Evenki narratives (nimŋakar and ulguril) in the Ilimpii dialect

The book consists of oral narratives in the Evenki language, compiled on the basis of the linguistic material collected by Nadezhda Mamontova during several expeditions to the Evenki Municipal District of the Krasnoyarsk Territory in the period from 2011 to 2014.The book includes twenty nine texts in the proper Ilimpii dialect (Chirinda, Ekonda and Tutonchany sub-dialects) and four texts in the Kislokan mixed sub-dialect which contains the elements of both Northern and Southern sets of dialects. In terms of folklore genres, the texts are represented by fairy tales, mythological stories, legends, and epic texts (all of them are called nimŋakar and ulguril (Pl.) in Evenki), including Khosun legends narrating the battle between two ancestral heroes culminating in the killing of the winner by the bear. The Khosun epic traditions are known only among the Ilimpii Evenki and, hence, they are the unique feature of this community’s oral tradition. All the narratives are published in Evenki, with Russian and English translations. Some texts are provided with audio recordings, which are especially valuable for native speakers involved in the revitalization of the Evenki language.