On the ethnonyms Orok and Uryangkhai

• Authors: Juha Janhunen
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

PL

The paper discusses the etymology of the ethnonym Orok, as used for one of the aboriginal populations of the Island of Sakhalin. It has been generally assumed that this ethnonym is connected with the Tungusic term for ‘reindeer’, especially since the Orok, also known by the name Uilta, are reindeer herders. The author demonstrates the unlike- liness of this etymology and proposes instead a connection with the widespread generic ethnonym Uryangkhai. This term was transferred on the Orok via the languages of their neighbours, the Sakhalin Ainu and the Sakhalin Ghilyak.

Keywords

PL

etymology, Tungusic languages, Orok, Orochen, Uryangkhai, Ainu, Ghilyak, ethnonyms

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Jagielloński
• Journal: Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 2

Dates

published

2014

online

2015-10-29

Contributors

author

Juha Janhunen