Yakut Lexemes in Modern Spoken Tundra Yukaghir

Introduction. Like in many other cultures, the historically multicultural and multilingual environment entails that the oral speech of modern Yukaghirs tends to comprise native and foreign-language material, which is required by the moment and necessary for language development. Despite the small number of speakers, the centuries-old lexical system experiences constant changes manifested in its own and borrowed resources, through oral and book-written narratives. Goals. The article attempts an analysis of Yakut borrowings — the Yakut language being the dominant one across Yakutia — in colloquial Tundra Yukaghir, which also contains elements borrowed from Chukchi, Tungusic and Russian. Materials and methods. The study focuses on transcripts of original audio recordings, such as monologues and dialogues, some of which be newly introduced into scientific circulation. The paper employs a variety of general and special research methods, addresses the available base of foreign-language words from book-written sources to give a qualitative/quantitative representation of Yakut borrowings in colloquial Tundra Yukaghir, and resume Yakut does have most essential impacts on the specified speakers’ repertoire. Results. It has been established that Yakut retains the role of an intermediary language: Yukaghirs tend to absorb Russian words through Yakut, use Yakut sounds for the efficient integration of newly borrowed Russian lexemes, frequently employ Yakut function words (conjunctions and particles). So, slightly less than half of Yakut loanwords prove to be of Russian origin and are widely represented both lexically and thematically. In general, the most relevant lexemes are ones related to home and function words. Ca. 40% of Yakutisms have confirmed or received the status of ‘rooted’ borrowings on the basis of their high frequency, and their ‘foreignness’ often stays virtually unmentioned by the speakers. Like in written sources, oral speech patterns are distinguished by variability of Yakut words even for a single speaker, which testifies to the ongoing processes of integration and frequency of their use. The uniqueness of the disappearing Yukaghir language lies in its vitality paralleled by the active enrichment of its vocabulary and the creative strategy of its speakers seeking to make their speech more expressive.

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