the nominative, and instead use null on the accusative:[21]	ACC: оронмӣ (oron·∅·mī) ACC.INDEF: орономӣ (oron·o·mī).
Бӣ 1SG хунатпӣ daughter-REFL ичэм see-1sg.PRES Бӣ хунатпӣ ичэм 1SG daughter-REFL see-1sg.PRES "I see my daughter."
Some kinship nouns, as well as body part names (usually), are inalienable:	аминмӣ (aminmī) "my father", but амин (amin) "father" can't stand alone
-ӈӣ (-ŋī) is used to mark non-attributive possessive:[22]	оронӈӣ (oron·∅·ŋī)
To negate presence of an object, а̄чин (āčin) is used:[23]
Миндӯ 1SG-DAT ӈинакин dog а̄чин. NEG. Миндӯ ӈинакин а̄чин. 1SG-DAT dog NEG. I don't have a dog. Дю̄дӯвӣ house-DAT-REFL энинмӣ mother-1SG а̄чин. NEG. Дю̄дӯвӣ энинмӣ а̄чин. house-DAT-REFL mother-1SG NEG. My mother is not at her home.

Final element in the stem →			Singular				Plural
Person ↓			-V	-C[+V]	-C[-V]	-n	-l	-r
Singular	1st person		-в -v	-ив -iv		-мӣ -mī	-вӣ -vī
	2nd person		-с -s	-ис -is		-нӣ -nī	-лӣ -lī	-рӣ -rī
	3rd person		-н -n	-ин -in
	reflexive		-вӣ -vī		-пӣ -pī	-мӣ -mī	-вӣ -vī
Plural	1st person	exclusive	-вун -vun			-мун -mun	-вун -vun
		inclusive	-т -t	-ит -it		-ты -ty
	2nd person		-сун -sun			-нун -nun	-лун -lun	-рун -run
	3rd person		-тын -tyn
	reflexive		-вОр -vOr		-пОр -pOr	-мОр -mOr	-вОр -vOr

Adjectives

Evenki adjectives can be declined, and agree with the noun's inflection:[24]	NOM: хулама о̄сикта (xulama osikta) "red star" ACC: хуламава о̄сиктава (xulama·va ōsikta·va)
To create comparative degree forms, -дымАр (-dimAr) after consonants and -тмОр (-tmOr) after vowels are used:	хэгдытмэр (xəgdi·tmər) "taller" ӈонимдымар (ŋonim·dimar) "longer"
To create superlative degree forms, -дыгӯ (-digū) after consonants and -ткӯ (-tkū) after vowels are used:[25]	хэгдыткӯ (xəgdi·tkū) "tallest" ӈонимдыгӯ (ŋonim·digū) "longest"

Pronouns

Unlike other nominals, personal pronouns in Evenki have significantly irregular inflection:^[26][27]

	1st person				2nd person			3rd person
	Singular	Plural			Singular	Plural		Singular	Plural
		Exclusive	Inclusive
Nominative	бӣ bī	бӯ bū	мит mit		сӣ sī	сӯ sū		нуӈан nuŋan	нуӈартын nuŋartin
Accusative	минэ(вэ) minə(və)	мунэ(вэ) munə(və)	митпэ mitpə		синэ(вэ) sinə(və)	сунэ(вэ) sunə(və)		нуӈанма̄н nuŋanmān	нуӈарватын nuŋarvatin
Dative	миндӯ mindū	мундӯ mundū	миттӯ mittū		синдӯ sindū	сундӯ sundū		нуӈандӯн nuŋandūn	нуӈардӯтын nuŋardūtin
Allative	минтыкӣ mintikī	мунтыкӣ muntikī	миттыкӣ mittikī		синтыкӣ sintikī	сунтыкӣ suntikī		нуӈантыкӣн nuŋantikīn	нуӈартыкӣтын nuŋartikītin
Locative	миндулэ̄ mindulə̄	мундулэ̄ mundulə̄	миттулэ̄ mittulə̄		синдулэ̄ sindulə̄	сундулэ̄ sundulə̄		нуӈандулэ̄н nuŋandulə̄n	нуӈардулэ̄тын nuŋardulə̄tin
Prolative	миндулӣ mindulī	мундулӣ mundulī	миттулӣ mittulī		синдулӣ sindulī	сундулӣ sundulī		нуӈандулӣн nuŋandulīn	нуӈардулӣтын nuŋardulītin
Allative locative	миныклэ̄ miniklə̄	муныклэ̄ muniklə̄	митыклэ̄ mitiklə̄		синыклэ̄ siniklə̄	суныклэ̄ suniklə̄		нуӈаныклэ̄н nuŋaniklə̄n	нуӈарыклэ̄тын nuŋariklə̄tin
Allative prolative	миныклӣ miniklī	муныклӣ muniklī	митыклӣ mitiklī		синыклӣ siniklī	суныклӣ suniklī		нуӈаныклӣн nuŋaniklīn	нуӈарыклӣтын nuŋariklītin
Ablative	миндук minduk	мундук munduk	миттук mittuk		синдук sinduk	сундук sunduk		нуӈандукин nuŋandukin	нуӈардуктын nuŋarduktin
Elative[h]	минӈит minŋit	мунӈит munŋit	миткит mitkit		синӈит sinŋit	сунӈит sunŋit		нуӈанӈидын nuŋanŋidin	нуӈаргидитын nuŋargiʒitin
Instrumental	минди minʒi	мунди munʒi	митит mitit		синди sinʒi	сунди sunʒi		нуӈандын nuŋanʒin	нуӈардитын nuŋarʒitin
Comitative	миннӯн minnūn	муннӯн munnūn	митнӯн mitnūn		синнӯн sinnūn	суннӯн sunnūn		нуӈаннӯнын nuŋannūnin	нуӈарнӯнтын nuŋarnūntin

There are three types of reflexive pronouns in Evenki.

(Impersonal) reflexive pronouns can be inflected into number and cases.[28]	мэ̄нмӣ (mə̄nmī) : мэ̄рвэр (mə̄rvər)
Details differ regarding declension of these pronouns. Bulatova and Grenoble implied that the ending -мӣ (-mī) remains unchanged,[29] 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	мэ̄нмӣ mə̄nmī	мэ̄рвэр mə̄rvər
Dative	мэ̄ндӯвӣ mə̄ndūvī	мэ̄рдӯвэр mə̄rdūvər
Allative	мэ̄нтыкӣвӣ mə̄ntikīvī	мэ̄ртыкӣвэр mə̄rtikīvər
Locative	мэ̄ндулэ̄вӣ mə̄ndulə̄vī	мэ̄рдулэ̄вэр mə̄rdulə̄vər
Prolative	мэ̄ндулӣвӣ mə̄ndulīvī	мэ̄рдулӣвэр mə̄rdulīvər
Allative locative	мэ̄ныклэ̄вӣ mə̄niklə̄vī	мэ̄риклэ̄вэр mə̄riklə̄vər
Allative prolative	мэ̄ныклӣвӣ mə̄niklīvī	мэ̄риклӣвэр mə̄riklīvər
Ablative	мэ̄ндуквӣ mə̄ndukvī	мэ̄рдуквэр mə̄rdukvər
Instrumental	мэ̄ндивӣ mə̄nʒivī	мэ̄рдивэр mə̄rʒivər
Comitative	мэ̄ннӯнмӣ mə̄nnūnmī	мэ̄рнӯнмэр mə̄rnūnmər

Notes

1. after vowels
2. after voiced consonants, i.e. any other consonant
3. after nasal consonants (м (m), н (n), and ӈ (ŋ)
4. after voiceless consonants (к (k), п (p), с (s), т (t), and ч (č))
5. According to Bulatova and Grenoble, plurals use -ба/-бэ/-бо (-ba/-bə/-bo), although the Evengus website restricts it dialectally.
6. Nouns in -н (-n) and plurals use -О (-a/-ə/-o) (орон (oron) → ороно (orono) "deer".
7. -ди (-ʒi) in the plural.
8. These forms are not listed by Evengus.