Altaic Studies

This paper concentrates on those maxims of Manchu language which deal with education and learning, and shows the attitude of Manchu people towards these aspects. Therefore, the article is an attempt to show how the Manchus perceived education and learning during the Qing dynasty, to translate their attitude to knowledge and to understand its role in their lives.
On the other hand the interpretation of maxims is fortified with insight into the cultural and social background of the times when Qing dynasty took power in China. Along with historical facts and cultural background on education, the paper suggests, where possible, parallels with relevant sayings (or proverbs) of Korean language.
Thus, the paper studies 18 Manchu language maxims on education and studies. Each maxim is translated into English and Korean languages and is provided with comments.

"The paper deals with current monetary beliefs and magic shamanic practices in post-Soviet Altai. In traditional shamanism, known to us from ethnographic studies of the 19th–20th centuries, a shaman who takes money is punished by the spirits and could die. Despite the traditional taboos, for example, accepting money for their service, shamans take cash payment from their clients anyway. In the present socio-economic situation the shamans have to earn money, and they use several explanatory models that allow them to do so. This paper describes those models. Typically, the money is given to the spirits, and the shaman is only an intermediary, but then he takes the money.
The paper also discusses the importance of money in non-shamanic ritual practices: the semantics of copper and silver money in offerings to local spirits, to the springs and to the menhirs."

In the monograph for the fi rst time, based on the materials of the All-Russian Agricultural Census in 1917, ethnodemographic and ethnosocial development of the indigenous population of the Northern Altai foothills is analyzed. A plurality of identities of the indigenous population
of the Northern Altai foothills was enucleated, and the transformation of their anthroponymic system was studied.

В предлагаемом издании представлен ценный материал по археологии и этнографии Казахского Алтая начиная с эпохи палеолита до этнографической современности, свидетельствующий о самобытной культуре, живших на этой территории народов.
Книга адресована широкому кругу читателей,особенно полезна она тем,
кто неравнодушен к истории своего народа.

На обширном этнографическом и лингвистическом материале в монографии реконструируется тюркская модель мира в ее пространственно-временном и вещном аспектах. Выявлен ряд космологических классификаторов с помощью которых описывалось устройство Вселенной. Особое внимание уделено вещному миру. опосредовавшему отношения общества и природы. Раскрывается единство утилитарной и символической функций вещей. На материалах культуры народов Сибири подобное исследование предпринимается впервые.  Книга предназначена этнографам, тюрколагам, историкам. археологам.

The article reviews the semantics of names of the Buryat tribes buin and abazai, which are connected with Old-Uighur period of
the Central Asian history. These ethnonyms are unique in the Central Asian region and found only among the Buryats, but not among
the other Turkic-Mongolian peoples. Ethnonym abazai is etymological problem, since the two versions discussed in this article
suggest its Turkic origin from the two areas, Yenisei area, or Central Asian area. In both cases it linked to the ancient Turkic
(Uighur). To resolve the problem of the origin of the ethnonym buin the author presents a hypothesis associated with the rise of
Buddhism in Uyghur Khaganate in the early Middle Ages. These two versions o f the origin of the Buryat ethnonyms help to expand
the humanitarian knowledge about ethnogenesis of the Buryats.

Исследованные за последние 200 лет на Алтае раннесредневековые памятники специалисты обозначают, как правило, как «древнетюркские» или «тюркские», либо как памятники «алтае-телеских тюрок» или «алтае-орхонских тюрок», подразумевая под ними принадлежность к тюркам-тугю. Предпринятые автором сбор, картирование и анализ тамг в виде острого угла, встречающихся в погребениях с конем, на скалах и стелах на Алтае и в сопредельных регионах, а также сопоставление их с данными письменных источников позволяют утверждать, что эти памятники принадлежали карлукам. Картирование этих тамг фиксирует основную территорию расселения карлуков — прежде всего, географический Алтай, а также иллюстрирует все перипетии и этапы их бурной истории: переселение части из них в Центральную и Внутреннюю Монголию, в Семиречье.

Scholars interpret the early medieval objects investigated over the past 200 years in Altai, as a rule, as “ancient Turkic” or “Turkic”, or as objects of “Altai-Teles Turks” or “Altai-Orkhon Turks”, meaning that they belong
to the Turks-Tugyu. The collection, mapping and analysis of tamgas in the form of an acute angle, found in burials with a horse, on rocks and steles in Altai and in neighboring regions, undertaken by the author, and comparison with the data of written sources allows us to confirm that these monuments belonged to Karluks. The mapping of these tamgas fixes the main territory of their settlement — first of all, the geographical Altai, and also illustrates all the peripetia and stages of the turbulent history of the Karluks: resettlement part of them to Central and Inner Mongolia, to the Semirechye.

Монография завершает цикл исследований, посвященных основам мировоззренческой системы коренного населения Саяно-Алтая. Особое внимание в ней уделяется идеологическому обеспечению родовой организации, выделяются социальные роли, определяющие духовную жизнь традиционного общества. Анализируются различные аспекты знаковой деятельности, реконструируются основные модели ритуально-языкового поведения, вскрываются мировоззренческие основы шаманизма.
Книга предназначена этнографам, фольклористам, религиоведам, историкам.

Almost twenty years after the publication of this piece, it may be in order to insert a remark: For me, who is (albeit only due to the realities of the Latin alphabet only) listed as the main author of this paper (in fact I did little more than furnish bibliographical data and oversee the historiographical sections of this), the skepticism towards Altaic as a valid genealogical grouping has grown even bigger over the years, and it is, thus, important to note that the final paragraph of this text, which documents my position as of 1998, is more valid today than it was back then. This joint paper was written in its time to forge a bridge between proponents and opponents of the hypothesis, and it took some effort to do so. As such, it may stand, but it is wrong to assume, or to construct from my co-authorship, that I was a "pro-Altaicist" back then and have changed my mind. In fact, the development of the field since the end of the 20th century did anything but mollifying my skepticism toward this, quite on the contrary. My position is, certainly, better reflected in other (single-authored) contributions of mine, as e.g. 'Haupt und Glieder' or 'The poverty of Altaicism'.

--Post scriptum--
Colleagues who find the need to cite this paper and omit my name from the citation, won't do me any harm, but a favour. There are reasons which force me to deeply regret my participation in the publication of this paper, and, most of all, the fact that my name is mentioned first among its authors. I cannot deny having given a hand in this, though, sadly.

The article deals with the relations of power and shamans in the USSR. On the example of the Altai shamans the author explores the phenomena of social meaning in different periods of the Soviet epoch. In the 1920s, the authorities had a patronizing attitude to shamanism. The Christian mission was closed and shamanism was seen as part of the national culture. In the 1930s, another model of power relations to shamans took over. In Soviet newspapers shamans renounced his craft, most of them victims of repression. In the 1930-1980s the shamanism exists in a secretive manner. It was dangerous to be a shaman. But the descendant of a shaman could not get rid of the "shamanic sickness", and various magic rituals were used to save the child from the shamanic spirits of his ancestors. Thus, in the Soviet era, there were two types of ways to destroy the "shamanic profession": а) a violence of the soviet power; b) a using of traditional rituals.

La Lista Swadesh de voces vascas estables resistente a la donación lingüística y lo que revela su comparación con las restantes familias de lenguas del mundo. Aún hallamos en los libros de textos universitarios y en las enciclopedias más autorizadas el viejo paradigma de que el vasco ­como aún es denominado a nivel internacional y por los mismos vascólogos­ es un idioma aislado sin pariente alguno y que por ello mismo no sabemos nada sobre su origen. ¿Es realmente cierto que la lengua vasca no tiene parientes ni siquiera en otros lugares de Eurasia? ¿Surgió espontáneamente de la nada? ¿Acaso fue inventado por una persona que vivía en una de las cuevas paleolíticas del País Vasco y desde entonces se mantuvo el idioma aislado sin apenas evolución? Vamos a intentar dar respuesta a estas preguntas desde las herramientas que nos ofrecen la Lingüística Histórica y la Léxicoestadística comparadas.

Enlace a tabla comparativa en http://atlantisng.com/blog/genealogia-de-la-lengua-vasca-y-las-lenguas-altaicas-uralicas-y-sino-caucasianas/

The study of ancient Turkic antiquities in the Altai is of particular significance since this region is considered to have been the native land of the ancient Turks. According to genealogical legends, the Altai is connected to the early history and to the origin of the Turkic community. The Altai period of ancient Turkic history is important, also, as the period during which the Turks developed their own statehood. As a result of the creation of an extended empire, the ancient Turks influenced and transmit-ted elements of their material culture (e.g., caftan, belt plaque decorations, stirrups) and aspects of their political structure to other nomads of the Eurasian steppe. They also had a significant influence on the settled people of China, Sogd, Sassanian Iran and Byzantium.
Ancient Turkic antiquities in the Altai include mound burials, stone sculptures and enclosures, rock paintings - graffiti and runic inscriptions, associated with them. These antiquities also include set-tlements and objects of iron metallurgy. Burials offer the most interesting and informative source for the history of the ancient Turks. At present at least 187 burials have been investigated in the Altai region. Forty-three of them - represented in this book for the first time - were excavated by the East-Altaic Group of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences, under the leadership of V.D. Kubarev. These burials are located mostly in central and south-eastern Altai.
Despite voluminous publications on ancient Turkic archaeology, many research problems remain. These include problems in the correlation of archaeological and written records relating to burial ritual; the problematic lack of ancient Turkic monuments relating to the First Turkic Qaghanate in comparison with materials from a later period; and questions regarding the actual and detailed reconstruction of composite artifacts such as armor, caftan, saadak belt and others. In this book, using new and informative ancient Turkic burials, we attempt to address some of these problems. In the interpretation of ancient Turkic burials other sources were used: materials from other ancient Turkic monuments, written records, ethnographical data, and information provided by epic literature.
The ancient Turks created an original material and spiritual culture. This culture had an appreciable influence on neighboring peoples; at the same time it absorbed elements of those foreign cultures. Analyzing the complex of different sources, and first of all, the materials derived from burials, it is possible to confirm the complex nature of ancient Turkic culture. This culture included elements of the earlier Pazyryk culture and of the Xiong-nu period, on the other hand, on the other hand, ancient Turkic culture had genetic connection to the modern Turkic-speaking populations in South Siberia.

В монографии публикуются материалы новой, представительной серии древнетюркских погребений, исследованных на территории Российского Алтая. В научный оборот вводится археологическая коллекция, содержащая как широко распространенные и массовые категории предметов, так и редкие и уникальные находки. К числу последних принадлежит защитный доспех, набранный из металлических пластин, остатки кафтанов из китайского узорчатого шелка, предметы из органических материалов.
Материалы погребений древних тюрок Алтая анализируются автором с привлечением данных по другим древнетюркским памятникам (оградкам, изваяниям, граффити), а также с использованием письменных источников и этнографических свидетельств. Это позволило всесторонне охарактеризовать материальную и духовную культуру древних тюрок Алтая, включая погребальную обрядность, военное дело, костюм и целый ряд других вопросов.

Genealogía de la Lengua ÍBERA

Fono-morfotipología frecuencial de la lengua íbera, comparada con la euskérica y las principales familias de lenguas eurasiáticas1 sino-caucasianas y afrasiáticas2

Por Georgeos Díaz-Montexano

Sobre la lengua íbera -tal como sucede con la lengua euskera- aún se sostiene que no se conoce su filiación, y que si no estuviera realmente relacionada con el Pre-Proto-Vasco o el Proto-Vasco mismo (hipótesis con más partidarios), muy probablemente se trataría de otra lengua aislada. El autor considera que la lengua íbera perteneció a alguna de las antiguas familias lingüísticas conocidas de Eurasia y este breve estudio fono-morfotipológico frecuencial y comparativo tiene como objetivo lograr, al menos, una aproximación a la cuestión.

CONTINENS
INTRODUCTIO 2
COMPARATIONES 6
ANEXUS 10
BIBLIOGRAFÍA 12

Leer el artículo en PDF  en http://atlantisng.com/blog/genealogia-eurasiatica-de-las-lenguas-ibera-y-vasca-y-su-proximidad-con-las-lenguas-altaicas/

В настоящий том вошли ранее не публиковавшиеся статьи и полевые этнографические заметки по истории и культуре шорцев и других тюркоязычных народов Саяно-Алтая одного из крупнейших отечественных тюркологов XX века Надежды Петровны Дыренковой (1899–1941).
Книга снабжена биографическим очерком о Н.П. Дыренковой, библиографическим списком ее работ, а также указателями и иллюстрациями из сибирского собрания МАЭ РАН.
Для этнологов, лингвистов, фольклористов, культурологов, религиоведов, всех интересующихся абори- генными культурами Сибири.

Коллективная монография представляет результат исследования проблем национальной идентичности народов Горного Алтая на материале региональной топонимической системы.
Для филологов, культурологов, антропологов, географов, краеведов, а также всех, интересующихся вопросами национальной идентичности, этимологией географических названий.

This paper provides further evidence for the well-known fact that typology  is meaningless for establishing genetic relationships. In fact, I demonstrate that Korean shares with various Paleosiberian languages more common typological features than with 'Altaic', where the commonality of the typological features was and still is is taken as a proof of the 'Altaic' pedigree of Korean.

Данная работа представляет собой исследование живущей на северо-востоке КНР малоизученной монголоязычной народности. Основу книги составили полевые исследования автора, а также российские и зарубежные источники. В книге рассматриваются вопросы расселения, численности, происхождения, родового состава дауров, особенности хозяйства, культуры.

Los 40 términos más estables determinados por Holman et al. (2008) de la “Lista de Swadesh” original de 100 voces del vocabulario nuclear básico que (salvo unos pocos excepcionales casos) no son adoptadas por familias de lenguas diferentes, y otras 23 voces de la Lista de Swadesh original, fueron reordenadas desde los términos más estables (no sustituibles por términos foráneos de familias diferentes) a los menos estables. Esta lista, estadísticamente, es igual de significativa que la lista original de Swadesh de 100 términos y su reordenamiento por voces más estables la convierte en una herramienta muy poderosa para las comparativas entre lenguas y familias. Si dos lenguas cualquieras comparadas con esta lista comparten (según Swadesh) más de un 36% de coincidencias, puede sostenerse que estuvieron emparentadas dentro de una misma familia, aunque tal parentesco sea remoto en el tiempo. Obviamente, mientras más alto sea el porcentaje de coincidencias (mejor si es por encima del 50%), más cercano será el parentesco.
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Comentario
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La comparativa favorece con diferencia a las lenguas Transeurasiáticas-Altaicas (Túrquicas, Mongoles, Tungúsicas, Japónica y Coreánica) que ocupan más de un 80% de la comparativa, siguiéndole en orden frecuencial (con pocas diferencias en los porcentajes) las Dravidianas, Sino-Caucasianas, Kartvelianas, Urálicas, Yeniseanas, Sino-Tibetanas y en menor grado las Afrasiáticas. Puesto que es difícil (por no decir imposible) explicar tan elevado número de coincidencias del vocabulario básico de voces estables con términos de la macrofamilia Transeurasiática-Altaica como “préstamos” o producto del mero azar, la hipótesis de Michel Morván (1995-2002) de que el Euskara no es una lengua aislada y que, de hecho, sería una lengua Eurasiática muy antigua, parece más que probable.
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Esta comparativa de voces estables, según las 40 voces más estables determinadas por Holman et al. (2008), y otras 23 de la Lista de Swadesh original, apuntan a un más que verosímil parentesco entre la lengua Euskara (y probablemente también la Ibera de acuerdo a los pocos términos iberos que hemos podido incluir) con la macrofamilia Transeurasiática-Altaica. Si el Pre-Proto-Euskara era una lengua Proto-Eurasiana, tal como sostiene Morvan, todo apunta a que esta se hallaba más cercana a las lenguas Transeurasiáticas-Altaicas que a las de las restantes familias eurasiáticas.

En cuanto al Ibero, si bien es imposible de momento hacer una comparativa de su vocabulario básico estable, hay suficientes indicios para considerar como verosímil una relación de parentesco con el Euskara, aunque remota (nunca como hermanas o como madre o hija una de la otra), lo que permite inferir, al menos como posibilidad, que igualmente se pueda incluir el Ibero dentro de la macrofamilia Transeurasiática-Altaica. De hecho, todo lo que mejor se ha podido determinar (casi hay consenso) sobre su morfo-tipología, fonosintáctica, afijaciones, formas verbales y léxico especializado (determinado por combinatoria interna y contexto favorable) encuentran las mejores explicaciones siempre —al igual que pasa con el Euskara— a través de las mismas lenguas de la macrofamilia Transeurasiática-Altaica, y en menor medida a través de algunas lenguas Caucasianas.

Referencias

Bengtson, John, ‘Basque etymology’, Compiled by John Bengtson, 2015-2019 http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=config&morpho=0&basename=\data\sinocauc\basqet&first=1
Cengiz Erman, Arif, «Türklerin Gerçek Tarihi. Türk Dili ve Tarihi Üzerine Tezler», Urzeni; Edición: 1, 2019.
Díaz-Montexano, Georgeos, PERRO. El origen etimológico íbero-altaico o paleolítico del nombre del ‘perro’ en el español, The Epigraphic Society, Enero de 2017. https://www.academia.edu/35819718/
Holman et al., ‘Explorations in automated language classification.’ November 2008Folia Linguistica 42(3-4). DOI:10.1515/FLIN.2008.331
Koşay, H.Z., «Dil mukayeselerine göre Basklarla Türklerin temasları, göç yolları ve zamanı hakkında.” Belleten 84.521–60, 1957.
Morvan, Michel, ‘DICTIONNAIRE ÉTYMOLOGIQUE DE LA LANGUE BASQUE’, UMR 5478 DU CNRS (2022). http://projetbabel.org/basque/basque_dictionnaire_etymologique_2022_02.pdf
Robbeets, Martine; Bisang, Walter, ‘Paradigm Change. In the Transeurasian languages and beyond,’ Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, 2014.
Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia (OEH) https://www.euskaltzaindia.eus/index.php?option=com_oehberria&task=bilaketa&Itemid=413&lang=eu

Pie de foto: Una muestra de dos de las 28 páginas de tablas comparativas que se pueden ver en el PDF https://atlantisng.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Lista-Swadesh-Eusko-Ibero-Transeurasiatica-de-voces-mas-estables-de-Holman-et-al-2008-y-su-comparacion-con-el-Griego.pdf

Altaic-related German words represent namely substrate, i. e. basic (not cultural) lexicon which might be inherited from ‘macro-Altaic’ (Y haplogroup C, longhouses) Linear Pottery culture. ‘Hamitic’ (non-Semitic Afro-Asiatic)-related cultural lexicon was possibly accepted from Ertebølle (fishing and swine-herding, reflected in language, while ox may be wild). Pictish as well as several pre-Proto-Germanic substrate words might be Yenisseian-related. Kartvelian and North Caucasian elements might be preserved from Basque (Caucasian, mainly Daghestanian-related) Bell Beaker culture. Hurrian elements in Proto-Germanic are confirmed by genetic link with Cyprys and Aegean influence on the Nordic Bronze Age. Etruscan consonantism is similar to Armenian and Germanic as a result of the substrate influence or preservation of archaic features

PhD Dissertation directed by Felipe Criado Boado, Marco García Quintela and A. César González García. Interdisciplinary research about the cultural heritage, the funerary landscape, the sacred geography and the cultural astronomy of Ikh Bogd Uul Mountain, Eastern Altai, Mongolia.