Solon (索伦 suǒlún, 索伦鄂温克 suǒlún è’wēnkè), a Northern Tungusic language, is spoken in Hulunbuir prefecture in Inner Mongolia, mainly located along the Hui River, Imin River, and Nonni River basins of northeastern China. The Solon ethnic group is officially classified as the “Ewenke” minority group (鄂温克族 è’wēnkè zú), together with Khamnigan Evenki (also known as Tungus Ewenke) and Aoluguya Evenki (also known as Yakut Ewenke). The three groups differ culturally, and a possible reason for their unified administrative identity is primarily to distinguish them from Oroqen—another Tungusic ethnic group in China (Janhunen 1996: 70–72). According to the 2020 Chinese census (National Bureau of Statistics of PRC 2021), the “Ewenke” minority numbers 27,958 people, and the proportion of Solon makes up 90 percent (Chaoke 1995: 3) or 20,000 to 25,000 people.
In the classification of Tungusic languages, Solon is categorized within the Northern branch of Tungusic, closely related to Evenki (Russia), Negidal (Russia), Even (Russia), and Oroqen (China). The subclassification of Northern Tungusic languages is still not firmly established: Solon is considered a separate language in the Manchurian Ewenic branch, according to Juha Janhunen (2012: 16), whereas Glottolog 4.8 classifies Solon as a dialect of Evenki (Hammarström et al. 2023). In China, given that Solon is spoken by a subgroup of the “Ewenke” minority, it is considered a dialect of the “Ewenke” language, called variously Hailar dialect (Hu and Chaoke 1986: 2) or Solon dialect (Sirenbatu 2011: 14). Since it is often hard to draw a clear boundary between the concepts of language and dialect, the term “lect” was proposed by Malcolm Ross (2001: 146). In this article, the linguistic term “Solon” refers to the Solon lect irrespective of its status as language or dialect.
All Tungusic languages are endangered, and Solon is the most viable Tungusic language today (Janhunen 2005: 37–54; Baek 2023: 206). According to Chinese census data from 2020 (National Bureau of Statistics of PRC 2021) and Urugshilt (2017: 192): there are approximately 20,000 Solon speakers, and the transmission of Solon to the next generation as the first language appears to have provided it vitality. However, the majority of Tungusic languages are spoken in Siberia, and they are either endangered or extinct (Grenoble 2024: 1223). Among the Siberian Tungusic languages, Even is the most vital, with approximately 5,500 speakers. Evenki follows with around 3,000 speakers, while the remaining Tungusic languages have fewer than 200 speakers each (Grenoble 2024: 1223). The primary factors contributing to language loss and shift among Siberian Tungusic languages include isolated settlement patterns (as seen in the comparison of Lamunkhin Even and Bystraia Even) and ethnic identity dynamics (as seen in the comparison of Topolinoe Even and Iengra Evenki) (Pakendorf 2024: 52–57).
The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of the sociolinguistic situation of Solon by examining the geographical, ecological and social contexts in which the language is spoken. The Solon is spoken in Hulunbuir, Manchuria—a neighboring region of Siberia—and is situated in a region that also hosts several minority languages and shares similarities with the sociolinguistic conditions of Siberia. However, Solon exhibits notably higher vitality compared to its Siberian counterparts. A sociolinguistic study of Solon can therefore offer valuable insights into additional factors that may influence language vitality. Despite being the most viable Tungusic language, Solon remains underexplored in academic studies. This article seeks to address this gap by highlighting the sociolinguistic context of Solon and underscoring its significance. This article is based on two months of fieldwork from March to May 2023 undertaken by me in Solon communities in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia. Section 1 provides the historical and geographical background of the region where Solon is spoken, and the Section 2 discusses the language ecology of Solon. Section 3 presents the analysis of the sociolinguistic data collected in the Solon community, including language proficiency, usage, attitude, and the situation of intermarriage. The Section 4 provides an assessment of the endangerment level of Solon.
1. The History and Geography of Solon Speakers
The Solon people inhabited the Upper and Middle Amur basin in Northern Manchuria, in particular the Zeya basin, until the 1650s (see map in Janhunen 1996: 2). During this period, the Solon lived together with the Mongolic Dagur, and their relationship was characterized by economic cooperation and social interaction, including intermarriage. Consequently, Solon was under strong Dagur influence in all aspects of language, including through hundreds of Dagur loanwords that have been detected in Solon (Khabtagaeva 2012: 335–346). The Zeya basin later became a contested area between China (Qing dynasty) and Russia, resulting in conflicts. In the seventeenth century, the Manchu authorities relocated the Dagur and Solon from the Amur and Zeya basins across the Lesser Khingan Range to the Nonni basin in the northern part of Central Manchuria, where they have continued to reside up to the present day (Janhunen 1996: 106–108). A part of them moved further to Western Manchuria to the Imin River and Hui River basin. Additionally, a very small number of Solon people moved to Xinjiang (Western China) during the mid-eighteenth century, but the last known speaker of this dialect passed away in the 1990s (Janhunen 1996: 72; Janhunen 2005: 40).
The area of Hulunbuir is vast, covering 253,000 km2 (People's Government of Hulunbuir City 2024), and Solon is spoken in its central and northeastern parts (see Figures 1a, 1b). From an administrative perspective, based on Chinese census data from 2020 (National Bureau of Statistics of PRC 2021) and the Atlas of the Chinese Language map C1, C5 (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 2012), Solon is concentrated in the Ewenke Autonomous Banner (鄂温克族自治旗 è’wēnkè zú zìzhìqí) (an administrative unit used in the Inner Mongolia, equivalent to a county) with a population of around 10,000, around 4,900 in Morin Dawa Dagur Autonomous Banner (莫力达瓦达斡尔族自治旗 mòlìdáwǎ dáwò’ěr zú zìzhìqí), around 2,200 in Arong Banner (阿荣旗 ā’róng qí), around 2,200 in Oroqen Autonomous Banner (鄂伦春自治旗 è’lúnchūn zìzhìqí), and around 1,200 in Zhalantun City (扎兰屯市 zhālántún shì). In addition, due to urbanization and population mobility, the number of Solon people in Hailar City (the political, economic, and transportation center of the Hulunbuir region) has also reached more than 2,000.1
The location of Hulunbuir in China. Produced by QGIS 3.32.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
The area where Solon is spoken. Produced by QGIS 3.32.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Due to the current dispersed living areas of the Solon, they are engaged in a great variety of lifestyles. The western region of the Greater Khingan Range, which is where the Ewenke Autonomous Banner is located—that is, the Hui River and Imin River basin areas—is grassland where livestock such as cattle, sheep, horses, and goats are raised. The dialect in this region is the Hailar variety (Janhunen 1996: 72; Baek 2023: 206). The Hailar variety of Solon has been influenced to a significant extent by Mongolic languages, because the Solons interact with Mongolians and most of them receive an education in Mongolian. This variety contains many words related to the physical characteristics of the area, habits of livestock, and names of pastoral products. Based on the language data collected by myself and by Bayarma Khabtagaeva (2012), these words were borrowed from Mongolic languages. To the east of the Greater Khingan Range, in the Nonni river basin area (Morin Dawa Dagur Autonomous Banner, Arong Banner, Zhalantun City, and further north Oroqen Autonomous Banner), the lifestyle of the Solon people is characterized by agriculture and forestry, with a small amount of hunting. They speak the Nonni variety of Solon, which includes a rich vocabulary related to various crops, tree names, and seasonal aspects of agricultural production (Urugshilt 2020: 1). The Nonni variety is influenced to a greater extent by Chinese and Dagur, due to the interactions with the Han and Dagur ethnic groups and education in Chinese.
I conducted fieldwork in the Ewenke Autonomous Banner from March to May 2023 (see Figure 2). During this period, I spent one month living with a Solon family in Shuguit village (喜桂图嘎查 xǐguìtú gāchá), which is situated in the Hui River basin. There are around 80 households in Shuguit village located very far from each other because of their stock farming lifestyle. Shuguit village is relatively isolated with limited transportation access, and it has had less exposure to the influence of dominant languages. Following that, I spent another month in the central town of the Ewenke Autonomous Banner, known as Bayan Tohoi town (巴彦托海镇 bāyàntuōhǎi zhèn), which has a population of around 25,000 (Baidu encyclopedia 2023). Bayan Tohoi town borders Hailar city (population around 350,000), which is accessible by bus in 20 minutes. Bayan Tohoi town is more urbanized and is inhabited by various ethnic groups, mainly Han, Mongolian, Solon, Dagur and Buryat. This article primarily focuses on the vitality of Solon spoken in the Ewenke Autonomous Banner, namely, the Hailar Solon dialect. My findings are based on observations, interviews, and, most importantly, a sociolinguistic questionnaire distributed in the Solon community. In Section 4, I compare the sociolinguistic status of Hailar Solon with that of the varieties spoken in other regions as described in the literature.
Ewenke Autonomous Banner and the fieldwork sites Shuguit village and Bayan Tohoi town (red diamonds). It was produced by QGIS 3.32.1 with the layers of OpenStreetMap standard.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
2. Language Ecology of Solon
The Ewenke Autonomous Banner, which was established based on the former Solon Banner in 1958, is officially recognized as the Ewenke minority region (National Ethnic Affairs Commission of the People's Republic of China 2023). This contributes to enhancing the visibility of Solon (or Ewenke) on a symbolic level in populous China.
Since Solon is the biggest ethnic group within the Ewenke minority in China, the term “Ewenke” refers to Solon by default, although the “Tungus Ewenke” (Khamnigan Evenki) and “Yakut Ewenke” (Aoluguya Evenki)2 are also members of the Ewenke minority. According to conversations I had with the local Solons during fieldwork, they consider “Ewenke” to refer to Solon, whereas the other two ethnic groups should take a modifier to distinguish themselves from Solon, especially in terms of language. Hence, in China, the term “Ewenke language” refers to Solon, and if someone wants to specify Khamnigan Evenki or Aoluguya Evenki, one will have to say, “Tungus Ewenke language” or “Aoluguya/Yakut Ewenke language.”
However, in terms of status, in the Ewenke Autonomous Banner, Solon is dominated by two languages: Mongolian and Mandarin. The influx of a substantial number of non-local residents into the Ewenke Autonomous Banner has led to a reduction in the proportion of the Solon (Ewenke) in the area, accounting for only 7 percent of the population, while the Han ethnic group constitutes 60 percent, and the Mongolian ethnic group comprises 22 percent (National Bureau of Statistics of PRC 2021). Especially within urban areas, the proportion of Solon people is extremely low, and social life in the city is dominated by Mandarin and Mongolian. Also, because Solon lacks a commonly accepted writing system, Solon people must choose between education in Mongolian or Mandarin. As a result, both Mongolian and Mandarin hold a certain place in the daily life of Solon speakers, and almost all Solon individuals are bilingual in Solon and Mongolian or Solon and Mandarin, or trilingual in Solon, Mongolian, and Mandarin (see Section 3.2). In the local region, the varieties of Mongolic lects that interact with Solon are Khorchin, Buryat, and Bargut; in terms of Mandarin, Northeastern Mandarin is spreading in this area (see Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 2012: A2, B1, C3). Besides the face-to-face interactions, the Solon community is constantly exposed to other varieties of Mongolian and Mandarin through education, TV, and social media, especially the Standard Mongolian Chakhar variety (which is spoken in the central region of Inner Mongolia and is the basis for the standard pronunciation of Mongolian in Inner Mongolia) (Tümenjargal et al 2009: 8) and Standard Chinese (Putonghua). The older speakers of Solon can speak Dagur because of the close interactions with Dagur people in the past. People also have varying degrees of proficiency in Khamnigan Evenki and Oroqen, which are spoken in the Hulunbuir region, although this is becoming increasingly rare among the younger generation (see Section 3.2). Additionally, Solon individuals may have some knowledge of English, Japanese, and Russian, which are referred to as foreign languages in schools. These languages are minimally used in school instruction, but it is possible that some individuals, due to their personal interests, work, or studies, may extensively use these foreign languages.
The survey in Section 3.5 reveals that the Solons have a positive attitude toward their culture, language, and identity. The ethnic Solon, Khamnigan Evenki, Bargut, and Buryat communities in Hulunbuir's four herding Banners—the Ewenke Autonomous Banner, Old Bargut Banner (陈巴尔虎旗 chénbā’ěrhǔ qí), New Bargut Right Banner (新巴尔虎右旗 xīnbā’ěrhǔyòu qí), and New Bargut Left Banner (新巴尔虎左旗 xīnbā’ěrhǔzuǒ qí)—exhibit strong self-identity. In Ewenke Autonomous Banner, traditional costumes are commonly worn in daily life, and there is a street block that features shops and restaurants exclusively run by Buryats. Art and craft competitions are regularly held among these ethnic groups. For instance, I observed a singing competition where participants performed in their heritage lects. One Solon speaker expressed admiration for the Buryat tradition of marrying within their community. This vibrant, multi-ethnic, and multilingual environment plays a significant role in reinforcing the Solon's cultural identity. In rural areas, where the Solon population is larger and relatively concentrated by their stock farming lifestyle, the communities are more isolated, and they maintain the use of their heritage language. People commonly use Solon in most situations within the territory of rural areas. For example, they use Solon when chatting with colleagues at work, during group activities, events, and meetings held in town, while communicating with neighbors, in markets, and, most importantly, within families when interacting with parents, siblings, spouses, and children. The Mongolian and Han individuals who have moved to the Solon rural area have also learned basic Solon sentences for conversation. Due to the relatively effective preservation of the language, Solon children growing up in rural areas continue to speak Solon fluently. However, when compared to older speakers, in the language data I have collected the younger speakers’ language has undergone observable changes in structure and lexicon.
Currently, the maintenance of the Solon language faces challenges due to urbanization driven by access to education, better employment opportunities, and social mobility. This urbanization can lead the Solon speakers to leave rural areas, making their ancestral language socially disadvantaged. Additionally, the influence of media and the pursuit of social advancement contribute to the narrowing scope of Solon language use, leading to a break in language transmission (see Section 3.2). These various factors are collectively contributing to the gradual endangerment of Solon.
The local government of Ewenke Autonomous Banner holds various events to preserve and showcase Solon traditions, culture, language, and identity. Among these, the major events include the Oboo Festival and the Sebin Festival (in Solon: [səpiːn pajar] or [səptʃəːniː pajar]), which bring together around a thousand people participating in dancing, singing, and competitions such as horse racing, chess, and wrestling. Other smaller local units also organize activities, such as the Solon Storytelling Contest held by the Huihe Central School in Hui village, and the village governments organize sports events for younger generations. The Ewenke Autonomous Banner has also implemented policies to protect the Solon language (Yilina 2012: 54–55). Again, in the policies mentioned below, the word “Ewenke” mainly refers to Solon:
In 2005, as decided by the Ewenke Study Association (鄂温克研究会), Solon was standardized using a Latin-based script for the use of the community and researchers (unfortunately, this writing system was not adopted by the Solon community).
In 2006, the Ewenke Autonomous Banner established the Ewenke Language Centre (鄂温克语培训基地). They adopted a weekly training model for local language education, combining teaching methods such as language instruction, storytelling, and learning Solon songs.
In 2010, the “Ewenke Language Tutorial” (鄂温克语教程) was published and distributed for use in primary and secondary schools, with a curriculum of two hours per week.
In 2012, an animated series titled “Learning Ewenke through Animation” (看动画学鄂温克语) was launched, designed for primary and secondary school students to learn Solon.
In 2017, the Ewenke Banner TV station started broadcasting news in Solon and the special TV program “Ewenke People” (鄂温克人).
3. Sociolinguistic Contexts of the Solon Community
3.1 Methodology
During fieldwork in the Solon community in the Ewenke Autonomous Banner, I administered a sociolinguistic questionnaire to individuals who self-identify as members of the Solon ethnic group. The questionnaire focused primarily on the Solon community's language proficiency, language use, and language attitudes. Additionally, it includes a survey regarding intermarriage among Solons and their identity choice under the pressure of the dominant ethnic groups. The questionnaire consists of 44 questions, both single choice and multiple choice, to investigate various sociolinguistic aspects: (1) basic information, including gender, age, occupation, education level, and banner of residence; (2) language use at the family and societal level; (3) language abilities in Solon, Mongolian, Mandarin, Dagur, Oroqen, Khamnigan Evenki, and foreign languages (English, Japanese, Russian); (4) ethnic identities of family members; (5) language attitudes.
I collected the questionnaire data in two different ways: I personally filled in 31 responses in the form of an interview in Mongolian during my visit to the Solon households in Shuguit village and Bayan Tohoi town, but most of the questionnaires were distributed online via a link generated on the Chinese online platform Wenjuanxing (www.wjx.cn), specifically used for questionnaires or polls, with data protected by password and enterprise-class firewall. Afterwards, the link was shared within the Ewenke Secondary School and Solon family groups or interest groups to fill out. The image in Figure 3 shows an excerpt of the interface of the online questionnaire generated on Wenjuanxing (to the left, with the English translation provided on the right). The questionnaire is compiled in Chinese, and those who cannot read Chinese were asked to fill it out with the help of others.
Interface of Solon sociolinguistic online questionnaire.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
In the end, I obtained 324 answers. After reviewing and eliminating responses from individuals who were not part of the Solon community (64), as well as those with contradictory (15), inconclusive (8), or duplicate (1) answers, I was left with 236 valid responses. Figure 4 shows the detailed information of these 236 valid responses.
The questionnaire was filled out by twice as many females as males3 (Figure 4a), and apart from respondents aged over 60 (which were in the minority), the remaining age groups each represent approximately 30 percent of the total (Figure 4b). Concerning employment, Figure 4c shows that the majority are students, civil servants, and freelance professionals (with each category making up around 30 percent), with a smaller number being self-employed, laborers, or company employees. The option for “freelance professional” was exemplified by “stock farmers/farmers/artists/authors.” However, as I learned later, in China artists and authors are self-employed or attached to companies; thus, the “freelance professional” option was chosen mainly by stock farmers or farmers, leading me to label the corresponding responses as “stock farmers and farmers” in Figure 4c. Regarding education (Figure 4d), 51.3 percent of respondents have a high school education or below. However, 56 percent of these (68 out of 121) are between 13 and 17 years old and are currently studying in secondary school or high school and might continue their education in the future. The actual proportion of adults who only have a basic school education is 22.5 percent (53 out of 236). Beyond this, 23.7 percent of respondents have a bachelor's degree, 21.6 percent have a technical degree, and 3.4 percent have a graduate degree. The education level of respondents may be biased towards educated people because the questionnaire was in Chinese and was distributed by the schoolteacher.
3.2 Multilingualism and Language Proficiency in the Solon Community
It is evident from Figure 5 that the Solon community predominantly speaks Solon, Mongolian, and Mandarin, of which Solon is their ancestral language, and Mongolian and Mandarin hold a socially dominant position in Ewenke Autonomous Banner. The Solon community also speaks Dagur, with over half of the individuals in the age groups of 41–60 and 60+ being proficient in Dagur; however, there has been a drastic decline in the number of Dagur speakers among the younger age groups to around 20 percent. The proficiency in Oroqen and Khamnigan Evenki decreases with age, largely due to the decline of these languages themselves (Cong 2018: 70; Du 2012: 118).
Language proficiency of the Solon community by age group.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
To assess language proficiency, the questionnaire includes a question regarding the language abilities of Solon individuals. This question offers five options: (1) understand well, speak well; (2) understand well, speak a little; (3) understand well, cannot speak; (4) understand a little, cannot speak; (5) can neither speak nor understand. The respondents were asked to assess their language proficiency by selecting the option that best matches their ability. After collecting the responses, I found that option (3) only got a very small number of responses. If a person can understand a language well, it might be expected that this person can also speak that language at least a little bit. The differences in response to options (2) and (3) were likely to be due to the differences in respondents’ self-assessment. Therefore, I decided to merge the responses to options (2) and (3) for the analysis and make a total of four options, each corresponding to a distinct level of language proficiency. These various levels of language proficiency can delineate different types of speakers within an endangered language community, as defined by Colette Grinevald and Michael Bert (2011: 58) (Table 1).
Different options concerning language proficiency correspond to different types of speakers
| (1) Understand and speak fluently | Fluent speakers, who commonly had and continue to have language conversation partners. |
| (2) Understand well, speak a little | Semi-speakers, possessing varying levels of fluency, who predominantly navigate their sociolinguistic experiences within the dominant language. |
| (3) Understand a little, cannot speak | Terminal speakers are individuals with a basic grasp of the language's passive aspects but extremely limited skills in active expression. |
| (4) Can neither speak nor understand | Not a speaker, since they don't master the language. |
This subsection concentrates on the exploration of the language proficiency of the Solon community in Solon, Mongolian, and Mandarin. As shown by Figure 5, the multilingual content of the Solon region encompasses additional languages like Dagur, Oroqen, and Khamnigan Evenki, but I do not discuss these extensively due to their limited use and the small number of individuals who speak them.
The results concerning language proficiency in Solon, Mongolian, and Mandarin in Figures 6–8 are shown by the types of speakers listed in Table 1 instead of the options in the questionnaire, to make it easier to understand.
Language proficiency in Solon by age groups.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Language proficiency in Mongolian by age groups.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Language proficiency in Mandarin by age groups.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Figure 6 illustrates the language proficiency in Solon. Most Solon individuals have good skills in their ancestral language. The age group comprising individuals over 60 years of age exhibits the highest proficiency in Solon, with 96.4 percent of people in this age group being able to communicate fluently. The subsequent two age groups are 41–60 and 26–40. Within these age ranges Solon speakers demonstrate a good level of proficiency, with approximately 80 percent of individuals speaking the language fluently. There is a notable difference in proficiency between the 26–40 age group and the 41–60 age group: merely 1.6 percent of the 26–40 age group are unable to speak Solon, in contrast to 11.4 percent observed in the 41–60 age group. The reason for this difference is hard to detect. One potential reason is that China has long viewed Han culture as the most civilized and advanced culture, where elevating one's cultural status, known as “raising one's cultural level” (提高文化水平) is synonymous with mastering Mandarin. These attitudes have been adopted by many minority groups (Poa and LaPolla 2007: 341). In the age group spanning 41–60 years, a discernible trend emerges where individuals either consciously eschewed the use of Solon or their parents opted not to instruct or communicate with them in Solon. For instance, one of the respondents aged over 60 explained that she and her husband, who are native Solon speakers and are fluent in Mandarin and Mongolian, chose to exclusively use Mandarin when communicating with their children—currently aged 42 and 39. Consequently, their children have limited comprehension of the Solon language at present.
Since its introduction in 1986, the Nine Years of Compulsory Education has significantly facilitated access to education in China (National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China 1986). In Ewenke Autonomous Banner, a region where the majority of Solon people share a lifestyle similar to Mongolic ethnic groups, there has been a marked increase in the presence of Mongolian schools. These schools not only emphasize education but also foster a shared culture and values distinct from those of Han culture, thereby enhancing the Solon population's awareness of their pastoralist heritage. Consequently, the 26–40 age group exhibits a higher language proficiency compared to the 41–60 age group.
Due to urbanization and globalization, the youngest group in the Solon community exhibits a significant decline in their mastery of Solon. The fluent speakers drastically declined to 48.6 percent, accompanied by 17.6 percent of individuals who are unable to speak Solon. A noticeable trend of decline has thus emerged among the Solon community, especially among the youngest age group, indicating shifts in the population and culture within the Ewenke Autonomous Banner, changes in the Solon language ecology, and a decline in the social position of the Solon community.
Proficiency in Mongolian is shown in Figure 7. From 80 percent to over 90 percent of Solon individuals across all age groups are proficient speakers of Mongolian, one of the two dominant languages of the Ewenke Autonomous Banner. This implies a close interaction between Solon and Mongolian spanning several decades. These two groups share a common rural lifestyle centered around stock herding, leading to the Solon ethnic group choosing Mongolian-language education in rural areas, as mentioned above. Consequently, in the Ewenke Autonomous Banner, the Solon community is generally considered bilingual in Solon and Mongolian by default. However, nowadays the Han ethnic group has become the predominant population in Ewenke Autonomous Banner, so speaking Mongolian is no longer as imperative as it once was to the Solon community. Thus, there exists a minor disparity between the younger generations (13–25 and 26–40) and the older generations (41–60 and 60+): the proportion of fluent Mongolian speakers among the former is around 80 percent compared to around 90 percent among the older generations.
The proficiency in Mandarin in the Solon community reveals a significant transformation characterized by a notable increase in the number of fluent speakers, as seen in Figure 8. Among the older generation groups (41–60 and 60+), 50–60 percent are fluent Mandarin speakers, whereas 16 percent of the 41- to 60-year-olds and 11 percent of those over 60 still identify themselves as non-Mandarin speakers. The group 60+ has fewer individuals who cannot speak Mandarin compared to those aged 40–60. This unexpected deviation may be related to the fact that, when collecting responses from individuals aged 60 and above, I focused more on urban areas, and people who reside in urban areas are more likely to have some knowledge of Mandarin. In contrast, within the younger generations (13–25 and 26–40), the proportion of fluent Mandarin speakers has surged to 89 percent, with only 3 percent among the 26- to 40-year-olds and 5 percent in the youngest age group unable to speak Mandarin. This contrast highlights the increasingly dominant position of Mandarin within the Solon region, where proficiency in Mandarin is crucial for engaging in social activities. Moreover, mastery of Mandarin has become a necessity in various contexts. For instance, pursuing higher education demands a grasp of Mandarin to comprehend Chinese-taught courses effectively. Similarly, many occupations necessitate Mandarin proficiency due to the requirement of collaboration with individuals from all regions in China. The pervasive influence of Mandarin as the dominant language exerts pressure on the Solon community to embrace and actively learn it.
Figure 9 is intended to visually represent the multilingualism of Solon individuals. To maintain the chart's clarity, the term “Mongolic” combines Mongolian and Dagur, while the term “Tungusic” combines Oroqen and Khamnigan Evenki. Additionally, foreign language knowledge has been removed from the data since foreign languages are primarily used in school instruction. Among all age groups, there are almost no monolingual speakers, and trilingual individuals who speak Solon-Mandarin-Mongolic are the most common, especially in the 13–25 and 26–40 age groups, which constitute 76 percent and 80 percent, respectively. In the 41–60 age group, the distribution of multilingual speakers is scattered. Solon-Mongolic bilinguals account for 14 percent, while those who cannot speak Solon but are Mandarin-Mongolic bilinguals make up 10 percent. Also, there are 10 percent who are quadrilingual, speaking Solon-Mongolic-Mandarin-Tungusic. Among those aged 60+, the majority can speak Solon, and 39 percent can speak four to six languages, since “Mongolic” and “Tungusic” comprise two languages each. Comparing all age groups, it is notable that, as age decreases, the number of languages a Solon individual can speak also decreases. This reflects the decline of minority languages and the increasing dominance of major languages.
Multilingualism of the Solon community by age groups.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
3.3 Language Use of the Solon Community
Monitoring language use is crucial for assessing the vitality of a language and taking steps to prevent or reverse language endangerment (Bromham et al. 2020: 76). To assess the language vitality of Solon, the questionnaire examines language use both at the family level and the societal level. In some families, Solon is the only language spoken by parents and children (see Figure 10). Except for the youngest age group (13–25), where only 45.9 percent of individuals speak only Solon with their parents, this proportion is higher than 60 percent everywhere, especially in the eldest age group (60+), where it is 85.7 percent. This decline in the youngest age group implies that the other languages are frequently used in their families. However, the proportion of families speaking only Solon with their children in the 26–40, 41–60, and 60+ age groups is lower than those speaking only Solon with their parents; in the 26–41 age group they comprise only 38.5 percent (the age group 13–25 is not included in this analysis because its members are still relatively young). This indicates that, over time, there are signs of a decline in the status of Solon within the family.
Only Solon spoken within the family by age groups (in percent).
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
The next two figures illustrate the multiple languages spoken within the Solon family, categorized by age groups. Figure 11 depicts the languages spoken by the respondents with their parents, while Figure 12 shows the languages spoken by the respondents with their children. Since Solon individuals use multiple languages inside their families, the percentages do not total 100 percent. For instance, for the youngest age group in Figure 11, the total percentages amount to 160.9 percent.
Languages used within the family with parents by age groups (in percent).
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Languages used within the family with children by age groups (in percent).
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Solon holds significant importance within families, with the majority of individuals communicating in Solon with both their parents and children. This is a promising indication for language preservation, as it faces endangerment. Families remain dedicated to fostering Solon, creating an environment for its learning and use, particularly evident in the age groups 26–40 and 60+, where the majority (98.4 percent and 96.4 percent, respectively) use Solon as one of their family languages with their parents. Notably, the youngest age group (13–25) exhibits more multilingual conversations with their parents due to the prominence of Mongolian and Mandarin, which are spoken more frequently than in other age groups. Despite a high percentage of Solon use among those aged 26–40 within the family, their language use diversifies significantly when communicating with their children, with 41 percent conversing in Mongolian and 38.5 percent in Mandarin. Unfortunately, language ecological pressures have propelled the dominant languages into the home, potentially causing language code-mixing and language shifts at the individual level.
The questionnaire, while investigating family-level language use, also surveyed broader societal-level use. Social usage scenarios encompass the language spoken with friends or colleagues, language spoken with strangers, the language used on social media, the language of the television channels (or programs) that are watched regularly, and the language of short videos that are watched on the internet. The languages considered are Solon, Mongolian, Mandarin, and Dagur, with an additional category labelled “other,” which consists of languages with lower impact such as Oroqen, Khamnigan Evenki, and foreign languages.
The Solon community shows multilingualism in societal interactions as well (Figure 13). However, Mandarin takes an extremely dominant position in that it leads all scenarios, and almost 90 percent of Solon individuals use Mandarin in all kinds of situations except with friends and colleagues, where the figure is slightly lower (80.5 percent). The usage of Solon varies in different contexts. When conversing with friends or colleagues,71.2 percent of individuals use Solon, while 41.5 percent do so with strangers. On social media, 50 percent of them use Solon, but with very limited actions like sending voice messages or talking in voice/video calls, because Solon has no accepted orthography. The utilization of Solon declines to 28.4 percent for TV programs and 25.8 percent for video clips, presumably because there are few TV programs and video clips available in Solon due to its social disadvantage and diminishing prevalence in broader societal contexts. The other dominant language, Mongolian, has a weaker status than Mandarin. It is important in social interactions, but it does not seem essential. The use of Mongolian is relatively frequent with friends or colleagues, though still less frequent than Mandarin (74.2 percent vs. 80.5 percent), while for the rest of the scenarios, 50 percent of people use Mongolian.
Language use of the Solon community in different domains in society.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
From Figures 14–18, we can observe differences in language usage among age groups in social activities. Overall, in the social interactions of the 60+ age group, Solon plays an important role. The proportion of people using Solon in spoken interactions in this age group makes up over 80 percent, and for TV and social media, Solon is used by over 60 percent. The use of Solon in video clips is less than 50 percent because the video clips in Solon are not common. As the age groups become younger, languages such as Mongolian and Mandarin gradually replace Solon in social activities, diminishing its social power. Notably, a significant transition occurs in the 13–25 age group, where apart from approximately 40 percent using Solon for communication with friends and colleagues, very few of them use Solon in other social activities. Instead, Mandarin has become their indispensable means of communication. There is a pronounced gap in this regard between the 13–25 age group and the adjacent 26–40 age group, largely due to the rapid development of new media, through which much of the information is disseminated to them in Mandarin.
Languages spoken with friends or colleagues by age group (in percent).
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Languages spoken with strangers by age groups (in percent).
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Languages spoken on social media by age groups (in percent).
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Languages of video clips by age groups (in percent).
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Languages of TV by age groups (in percent).
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
3.4 Intermarriage and Identity Choice
For analyzing the intermarriage and identity choice situation of the Solon community, I extracted two kinds of responses from the questionnaire. On the one hand, I analyzed the marriage and identities of the respondents’ parents, treating the respondents as the “children (next generation).” On the other hand, I also analyzed the respondents’ marriages, and their children's identity if the respondents are married. In the end, I obtained 376 marriage cases and 128 cases of identity choice.
The result reveals that 66.1 percent of Solon individuals married within their ethnic group (Figure 19), although the Solon only comprise 7 percent of the population in Ewenke Autonomous Banner (see Section 1). It shows that the Solon community has a strong sense of identity within the region and that they prefer to accept the same ethnic group as their family. Solon individuals also marry members of other ethnic groups, especially Mongolian and Dagur, with 18.3 percent and 10.1 percent of spouses coming from these ethnic groups, respectively. Although the Han ethnic group is the largest population in the Ewenke Autonomous Banner, only 4.5 percent of Solon opt for Han marriage partners. This can be explained by the relatively lower proportion of Han in rural areas and the shared lifestyle between Solons, Mongolians, and Dagurs, which leads the Solon to prefer Mongolian and Dagur partners as their life companions.
Marriage partners of the Solon community.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
In China, people's ethnic identity, such as Han, Ewenke minority (the choice available to Solon), Mongolian, or Dagur, is officially written on their identity cards. Information on ethnic identity is required when they fill out some forms in work, school, and life. In general, the parents decide their children's identity when they register the birth. The children's ethnic identity can follow either one of their parents’ identities without restrictions (National Affairs Commission of the People's Republic of China 1990). Among the 33.9 percent of Solon individuals who have chosen to marry outside of their ethnic group, an overwhelming majority (95.3 percent) chose Solon as the ethnic identity of their children (Figure 20).
Identity choice of the next generation in mixed marriages.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
This trend can be attributed to various factors, including the minority member benefits in autonomous regions. It is well-established that being a minority group in China comes with certain advantages tied to one's ethnic identity (National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China 1984). For instance, in the realm of education, minorities often benefit from policies that provide additional points on the unified high school exam, and minority individuals are given preferential treatment in employment in their region. This phenomenon is evident in all of the 17 cases of Solon and Han marriages and their decision to identify the next generation as Solon.
When a marriage takes place between individuals from two minority groups, the deliberation over the next generation's identity choice becomes a delicate process. Among Solon, Mongolian, Dagur, and Oroqen ethnic groups, there is no significant disparity concerning ethnic advantage. In this social context, a considerable majority of families with one Solon parent choose to impart Solon identity to their children, regardless of which parent is non-Solon. In Solon-Mongolian families, 66 out of 69 (95.7 percent) couples have chosen Solon identity for their children (Figure 21), 36 out of 38 (94.7 percent) Solon-Dagur families made this choice (Figure 22), and 3 out of 4 marriages with other ethnic minority groups, such as Oroqen and Manchu (Figure 23). A distinct choice concerning the ethnic identity of children was made by a Solon and Mongolian and a Solon and Oroqen couple who each are blessed with two children: these identified one child as Solon and the other as Mongolian and Oroqen, respectively. This indicates that in response to differing viewpoints between parents regarding the identity choices for their children, certain couples are striving to reach a harmonious resolution that respects the diverse identities within the household.
Ethnic identity of children in cases of intermarriage of Solons with Mongolians.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Ethnic identity of children in cases of intermarriage of Solons with Dagurs.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
Ethnic identity of children in cases of intermarriage of Solons with other ethnic groups.
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
3.5 Attitudes Toward Language Endangerment
To investigate the Solon community's recognition of their identity and rights and their response to confronting the loss of their ancestral language, the questionnaire focuses on four key questions related to language attitudes:
Q41. The rank of the languages according to their economic importance.
Q42. The rank of the languages according to your personal feelings.
Q43. If you live away from the Solon area, how willing are you to attend a Solon gathering/party?
Q44. If you don't have the opportunity to communicate in Solon, will you purposefully speak/listen to Solon?
Unfortunately, Q41 and Q42 were too abstract, and many respondents did not understand correctly what was meant by economic importance and personal feelings. This mistake shows the importance of making questions clear and easy to understand for respondents. Unlike Q41 and Q42, Q43 and Q44 are concrete and easy to understand, and I collected productive results that reflect the Solon community's language attitudes.
Q43 is designed to assess the extent of respondents’ identification with their Solon identity. It incorporated a condition of being “away from the Solon area” to account for the possibility that individuals might feel a stronger connection to their identity when they belong to a minority group in society. The outcomes of Q43 are graphically presented in Figure 24.
Responses to the question on language attitude by age groups: Q43 If you live away from the Solon area, how willing are you to attend a Solon gathering/party?
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
The Solon community generally has a positive recognition of its identity. Those aged 41–60 and 60+ exhibit the highest attitude: around 70 percent of people want to participate no matter how busy they are, and consider Solon gatherings or parties as highly important. Additionally, the 26–40 age group proved to be active and engaged: hypothetically, 45.3 percent of them would attend a gathering for sure, and 51.6 percent of them would try to attend. Given that individuals in this age range manage a multitude of responsibilities including work, family, and finances, their relatively high motivation implies that they display a robust sense of identity recognition. Conversely, the youngest generation aged 13–25 demonstrates a comparatively weaker attitude toward this question. Only 25.7 percent of them consider Solon gatherings or parties to be important and something to participate in, although 62.2 percent of them think they would attend depending on their schedule. This can be attributed to a couple of factors. On the one hand, the pressure stemming from the dominance of a major ethnic group can potentially dilute the strength of their sense of identity. On the other hand, individuals within this age group are relatively young and have not yet lived extensively outside the Solon area. It is harder for them to imagine what it is like to be living in a context where one does not encounter Solon people and language every day, and this affects their responses.
Another question targeting language attitude is Q44, which checks whether the respondents who speak Solon seek an opportunity to speak and listen to Solon. As we know from Section 3.3, the use of Solon language is focused more on family and friends, and the dominant language Mandarin is used more in social interactions. I set this question to get a sense of the Solon people's attitude towards their heritage language. The result of this question is shown in Figure 25 below.
Responses to the question on language attitude by age groups: Q44 If you don't have the opportunity to communicate in Solon, will you purposefully speak/listen to Solon? (in percent)
Citation: Sibirica 24, 1; 10.3167/sib.2025.240101
The age group that stands out is the 41- 60-year-olds: 61.3 percent of respondents in this age group have the strongest eagerness to speak Solon, and the smallest portion of people (16.1 percent) show a lack of concern towards language. The eldest age group 60+ expresses an awareness of language endangerment as well, and 55.6 percent of them choose the option “I will purposefully speak/listen to Solon.” Of the eldest speakers, 18.5 percent said they would not speak/listen because—as they said when I interviewed them—they consider themselves excellent Solon speakers so they do not need to practice anymore, rather than they do not want to do it. The younger speakers seem to be willing to speak or listen to Solon on purpose as well. Among the respondents aged 26–40, 46.0 percent would like to intentionally practice Solon, and within this age group, 33.3 percent also indicate they will probably practice in their free time. Among the younger respondents aged 13–25, only 27.9 percent would allocate dedicated time to practicing Solon, and the proportion of those who express indifference towards Solon is the highest within this age group, reaching 26.2 percent.
It is important to note that there might well be a difference between intention and reality. For example, the respondents who choose the option “I'll attend (the Solon gathering), no matter how busy I am” show their strong intentions in theory; but these might be different when confronted with a real choice between attending a Solon gathering or attending to a pressing task. Q43 and Q44 are designed for checking attitudes, not for surveying real problems.
4. Discussion and Conclusion
The most viable status of Solon among the Tungusic languages can be attributed to the following reasons. First, the population of the Solon community, which is relatively substantial, provides the foundation for the vitality of the language. The Solon population has shown significant growth: from 8,700 in 1964 to 17,500 in 1982 (Gao and Shen 1988: 15–17), and 25,000 in 2020. Although the implementation of China's Family Planning policy in 1982 slowed the growth rate, the population continued to increase. The geographic isolation of larger populations, such as in Shuguit village, has also contributed to language preservation. Most importantly, the strong self-identity observed in the Ewenke Autonomous Banner—partially influenced by neighboring ethnic groups—plays a crucial role in maintaining Solon's vitality.
However, the current language ecology of Solon remains concerning. The Nonni variety of Solon, spoken in a different region, is not as well preserved. For example, in Chabaqi village (查巴奇乡 chábāqí xiāng) in Arong Banner, where Solons make up 6 percent of the population (similar to their 7 percent proportion in the Ewenke Autonomous Banner), the language is highly endangered. Today, it is spoken only by individuals over 45 years old (Du 2012: 117). In the Ewenke Autonomous Banner, Solon is heavily influenced by Mongolian and Mandarin. Among the younger generation (13–25 years old), there is a drastic decline in Solon proficiency, usage, and attitudes toward the heritage language. Furthermore, linguistic analysis reveals significant Mongolic influence on Solon in both lexicon and structure. Some traditional features of Tungusic languages, such as the third-person subject agreement marker, have become optional in Solon, while certain Mongolian linguistic traits, such as verbal complex predicates, have been integrated. According to Sarah Grey Thomason and Terrence Kaufman's borrowing scale (1988: 74–76), Solon is under strong cultural influence from Mongolian.
Using UNESCO's language vitality and endangerment framework (UNESCO 2003), the Hailar variety of Solon, spoken in the Ewenke Autonomous Banner, is classified as “vulnerable,” while the Nonni variety, spoken in the Nonni Basin, is “definitely endangered.” Overall, I believe Solon's endangerment level is closer to “definitely endangered.” Current preservation efforts in the Ewenke Autonomous Banner focus more on cultural activities than language revitalization. For instance, the Ewenke Study Association in Bayan Tohoi organizes cultural events but pays limited attention to the language itself. Today, only children born to two Solon-speaking parents in rural areas continue to speak Solon fluently. Solons who move to urbanized areas tend to intermarry, and their children often do not learn Solon. Urbanized life is socially regarded as superior to rural life in Hulunbuir, leading more people to migrate to cities. One Solon woman, married to a Mongolian, tried to teach her children Solon. However, her children forgot how to speak Solon by the age of five. These intermarriage groups, which are growing in size, are often overlooked by the Solon community. In conclusion, the Solon community has not yet fully recognized the threat of language shift. More preservation strategies are urgently needed. Hopefully, the strong self-identity within the Solon community will serve as a foundation to address this issue before it is too late.
Notes
The Ewenke minorities in Ewenke Autonomous Banner, Zhalantun City, Arong Banner, Morin Dawa Dagur Autonomous Banner, and Oroqen Autonomous Banner are all Solons. The Khamnigan Evenkis and Aoluguya Evenkis comprise only 10 percent of the Ewenke minority population and are located in Old Barag Banner (陈巴尔虎旗 chénbā’ěrhǔ qí) and Genhe city (根河市 gēnhé shì), respectively.
The reason why the Khamnigan Evenki are called “Tungus Ewenke” and the Aoluguya Evenki are sometimes called “Yakut Ewenke” is that Chinese ethnology distinguishes them from the Solon, who have been living in Hulunbuir for four centuries. The Khamnigan Evenki moved to Hulunbuir fromNerchinsk (Russia) in the early twentieth century (Janhunen 2005: 10-11), and the name “Tungus” is given to them after a Russian exonym for Evenki. Another potential reason for calling them “Tungus” is that the locals in Hulunbuir consider the newcomer Khamnigan Evenki to be from the Tunguska (Yenisey) river basin and gave them the name of the Tunguska River (Za·Sewedama 2007: 44-45; Chaoke 1995: 2). As for the Aoluguya/Yakut Ewenke, they migrated from Yakutia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and were thus called “Yakut Ewenke” (Chaoke 1995: 2).
This does not necessarily mean that the female population in the Solon community is twice as large as the male population. A possible explanation is that, as a woman, I interacted more with female Solons while distributing my questionnaire. Additionally, women appeared to show greater interest and patience in completing the questionnaires compared to men.
References
Baek, Sangyub. 2023. “Solon.” In The Tungusic Languages, ed. Alexander Vovin, José Andrés Alonso de la Fuente, and Juha Janhunen, 206–233. London: Routledge.
Baidu encyclopedia 百度百科. 2023. 巴彦托海镇 [Bayan Tohoi Town]. Baidu. https://baike.baidu.com/item/巴彦托海镇 (accessed 27 October 2023).
Bromham, L, X Hua, C Algy & F Meakins. 2020. Language endangerment: a multidimensional analysis of risk factors. Journal of Language Evolution 5(1). 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1093/jole/lzaa002.
Chaoke 朝克. 1995. 鄂温克语研究 [The Study on the Ewenke Language]. Beijing: 民族出版社 [Nationality Publishing House].
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) 中国社会科学院. 2012. 中国语言地图集 [Atlas of the Chinese Language Map]. Beijing: 商务印书馆 [The Commercial Press].
Cong, Shan 丛珊. 2018. “托河路鄂伦春语濒危现状调查研究” [Study on the endangered status of Tuohelu Oroqen]. 民族翻译 [Minority translators journal] (3). 64–71.
Du, Jiandong 杜坚栋. 2012. “鄂温克语言的保护与传承” [The Preservation and Inheritance of the Ewenke Language]. 大连民族学院学报 [Journal of Dalian Minzu University] 2: 116–119.
Gao, Jiangang, and Shen Binhua 高建纲 and 沈斌华. 1988. “鄂温克族人口发展初探” [A Preliminary Study of the Demographic Development of the Ewenke Ethnic Group]. 内蒙古大学学报 (哲学社会科学版) [Journal of Inner Mongolia University (Philosophy and Social Science Edition)] 3: 15–26.
Grenoble, Lenore A. 2024. “Language Loss and Endangerment in Northern Asia.” In The Languages and Linguistics of Northern Asia: A Comprehensive Guide, ed. Edward Vajda, vol. 2, 1211–1232. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
Grinevald, Colette, and Michel Bert. 2011. “Speakers and Communities.” In The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages (Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics), ed. Julia Sallabank and Peter K. Austin, 45–65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511975981.003.
Hammarström, Harald, Robert Forkel, Martin Haspelmath, and Sebastian Bank. 2023. Glottolog 4.8. Leipzig. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8131084.
Hu, Zengyi 胡增益 and Chaoke 朝克. 1986. 鄂温克语简志 [A Sketch Grammar of Ewenke]. Beijing: 民族出版社 [Nationality Publishing House].
Janhunen, Juha A. 2005. LWM 173: Khamnigan Mongol. München: LINCOM EUROPA.
Janhunen, Juha A. 1996. Manchuria: An Ethnic History. Helsinki: Finno-Ugrian Society.
Janhunen, Juha A. 2005. “Tungusic: An Endangered Language Family in Northeast Asia.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 173: 37–54. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2005.2005.173.37.
Janhunen, Juha A. 2012. “The Expansion of Tungusic as an Ethnic and Linguistic Process.” In Recent Advances in Tungusic Linguistics (Turcologica), 5–16, ed. Andrej L. Malchukov and Lindsay J. Whaley. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
Khabtagaeva, Bayarma. 2012. “The Dagur Elements in Solon Evenki.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. Akadémiai Kiadó 65 (3): 335–346.
National Affairs Commission of the People's Republic of China. 1990 (amended in 2015). Administration of the Registration of Ethnic Identities of Chinese Citizens.
National Bureau of Statistics of PRC 国家统计局. 2021. 2020年中国县/区人口普查资料汇编大全 [2020 China Population Census County-Level Tabulations] (CD-ROM).
National Ethnic Affairs Commission of the People's Republic of China. 2023. “Ethnic Ewenke.” https://www.neac.gov.cn/seac/ztzl/ewkz/fzxz.shtml (accessed 27 October 2023).
National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. 1984 (amended in 2001). Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional Ethnic Autonomy. https://www.gov.cn/test/2005-07/29/content_18338.htm (accessed 24 January 2025).
National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. 1986 (amended in 2006). Compulsory Education Law of the People's Republic of China. https://www.gov.cn/guoqing/2021-10/29/content_5647617.htm (accessed 24 January 2025).
Pakendorf, Brigitte. 2024. “The Dynamics of Language Endangerment: A Comparative Study.” Sibirica 23 (1): 32–65.
People's Government of Hulunbuir City. 2024. “Hulunbuir Natural Geography,” press release, 19 March 2024. http://www.hlbe.gov.cn/News/show/176355.html.
Poa, Dory and Randy J. LaPolla. 2007. “Minority Languages of China.” In The Vanishing Languages of the Pacific Rim, ed. Osahito Miyaoka et al., 337–354. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ross, Malcolm. 2001. “Contact-Induced Change in Oceanic Languages in North-west Melanesia. In Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance-Problems in Comparative Linguistics, ed. Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and R. M. W. Dixon, 134–166. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sirenbatu 斯仁巴图. 2011. “中国鄂温克语言研究概述” [Overview of Ewenke Language Studies in China]. 呼伦贝尔学院学报 [Journal of Hulunbuir College] 19 (4): 14–18.
Thomason, Sarah Grey and Terrence Kaufman. 1988. Language Contact, Creolization, and Genetic Linguistics. University of California Press.
Tümenjargal 图门吉日嘎拉. 2009. Odo Uy-e yin Monɣol hele [Modern Mongolian]. 呼和浩特 Hohhot: 内蒙古大学出版社 [Inner Mongolia University Press].
UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages. 2003. “Language Vitality and Endangerment.” UNESCO document. Paris. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000183699 (accessed 24 January 2025).
Urugshilt 乌日格喜乐图. 2017. “鄂温克语使用现状: 以鄂温克族自治旗为例” [The Current Status of Ewenke Language Use: The Case study of Ewenke Autonomous Banner]. Paper presented at the First Academic Symposium of the Committee on the Application of Ethnic Languages and Scripts, Chinese Ethnolinguistic Society (Beijing), 191–200.
Urugshilt 乌日格喜乐图. 2020. 基于语音声学参数库的鄂温克语方言语音比较研究 [Comparative Study in Ewenke Dialects Based on Phonetic Sound Parameter Database]. Beijing: Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Yilina 伊丽娜. 2012. 鄂温克族双语教学—以鄂温克旗小学鄂温克语教学为个案 [Bilingual Teaching in Ewenke—A Case Study of Teaching Ewenke Language in Ewenke Banner Elementary School]. Beijing: Minzu University of China.
Za·Sewedama. 2007. “qamniɤan ewengičüüd ǰiči teden-ü aman ayalɤu” [Khamnigan Evenki ethnic group and their dialects]. Öbör monɤol-un yeke surɤaɤuli-yin erdem šinǰilegen-ü sedkül [Journal of Inner Mongolia University] 5: 44–53.
