Oroch language

{{Short description|Endangered language of Far East Russia}}

{{Distinguish|Orok language}}

{{Expand language|topic=|langcode=ru|otherarticle=Орочский_язык|date=August 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Oroch

| nativename = {{lang|oac|Орочи кэсэни}}

| states = Russia

| region = Russian Far East

| ethnicity = 527 Orochs (2021 census){{Ethnologue18}}

| speakers = 43; 28 (declared to be used in everyday life)

| date = 2021 census

| speakers2 = 119 (2021 census)[https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab7_VPN-2020.xlsx Том 5. «Национальный состав и владение языками». Таблица 7. Население наиболее многочисленных национальностей по родному языку]

| ref =

| familycolor = Altaic

| fam1 = Tungusic

| fam2 = Northern

| fam3 = Udegheic

| script = Cyrillic

| map2 = Lang Status 20-CR.svg

| mapcaption2 = {{center|{{small|Oroch is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}

| iso3 = oac

| glotto = oroc1248

| glottorefname = Oroch

| extinct = 2008

| map = Udihe-Oroch-Taz-territorial-groups.png

| mapcaption = {{legend|#fec90f|Oroch}}

| dia1 = Koppi

| dia2 = Oroch Xadi

| dia3 = Tumnin

}}

The Oroch language is an extinct language spoken by the Oroch people in Siberia. It is a member of the southern group of the Tungusic languages and is closely related to the Nanai language and Udege language. It was spoken in the Khabarovsk Krai (Komsomolsky, Sovetskaya Gavan, and Ulchsky districts). The language is split into three dialects: Tumninsky, Khadinsky, and Hungarisky. At the beginning of the 21st century, a written form of the language was created. The Russian government and the scientific field disagree on whether the language is living or extinct.{{cite book |author=Е. В. Перехвальская |url=https://iling-ran.ru/library/sociolingva/2016_jazyk_i_obschestvo.pdf |title=Язык и общество. Энциклопедия |publisher=Азбуковник |year=2016 |isbn=978-5-91172-129-9 |location=Moscow |pages=339–342/872 |language=ru |trans-title=Language and society. Encyclopedia // Oroch language}}{{cite journal |first=Inna |last=Tolskaya |title=Oroch Vowel Harmony |journal=Lingua

|volume=138 |date=January 2014 |pages=128–151 |doi=10.1016/j.lingua.2013.10.012 |quote=Oroch, a recently extinct Manchu-Tungusic language |language=en}} The last active speaker died in 2008, but there are passive speakers who speak Oroch to varying degrees.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-04 |title=Перепись населения насчитала в России шесть вымерших и заснувших языков |url=https://www.rbc.ru/society/04/02/2024/65bcb9089a794788c65d99b2 |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=РБК |language=ru}}

Oroch belongs to the northern subgroup of the Tungusic languages, alongside Udege, its closest relative, and the Ewenic languages.

It is believed that the Oroch language is the closest to Nanai, because a significant group of Nanai (Evenki) origin (Samagirs) joined the Orochs. Until the beginning of the 20th century, some researchers combined the Orochi with the Udege, considering them as close dialects. In the 1930s it was believed that the Udege language could be considered as a single standard language for both ethnic groups.