The purpose of the article is a critical analysis of the interpretations of the concepts of palatality and palatalization as means of realizing the category of phonetic softness. The relevance of the research is determined by the ambiguity and inconsistency in the explanation of the terms palatality and palatalization in Russian and foreign literature, which has been repeatedly pointed out by linguists since the 1980s. In order to eliminate the difficulties in scientific communication, there is an urgent need to develop a clear system of parameters that distinguish the phonetic phenomena under consideration. The research is based on objective instrumental data on the sound systems of the languages of the Altai community, obtained by Siberian phonetists using a comprehensive interdisciplinary methodology that includes not only linguistic proper, but also experimental phonetic methods. The generalization of the results of the study of palatal and palatalized consonant articulations based on the material of Siberian languages indicates that these settings are articulated with the obligatory involvement of the middle part of the surface of the tongue or its fragment in the process. The fundamental difference between the categories under consideration is that the palatalized settings have a second, additional to the main, focus of noise generation. If for palatal settings, the forward-up extension of the (front)middle(inter)-lingual part of the tongue is the main articulation that generates the main noise-generating barrier, then for palatalized settings it is an additional work of the speech organs, forming an additional focus for the formation of high-frequency noise associated with the effect of molarity. The presence of an additional focus of articulation serves as the basis for qualifying patterns as palatalized rather than palatal. Front-lingual articulations, divided by the configuration of the front part of the tongue into dorsal and non-dorsal, generate two different strategies for producing the category of mollicity: The (strong)dorsal implements the concept of palatality, the non-dorsal implements the strategy of palatalization. Similarly, the class of soft guttural articulations, including mid-inter-lingual, inter-lingual, inter-back-lingual and back-lingual patterns, should be divided into two series. The function of the mid-inter-lingual articulations is the realization of palatality, while the other settings produce the effect of weak mollicity. Thus, in the languages of Siberia, as in Russian, the mollicity of the front-lingual (strongly)dorsal and mid-inter-lingual articulations is the main articulation, they should be interpreted, contrary to established tradition, as palatal, not palatalized.

The article examines issues of language development in the Yakut ASSR in the first decades of the Soviet era. The aim of the study is to reconstruct the history of the development of Yakut orthography in the 1920s. To achieve this goal, the following tasks are solved: 1) description of the history of the development of Yakut orthography in the 1920s; 2) interpretation of the first attempts at standardizing the Yakut language in the context of the development of its orthography; 3) identification of the essence of various orthographic principles; 4) analysis of the orthographic design of borrowings from the Russian language. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the creation of a historical retrospective of the most significant aspects of the formation of Yakut orthography in this period. The methodological basis of the work includes the method of linguistic description (with the techniques of observation, systematization and generalization) and the comparative-historical method used to reconstruct the history of the development of Yakut orthography. The data for the spelling analysis of Russian loanwords was collected using a continuous sampling method from Yakut-language newspapers. The research source base consisted of articles by language development figures of the 1920s, as well as archival documents. The study revealed that in the 1920s, following extensive discussions on alphabet and spelling issues and the introduction of morphological principles into writing, the main development paths of Yakut orthography were generally defined and its guiding principles were consolidated. Toward the end of the period under review, a tendency toward phoneticized spelling of loanwords increased.

 P. P. Barashkov is one of the prominent representatives of Yakut linguistics, who stood at the origins of the formation of the research tradition in Yakutia. In 1954–1960, he carried out a primary description of the dialectal features of the Kangalassky, Gorny, Namsky, Zhigansky, and Kobyaysky districts, having collected extensive fieldwork data. In his work “The Dialect of the Yakuts of the Kobyaysky District”, the scholar characterized the phonetic, lexical, and morphological features of the dialects of this area. The present article is devoted to the analysis of the factual material on the Kobyaysky dialect recorded in the 1950s–1960s. The aim of the study is to systematize and provide an in-depth examination of this dialectological corpus. To achieve this aim, the following tasks are addressed: description of the phonetic, lexical, and morphological peculiarities of the Kobyaysky dialect; thematic classification of the collected dialectal units into lexical-semantic groups; identification of the types of variation in phonetic dialectisms. The structural research method is applied, including the semantic field method and distributive analysis. Lexical-semantic groups representing the environment, hunting, fishing, food culture, clothing, names of animals, plants, and parts of the human and animal body have been established. In terms of origin, the study identifies native Yakut lexemes, borrowings from Evenki (Even) and Russian. In addition, types of phonetic dialectisms with vowel and consonant variation are revealed. The results of the study can be used in teaching Yakut lexicology and phonetics, as well as in the course of Yakut dialectology.

The Sakha language as an object of sociolinguistic research is traditionally examined within the context of the Yakut ethnolinguistic community, while Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the North (ISNPN), 64.7% of whom speak Yakut, remain on the periphery of analysis. Meanwhile, representatives of ISNPN are de facto part of the Sakha language community, and studying language processes among them allows for assessing the vitality of the Sakha language across the republic, not only among ethnic Yakuts. In the context of documented language shift among Sakha children and youth, research on the functioning of the Sakha language in non-Yakut ethnic environments becomes particularly important for understanding the factors ensuring language sustainability beyond its ethnic core. The aim of the study is to examine the functioning of the Sakha language among Sakha-speaking Evenks using the case of Syuldyukar village in the Mirny District of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The methodological framework is based on the case study method within an ethnosociopsycholinguistic approach employing a triangulation strategy. The research is based on a comprehensive survey of the adult Evenk population of the village (n=90), in-depth interviews, participant observations, and a free association experiment (n=80). The results demonstrate stable positions of the Sakha language: it dominates in all spheres of everyday communication, serves as the foundation of ethnolinguistic identity, and is perceived as a priority for transmission to subsequent generations. The language situation is characterized by a high degree of consistency between language attitudes and actual practices. Analysis of the associative field of the stimulus “sakha tyla” revealed deep internalization of the Sakha language in the linguistic consciousness of the Evenk population: the dominance of the identificational-affiliative zone and the absence of negatively colored reactions indicate the perception of Yakut as “one’s own” language, rooted in biographical and cultural experience. It has been established that language vitality is determined not only by the ethnic composition of the population but also by a complex of sociolinguistic factors: residential compactness, intensity of intragroup communication, family language strategies, availability of language resources, and others. The obtained results highlight the need to expand the research perspective in assessing the vitality of the Sakha language and to include representatives of ISNPN as full members of the Sakha language community in the analysis.

The relevance of this study is determined by the insufficient exploration of the gastronomic vocabulary of the Yakut language as an essential layer of the material and spiritual culture of the Sakha people. In the context of globalization and the unification of food traditions, particular value is attached to the systematic description of the names of traditional products recorded in written monuments and literary texts, which reflect archaic ideas about food, methods of its preparation, and symbolic meaning. The aim of the work is to identify, thematically classify, and linguoculturologically analyze the corpus of names of traditional Yakut products presented in the works of the founder of Yakut literature, A.E. Kulakovsky. The objectives include:

1) a continuous sampling of lexemes from the collection Yrya-khohoon; 2) thematic distribution of the identified units into groups (dairy, meat, fish, flour products, wild plants); 3) semantic analysis of each group using data from explanatory dictionaries; 4) identification of artistic techniques (epithets, parallelism, sound symbolism) used by the poet to introduce gastronomic vocabulary. The methodology is based on methods of continuous sampling, componential analysis, comparative-dictionary and linguoculturological analysis, as well as techniques of ethnolinguistic interpretation. The material used was the collection Yrya-khohoon (vol. 1 of the Complete Works, 2009) and Yakut-Russian dictionaries (E.K. Pekarsky, Great Explanatory Dictionary of the Yakut Language, Yakut-Russian Dictionary, ). The results showed that the gastronomic vocabulary in Kulakovsky’s works comprises more than 40 names belonging to five thematic groups; dairy terms dominate (over 50% of the sample), which reflects their key role in the traditional diet. Semantic analysis shows that the names are often motivated by the method of preparation, consistency, or seasonality of the product. Artistic techniques (elaborate epithets for the word kumys, syntactic parallelism in listing fish dishes, sound symbolism in describing utensils) not only enrich the poetics but also serve as a means of actualizing cultural memory. Discussion of the results allows us to conclude that Kulakovsky’s gastronomic vocabulary is a semantic core organizing poetic descriptions of everyday life, celebration, abundance, and social relations. Prospects for the study are related to expanding the corpus through dialect records, olonkho, and other texts, as well as to an in-depth etymological analysis against the Turkic and Mongolian background.

This article analyzes the dynamics of the language situation and ethnocultural processes among the Evens. The relevance of the study is due to the threat of loss of the cultural heritage of the indigenous peoples of the North and the problems of preserving and developing endangered languages. The paper aims to consider the state of the Even language and culture in the context of modern threats and transformations. In this regard, the article addresses the problems of describing the language situation taking into account the number of Evens in various regions of the Russian Federation; aspects of proficiency in the Even language are analyzed. The study of the relationship between ethnocultural processes and landscape-climatic conditions, the dislocation of the ethnic group and industrial activity showed that territorial and ethnosocial factors are decisive for the formation of the language situation. The methods used in the work include: statistics, field data processing and analysis. The study of the relationship between ethnocultural processes and landscape-climatic conditions, the distribution of the ethnic group and economic activity showed that territorial and ethnosocial factors play a decisive role in shaping the language situation. The analysis made it possible to clarify the sociolinguistic parameters of settlements and their relationship to the geographic and socio-historical environment. The study also revealed that the linguistic situation among the Evens varies depending on their location. More optimal conditions for language preservation are observed in villages with a high proportion of the Even population, the presence of ethnic territories, traditional nature management, and a nomadic way of life in tribal communities. The most favorable conditions for maintaining linguistic identity are formed in settlements with a predominantly Even population, the presence of ethnocultural zones, the preservation of traditional forms of nature management, and a nomadic way of life in tribal communities. Instruction in the Even language in children’s educational institutions and the activities of national and cultural organizations play an important role. The article presents conditions that contribute to a more sustainable existence of the Even language: specific measures in the fields of education, economics, science, media, and family transmission. The practical significance of the work is related to the possibility of applying its results in language policy and language construction for the preservation and revitalization of endangered languages.

The relevance of this study lies in the need to develop comparative models demonstrating how the type of economic development of the landscape determines the frequency of specific nominative acts. The oronymy of the South Yakut region represents a unique object for analyzing the stratification of three linguacultures that historically coexisted in the same territory. The purpose of this article is to identify the principles of nomination and conduct a comparative analysis of the oronymic systems of three districts of South Yakutia: Neryungri, Aldan, and Olekminsky. The study material was a sample of 165 oronyms extracted from the South Yakutia toponymy database, compiled in the Laboratory of Regional Toponymic Research of the Technical Institute (branch) of the M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University in Neryungri. Verification of linguistic affiliation and semantics was carried out based on an analysis of lexicographic and scientific sources, followed by testing during field expeditions with the participation of informants. The study utilized descriptive, comparative, statistical, and component analysis methods. The theoretical framework was based on the works of E.M. Murzaev, E.M. Pospelov, and F.K. Komarov, as well as the regional studies of M.S. Ivanov-Bagdaryyn Sulbe, B.I. Lekhanov, and P.S. Maksimov. The results demonstrated that the semantic profile of oronymy and the frequency of certain types of nominative acts (feature-based nomination, metaphorical transfer, transonymization, professional and sacred nomination) directly depend on the ethnodemographic structure and history of economic development of the territory. A stratigraphic model of the oronymic corpus was established, including an Evenki industrial substratum, a Yakut figurative-cult layer, and a Russian descriptive-professional superstratum. The scientific novelty lies in the comparative study of the three aforementioned regions and the demonstration that the proposed classification by nominative act type describes all three local contact systems. The practical significance of the results lies in their potential use in compiling regional toponymic dictionaries, standardizing cartographic names, and in teaching philological disciplines at universities and local history courses at schools.