만주어 구어의 재활성화를 위한 기초 연구 —최후의 화자가 말한 자신의 삶과 언어—

Abstract

In this article, we describe the situation of Spoken Manchu based on the fieldwork carried out from 2005 to 2007 in the village of Sanjiazi of Fuyu County in Qiqihar of China. By presenting the narrations of Manchu elders on their own everyday lives, we will show the vivid characteristics of the language on the verge of extinction. Existing Spoken Manchu materials mainly focus on its vocabulary, with a few exceptional collections of sentence-level utterances. We emphasize the importance of eliciting sentences with natural intonation and spontaneous conversations, given that these materials are to be utilized in revitalizing the language. Then we discuss the foundation for the revitalization of Spoken Manchu. First of all, we suggest that Spoken Manchu, rather than Written Manchu or Sibe, be used as the base system for the revitalization project. We also suggest the following four prerequisites for success: 1) ample amount of textual and audio-visual materials of high quality, 2) new coinages for modern culture and products, and the compilation of a new thesaurus containing them, 3) a modern alphabetic writing system which is easy to learn, 4) new textbooks, in both paper and digital formats, for each stage of level. Although there is very few remaining native speakers, we have witnessedperceivable enthusiasm in the village of Sanjiazi and efforts by the personsconcerned as to reviving their language. It should also be emphasizedthat there are over 10 million Manchus who are potential beneficiariesof this endeavor. The revitalization of Spoken Manchu, will surely be amonumental achievement for the maintenance of linguistic diversity as wellas for the co-existence among people of diverse ethnic and cultural heritagein Northeast Asia and beyond.