16.03.2008 19:17:21 code: West Europe Chemické prvky ve forest nenetštine Names chemical elements in Forest Nenets

Click for Periodic Table in Nganasan language

The Nenets (Yurak) and Nganasan (Tawgi) languages are spoken in northwestern Siberia. Along with Enets (Yenisei-Samoyed), they belong to the North-Samoyed branch of languages. The whole group of Samoyed languages is related to the group of Finno-Ugric languages, and the two groups form the Uralic language family. Nenets is spoken in a vast area from the White Sea in the west to the mouth of the Yenisei River in the east, and from the shore of the Arctic Ocean in the north to the edge of the boreal coniferous forest in the south (see the Map). Although the Nenets are nomadic people residing mainly in the tundra, their camps are also found in the forest area along some tributaries of the Ob River and along the Pur River. According to the 2002 census, the number of the Nenets is about 41.000 (their number grew 20 per cent compared to 1989). Up to 77 per cent of them speak Nenets as their mother tongue; this number varies depending on the particular area [for more detailed information see: http://www.gks.ru/PEREPIS].
 
Nganasan is spoken in the central and northern parts of Taymyr Peninsula. Today the total number of the Nganasan is only 830. Ca. 500 people claim Nganasan to be their mother tongue [see ibidem]. Since the 1960s, the majority of them have resided in three villages - Volochanka, Ust'-Avam, and Novaya. Most Nganasan speakers are multilingual: along with the Native language, they speak Russian. Many of them also have command of Dolgan, a Turkic language. The Dolgan live together with the Nganasan in all the three villages mentioned above. Some Nganasan people can also speak Enets, a third North-Samoyed language. The latter is in a poor condition - very few senior people can speak it today. ...more...