Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Orochen, Orochon, Ulunchun, Oronchon, Olunchun, Elunchun, Oročon, 鄂倫春語
CLASSIFICATION		Tungusic, Northern Tungusic
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		orh
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Heilongjiang Oroqen Gankui
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS		not to be confused with Orok [oaa]

Compare Sources (6)

Information from: “Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages” . Christopher Moseley (2007) Routledge

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<2,500
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
8,196
CHILDREN
Very few

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
TRANSMISSION

PLACES: China

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Northeastern Inner Mongolia and Northwestern Heilongjiang Province

Threatened

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
< 2,000
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
~ 5,000
CHILDREN
very few, if any

DATE OF INFO: before 1990s

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"mean age of youngest speakers: varies locally between 20 and 40"

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Mandarin Chinese

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"on a tentative basis and with poor results, the language has been taught at a few elementary schools (in IPA transcription); Chinese (Mandarin) is becoming the main language within both monoethnic and multiethnic families"

Scripts (Writing system)

IPA

PLACES: China

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang Province

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: "administratively divided between Hulun Buir Aimak, Inner Mongolia (Orochen proper: esp. in the Orochen Autonomous Banner), and the province of Heilongjiang (subgroups along the Amur basin: Birarchen, Selpechen, and Kumarchen)"

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1,200
Native speakers worldwide

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
480
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
1,551
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
In 1979 31% of the ethnic population of 1,551, were considered to be native speakers which is approximately 480.

DATE OF INFO: 1979

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: Primary education in the mother tongue began as early as 1931, when the first school textbooks in the Udeghe language appeared. As elsewhere in the Soviet Union, this process had subsided by the late 1930s and another attempt to create a new Udeghe alphabet was made only in the late 1970s. Nowadays, the mother tongue is again taught in some schools, but only as an optional subject.
More on Orthography: An attempt to create a new Udeghe alphabet was made only in the late 1970s.

PLACES: Russia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: The Udeghes are scattered over an extensive area in the Khabarovsk region and in the Ussuri taiga, in the northern part of the Primorye region. They have no compact settled area. They live in the neighbourhood of the Nanais and the Nivkhs and in places are mixed with them.

1,200
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
8,196
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
1,200 (2002 L. Whaley). 800 are monolingual. Ethnic population: 8,196 (2000 census).

DATE OF INFO: speakers 2002, population 2000 (census)

PLACES: China; Russia

		16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)	M. Paul Lewis	SIL International	Dallas, TX		http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	8,196	1,200	speakers 2002, population 2000 (census)		1,200 (2002 L. Whaley). 800 are monolingual. Ethnic population: 8,196 (2000 census).								China; Russia
		3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger		UNESCO Publishing	Paris		http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub															48.166,119.4873
			2000	Red Book on Endangered Languages: Northeast Asia				UNESCO	http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/nasia_report.html	Juha Janhunen; Tapani Salminen	Juha Janhunen; Tapani Salminen. 2000. "UNESCO RED BOOK ON ENDANGERED LANGUAGES: NORTHEAST ASIA." Online: http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/nasia_report.html		~ 5,000	< 2,000	before 1990s	1000-9999		Mandarin Chinese	"on a tentative basis and with poor results, the language has been taught at a few elementary schools (in IPA transcription); Chinese (Mandarin) is becoming the main language within both monoethnic and multiethnic families"	Threatened (60 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	12	"mean age of youngest speakers: varies locally between 20 and 40"		"administratively divided between Hulun Buir Aimak, Inner Mongolia (Orochen proper: esp. in the Orochen Autonomous Banner), and the province of Heilongjiang (subgroups along the Amur basin: Birarchen, Selpechen, and Kumarchen)"	China	Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang Province
				World Oral Literature Project					http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			1,200		1000-9999				Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
070071197X	3	1	2007	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages		Routledge	Abingdon			Christopher Moseley	Moseley, Christopher. 2007. Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, 1 edn. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 070071197X	ll_pub	8,196	<2,500		1000-9999				Severely Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	14		14		China	Northeastern Inner Mongolia and Northwestern Heilongjiang Province
9985-936922			1993	The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire	Andrew Humphreys and Krista Mits				http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook		"The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire." edited by Andrew Humphreys and Krista Mits. Online: http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook.		1,551	480	1979	100-999	In 1979 31% of the ethnic population of 1,551, were considered to be native speakers which is approximately 480.		Primary education in the mother tongue began as early as 1931, when the first school textbooks in the Udeghe language appeared. As elsewhere in the Soviet Union, this process had subsided by the late 1930s and another attempt to create a new Udeghe alphabet was made only in the late 1970s. Nowadays, the mother tongue is again taught in some schools, but only as an optional subject.	Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Russia	The Udeghes are scattered over an extensive area in the Khabarovsk region and in the Ussuri taiga, in the northern part of the Primorye region. They have no compact settled area. They live in the neighbourhood of the Nanais and the Nivkhs and in places are mixed with them.

Oroqen

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<2,500

Threatened

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

< 2,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,200

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

480

1,200

Discussion

Oroqen

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<2,500

Threatened

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

< 2,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,200

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

480

1,200

Discussion

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