Oroqen
Native toChina
RegionInner Mongolia and Heilongjiang
EthnicityOroqen
Native speakers
1,200 (2009)[1]
Tungusic
  • Northern
    • Evenki
      • Oroqen
Language codes
ISO 639-3orh
Glottologoroq1238
ELPOroqen

Oroqen (/ˈɒrəɛn, ˈɒr-/; also known as Orochon, Oronchon, Olunchun, Elunchun or Ulunchun) is a Northern Tungusic language spoken in the People's Republic of China. Dialects are Gankui and Heilongjiang. Gankui is the standard dialect.[1] It is spoken by the Oroqen people of Inner Mongolia (predominantly the Oroqin Autonomous Banner) and Heilongjiang in Northeast China.

Since the 1980s, Oroqen-language materials were produced by teachers in Oroqen-speaking areas. They based the language's orthography either on IPA or Pinyin. A majority of Oroqen speakers use Chinese as a literary language and some also speak Daur.

Geographic distribution

Oroqen is spoken in the following counties of China:[1]

Dialects

The Gankui dialect is used as the standard dialect for the Oroqen language.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t t͡ʃ k
voiced b d d͡ʒ ɡ
Fricative ɸ ʃ x ~ [ɣ] ~ [h]
Rhotic r
Approximant l j w

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i y u
Near-high ɪ ɪː ʊ ʊː
High-mid ə əː o
Low-mid ɛː ɔ ɔː
Low ɑ ɑː

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Oroqen at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) closed access
  2. ^ Hu, Zengyi (1986). Elunchun-yu jianzhi [Concise grammar of Oroqen]. Beijing: National Minorities Publ. pp. 3–19.