languages:kets_in_the_russian_federation
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Table of Contents
Ket in the Russian Federation
Language designations:
- In the language itself: денг
- ISO 639-3 standard: ket
Language vitality:
Linguistic aspects:
- Classification: Yeniseian → Northern Yeniseian
- Script: Cyrillic. In the Soviet period the written Ket language was based on the alphabet that was common to the people of the north. In 1986 a new cyrillic Ket alphabet with 32 letters was created by E. Kreinovich. 1) G.K. Werner has developed the alphabet and writing in Cyrillic symbols for Ket textbooks in the 1990s. 2)
Standardized orthography:
Demographics
Language Area
The Ket are the only survivors of an ancient group that lived throughout central southern Siberia. 3) The Ket population now lives along the Yenisei river and its tributaries. The majority lives in the Kellog Village on the Yelogui River, which is accessible only by boat. 4)
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Speaker numbers
| Total population | Native speakers | |
|---|---|---|
| Census 1926 | 1428 | 1225 |
| Census 1959 | 1019 | 785 |
| Census 1970 | 1182 | 885 |
| Census 1979 | 1122 | 510 |
| Census 1989 | 1113 | 537 |
| Census 2002 | 1494 | 485 |
| Census 2010 | 1220 | 210 |
Source: Vahtre & Viikberg (1991)5), Kryukova (2013) 6), Ethnologue 7)
Language and education legislation:
A little history
Legislation of the Russian Federation:
- Ket is not covered under the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.
National legislation:
The Constitution of Russia states that “everyone shall have the right to education”. This is further detailed in the Federal Law on Education. In Russia one has the right to receive education in the native language and the government is required to provide the opportunities for minorities in Russia to learn their language(s). 8)
Educational legislation:
Education in practice
- The Kellog village is the only place where Ket is taught. Children study the language in the 2nd till the 8th grade in primary school, for only one hour per week. Special textbooks written by G.K. Werner are used from the 2nd till the 4th grade. In the other grades the teachers use literature about the Ket culture which is written in Russian. 9)
- The Department of Siberian Indigenous Languages trains and consults teachers and provides teaching material as well. The Department has organised several seminars for Ket language teachers in which they got practical training in teaching native languages and information about internet resources that can be used for teaching Ket.10)
| Academic Year | Number of students learning Ket |
|---|---|
| 1988/89 | - |
| 1990/91 | 15 |
| 1991/92 | 134 |
| 1992/93 | 142 |
| 1993/94 | 123 |
Source: Bulatova (2009) 11)
Bodies controlling enforcement of educational laws:
Educational institutions and learning resources:
The Department of Siberian Indigenous Languages is concerned with the training of teachers. They provide teaching material as well.
Modified: 05-01-2017, 14:57
1)
Vahtre, L. & Viikberg, J. (1991). The Red Book of the People of the Russian Empire. Available at: https://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/kets.shtml.
2)
, 6)
Kryukova, E.(2013). The Ket language: from descriptive linguistics to interdisciplinary research. Available at: http://ling.tspu.edu.ru/en/archive.html?year=2013&issue=1&article_id=3970
3)
Vadja, E.J. (2000). The Ket and Other Yeniseian Peoples. Available at: http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ea210/ket.htm.
4)
Vajda, E.J. (2009). Loanwords in Ket. Available at: //linguistics.uoregon.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Vajda-Ket-Loans.pdf
5)
Vahtre, L. & Viikberg, J. (1991). The Red Book of the People of the Russian Empire. Available at: https://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/kets.shtml.
7)
Ethnologue https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ket
8)
The Law Library of Congress (2016). Constitutional Right to an Education: Russia . Retrieved January 2017. Available at: https://www.loc.gov/law/help/constitutional-right-to-an-education/russia.php#Constitutional.
9)
, 10)
Kryukova, E.(2013). The Ket language: from descriptive linguistics to interdisciplinary research. Available at: http://ling.tspu.edu.ru/en/archive.html?year=2013&issue=1&article_id=3970
11)
Bulatova, N Ya. (2009). Sociolinguistic Situation of the Minority Languages of the Indigenous Peoples of the Far North. Senri Ethnological Studies 72: 161-166
languages/kets_in_the_russian_federation.1489761483.txt.gz · Last modified: 2017/03/17 15:38 by johanneke