Phonological and Typological Studies in Siberia
Our group of phonological studies of Siberian languages is looking forward to establishing close contacts with colleagues throughout the world in the field of phonetics.Three years ago I organized a small group of students at Novosibirsk Ped. University to work on the texts the following languages: 1. Japanese; 2. Nivh; 3. Ket; 4. Mansi (Vogul): Syg- va, Sosva, and Konda dialects; 5. Hanty (Osjak): Kazym and Eastern dialects; 6. Hungarian; 7. Komi-Zyrian; 8. Udmurt (Votiak); 9. Mari (Che- remis): Mountain and Lawn dialects; 10. Mordovian: Erzia and Moksha; 11. Vepsian; 12. Vodian; 13. Karelian: Tihvin, Livvikov, and Ljudikov; 14. Saami (Lopari); 15. Finnish; 16. Nganasan; 17. Azeri (Azerbaidjanian); 18. Tatar: Sibirian and Kazan; 19. Altai (Kizhi); 20. Kumandin; 21. Turkish; 22. Turkmen; 23. Jakut (Saha); 24. Karakalpak; 25. Kazah; 26. Kirgiz; 27. Tofalar; 28. Shorian; 29. Dolganian; 30. Hakas; 31. Ujgur; 32. Uzbek; 33. Nanai; 34. Negidal; 35. Evenk (Tungus); 36. Even; 37. Uljch; 38. Orok; 39. Oroch; 40. Nivh; 41. Mongolian; 42. Buriatian; 43. Kalmykian; 44. Russian; 45. Ukrainian; 46. Belorussian; 47. Sorbian; 48. Serbo-Croatian; 49. Gilian; 50. Persian (Iranian); 51. Tadjikian; 52. Pushto; 53. Iteljmen (Kamchadal); 54. Chuckchian; 55. Jukagir; 56. Eskimo: Siberian and American; 57. Arabic; 58. Mangarayi (Aboriginal Australian).
Our main goal is to calculate the phonological distances on the basis of the frequency of the occurrence of phonemes and phonemic groups. Then we plan to publish the word frequency dictionaries of the languages mentioned above. Many of these languages are on punch-cards, but we have to transfer them to PC diskettes. Many of the texts (e.g. Japanese, Persian, Arabic, etc.) are fed in in the form of phonological transcription. We can share or exchange some of the material in the electronic form. We would be also happy to work together on joint projects with linguists all over the world.
For further information: Prof. Yuri Tambovtsev, Dept. of English and Linguistics of NPU, P.O. Box 104, Novosibirsk - 123, 630123, Russia. E-mail address: yutamb@hotmail.com.