Map of regions where those who speak the extantNorthern Mansi language. The gradient represents the uncertainty in where the language can be spoken. (2022)
Northern Mansi has strong Russian, Komi, Nenets, and Northern Khanty influence, and it's the literary Mansi language. There is no accusative case; that is, both the nominative and accusative roles are unmarked on the noun. */æ/ and */æː/ have been backed to [a] and [aː].
This article is focusing on the Severnaya Sosva dialect of Northern Mansi as that is considered the literary language.
The highlighted letters, and Г with the value /ɡ/, are used only in names and loanwords. The allophones /ɕ/ and /sʲ/ are written with the letter Щ or the digraph СЬ respectively.
The voiceless velar fricatives /x/, /xʷ/ are only found in the Northern group and the Lower Konda dialect of the Eastern group, resulting from spirantization of *k, *kʷ adjacent to original back vowels.
According to Honti, a contrast between *w and *ɣʷ can be reconstructed, but this does not surface in any of the attested varieties.
The labialization contrast among the velars dates back to Proto-Mansi, but was in several varieties strengthened by labialization of velars adjacent to rounded vowels. In particular, Proto-Mansi *yK → Core Mansi *æKʷ (a form of transphonologization).
One way to express a noun's definiteness in a sentence is with articles, and Northern Mansi uses two articles. The Indefinite is derived from the demonstrative pronominal word ань ('now'), the definite is derived from the number аква/акв ('one'); ань ('the'), акв ('a/an'). They both are used before the defined word. And if their adverbial and numeral meanings are to be expressed; ань always stands before the verb or a word with a similar function and is usually stressed, акв behaves the same and is always stressed.[10]
It's worth noting that the Northern Mansi newspaper, Luima Seripos (Лӯима̄ сэ̄рипос), doesn't use the before-mentioned words as articles.
Definiteness (determination) can also be expressed by the third (less often second) person singular possession marker,[11] or in case of direct objects, using transitive conjugation.[12] E.g. а̄мп (’dog’) → а̄мпе (’his/her/its dog’, ’the dog’); ха̄п (’boat’) → ха̄п на̄лув-нарыгтас (’he/she pushed a boat in the water’) ≠ ха̄п на̄лув-нарыгтастэ (’he/she pushed the boat in the water’).
There is no grammatical gender. Mansi distinguishes between singular, dual and plural number. Six grammatical cases exist. Possession is expressed using possessive suffixes, for example -ум, which means "my".
Possession is expressed with possessive suffixes, and the suffix change is determined by the last letter of a word.
There are 5 ways that the suffixes can change:
If the word has a consonant as the last letter; Example with: пӯт /puːt/ (cauldron)
possessor
single
double
multiple
1st person sing.
пӯтум puːtɞ̯m
пӯтагум puːtaɣɞ̯m
пӯтанум puːtanɞ̯m
2nd person sing.
пӯтын puːtən
пӯтагын puːtaɣən
пӯтан puːtan
3rd person sing.
пӯтэ puːte
пӯтаге puːtaɣe
пӯтанэ puːtane
1st person dual
пӯтме̄н puːtmeːn
пӯтагаме̄н puːtaɣameːn
пӯтанаме̄н puːtanameːn
2nd person dual
пӯты̄н puːtiːn
пӯтагы̄н puːtaɣiːn
пӯтаны̄н puːtaniːn
3rd person dual
пӯтэ̄ puːteː
пӯтаге̄н puːtaɣeː
пӯтанэ̄н puːtaneː
1st person plu.
пӯтув puːtuw
пӯтагув puːtaɣuw
пӯтанув puːtanuw
2nd person plu.
пӯты̄н puːtiːn
пӯтагы̄н puːtaɣiːn
пӯтаны̄н puːtaniːn
3rd person plu.
пӯтаныл puːtanəl
пӯтага̄ныл puːtanəl
пӯта̄ныл puːtanəl
If the word has a vowel as the last letter; Example with: э̄ква /eːkʷa/ (wife, older woman)
possessor
single
double
multiple
1st person sing.
э̄квам eːkʷam
э̄квагум eːkʷaɣɞ̯m
э̄кванум eːkʷanɞ̯m
2nd person sing.
э̄кван eːkʷan
э̄квагын eːkʷaɣən
э̄кван eːkʷan
3rd person sing.
э̄кватэ eːkʷate
э̄кваге eːkʷaɣe
э̄кванэ eːkʷane
1st person dual
э̄кваме̄н eːkʷameːn
э̄квагаме̄н eːkʷaɣameːn
э̄кванаме̄н eːkʷanameːn
2nd person dual
э̄кван eːkʷan
э̄квагы̄н eːkʷaɣiːn
э̄кваны̄н eːkʷaniːn
3rd person dual
э̄кватэ̄н eːkʷateːn
э̄кваге̄н eːkʷaɣeː
э̄кванэ̄н eːkʷaneː
1st person plu.
э̄квав eːkʷaw
э̄квагув eːkʷaɣuw
э̄кванув eːkʷanuw
2nd person plu.
э̄кван eːkʷan
э̄квагы̄н eːkʷaɣiːn
э̄кваны̄н eːkʷaniːn
3rd person plu.
э̄кваныл eːkʷanəl
э̄кваганыл eːkʷanəl
э̄квананыл eːkʷanəl
If the word has a vowel (ы, и) as the last letter; Example with: са̄лы /saːli/ (deer)
possessor
single
double
multiple
1st person sing.
са̄лым saːlim
са̄лыягум saːlijaɣɞ̯m
са̄лыянум saːlijanɞ̯m
2nd person sing.
са̄лын saːlin
са̄лыягын saːlijaɣən
са̄лыян saːlijan
3rd person sing.
са̄лытэ saːlite
са̄лыяге saːlijaɣe
са̄лыянэ saːlijane
1st person dual
са̄лыме̄н saːlimeːn
са̄лыягаме̄н saːlijaɣameːn
са̄лыянаме̄н saːlijanameːn
2nd person dual
са̄лын saːlin
са̄лыягы̄н saːlijaɣiːn
са̄лыяны̄н saːlijaniːn
3rd person dual
са̄лытэ̄н saːliteː
са̄лыяге̄н saːlijaɣeː
са̄лыянэ̄н saːlijaneː
1st person plu.
са̄лыюв saːlijuw
са̄лыягув saːlijaɣuw
са̄лыянув saːlijanuw
2nd person plu.
са̄лын saːlin
са̄лыягы̄н saːlijaɣiːn
са̄лыяны̄н saːlijaniːn
3rd person plu.
са̄лыяныл saːlijanəl
са̄лыяганыл saːlijaɣanəl
са̄лыянаныл saːlijananəl
If the word has a palatalized consonant as the last letter; Example with: ся̄нь /ɕaːnʲ/ (mother)
possessor
single
double
multiple
1st person sing.
ся̄нюм ɕaːnʲɞ̯m
ся̄нягум ɕaːnʲaɣɞ̯m
ся̄нянум ɕaːnʲanɞ̯m
2nd person sing.
ся̄нин ɕaːnʲən
ся̄нягын ɕaːnʲaɣən
ся̄нян ɕaːnʲan
3rd person sing.
ся̄не ɕaːnʲe
ся̄няге ɕaːnʲaɣe
ся̄нянэ ɕaːnʲane
1st person dual
ся̄няме̄н ɕaːnʲameːn
ся̄нягаме̄н ɕaːnʲaɣameːn
ся̄нянаме̄н ɕaːnʲanameːn
2nd person dual
ся̄нӣн ɕaːnʲiːn
ся̄нягы̄н ɕaːnʲaɣiːn
ся̄няны̄н ɕaːnʲaniːn
3rd person dual
ся̄не̄ ɕaːnʲeː
ся̄няге̄н ɕaːnʲaɣeː
ся̄нянэ̄н ɕaːnʲaneː
1st person plu.
ся̄нюв ɕaːnʲuw
ся̄нягув ɕaːnʲaɣuw
ся̄нянув ɕaːnʲanuw
2nd person plu.
ся̄нӣн ɕaːnʲiːn
ся̄нягы̄н ɕaːnʲaɣiːn
ся̄няны̄н ɕaːnʲaniːn
3rd person plu.
ся̄няныл ɕaːnʲanəl
ся̄няга̄ныл ɕaːnʲanəl
ся̄ня̄ныл ɕaːnʲanəl
If the word has a syncopating stem; Example with: сасыг /sasɪɣ/ (uncle)
Northern Mansi conjugation has three persons, three numbers, two tenses, and five moods. Active and passive voices exist.
There is no clear distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs.[14]
The verb can conjugate in a Definite and Indefinite way which depends on if the sentence has an object, which the action depicted by the verb refers to directly.
The tense suffix precedes the personal suffix. The form of the present tense suffix depends on the character of the verbal stem, as well as moods. Tense conjugation is formed with the suffixes -эг, -э̄г, -и, -э, -э̄, -г, or -в.[15] In the following examples, the tense suffix is in bold and the personal ending is in italic.
рӯпитаӈкве - to work
Singular
Dual
Plural
1st person
рӯпитэ̄гум
рӯпитыме̄н
рӯпитэ̄в
2nd person
рӯпитэ̄гын
рӯпитэгы̄н
рӯпитэгы̄н
3rd person
рӯпиты
рӯпитэ̄г
рӯпитэ̄гыт
The present tense suffix -э̄г is used if the following personal marker contains a consonant or a highly reduced vowel; the suffix -эг is used if the following personal marker has a stronger vowel, as it is the case in 2nd person dual and plural. 1st person dual has no tense marker but rather a ы between the verb stem and personal ending.
Verb stems that end in a vowel, have -г as verbal marker. Verb stems that end with the vowel у have -в as verbal marker.[16]
3rd person dual has no personal ending. If the verbal stem ends in a vowel, the tense suffix becomes -ыг.
1st person plural personal ending is -в if the verbal stems ends in a consonant; the personal ending becomes -ув if the verbal stem ends in a vowel.
To represent the Future, the verb патуӈкве(not dissimilar to Hungarians use of the verb fogni) is used as an auxiliary verb conjugated in the Present Indicative:
It exists only in the second person, and in indefinite conjugation, it doesn't show any personal markers, and it is represented by the -эн and -э̄н suffixes.
The vocabulary of the Mansi languages is distinguished by a fairly large number of forms for denoting concepts related to hunting, reindeer husbandry, fishing (the main traditional occupations of the Mansi). For example, there are about seven words are used to define different types of swamps. At the same time, the language almost lacks its socio-political vocabulary. To denote such concepts that appeared in the life of Mansi in the 20th century; compounding, derivation (rarely affixation), and or borrowings were used. For example, "hospital" can be described by a borrowing пӯльница and derivation пусмалтан кол literally "medicinal/curative house".
Words from extinct dialects could also be revitalized in the literary language [citation needed]
Mā ânytyl ōlnè mir pussyn akvholʹt samyn patè̄gyt, akvtēm vos ōlè̄gyt, akvtēm në̄tmil vos kinsè̄gyt. Tān puňk ōnʹsēgyt, nomsuňkve vērmēgyt, è̄syrma ōnʹsʹè̄gyt, halanylt âgpygyňysʹ-âgāgiňysʹ vos ōlè̄gyt.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Numbers 1 and 2 also have attributive forms: акв (1) and кит (2); compare with Hungariankét, Old Hungarian kit).
The ма̄нь and яныг before 7 and 100 are there to differentiate between the two if both are in the same number or sentence; meaning small and big respectively.
Since 1989 Лӯимā сэ̄рипос (Lūimā sēripos) "Northern dawn" newspaper has been the only and most prominent Mansi media. As of 2024 "Listen to articles", most articles on the site of the newsagency, have their authors read the articles out loud, so people can not just read the news in their native language but listen to it as well. This initiative was taken as the UN declared 2022-2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.
"Scholars and linguists believe that the Khanty and Mansi languages are dying; we, in turn, are making attempts to preserve and promote our native languages. Thus, to learn languages, it will be convenient and interesting to listen to the live speech of native speakers"
said Галина Кондина (Galina Kondina) the head editor of the newsagency.[19]
The Gospel of Mark in Northern Mansi is available online on Finugorbib site, audio recordings can also be found
A világ nyelvei. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. 1999. ISBN963-05-7597-3.
Honti, László (1998). "ObUgrian". In Abondolo, Daniel (ed.). The Uralic Languages. Taylor & Francis. ISBN0-415-08198-X.
Nanovfszky, György, ed. (2000). Nyelvrokonaink [Our Language Relatives] (PDF) (in Hungarian). Budapest: Teleki László Alapítvány.
Kálmán, Béla (1965). Vogul Chrestomathy. Indiana University Publications. Uralic and Altaic Series. Vol. 46. The Hague: Mouton.
Kálmán, Béla (1989). Chrestomathia Vogulica (in Hungarian and German) (3rd ed.). Budapest: Tankönyvkiadó. ISBN963-18-2088-2.
Kulonen, Ulla-Maija (2007). Itämansin kielioppi ja tekstejä. Apuneuvoja suomalais-ugrilaisten kielten opintoja varten (in Finnish). Vol. XV. Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura. ISBN978-952-5150-87-2.
Munkácsi, Bernát and Kálmán, Béla. 1986. Wogulisches Wörterbuch. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest. [In German and Hungarian.]