This article outlines the grammar of the Evenki language spoken in Russia, in both Cyrillic and Latin scripts. Since the Cyrillic script do 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).
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 tends to be irregularly inflected:[26]