GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE OROCHON LANGUAGE IN CHINA

The current article brings forward the issues of the endangered Orochon language in China. It addresses the problem of critical degradation of the Orochon population due to assimilation with other peoples that results in the Orochon language and culture degradation. The paper gives a concise outline of the history of the Orochon people, their lifestyle and migrations and touches upon the etymology of the word «orochon». It presents findings concerning general features of Orochon and its vowel and consonant systems, describes the vowel and consonant articulatory features and compares them to the ones of the dominating Chinese language. The paper also addresses problem of documentation of Orochon emerging from the absence of its written form and offers a set of 29 transcription symbols based on IPA. The article reports on the measures undertaken by the Chinese Government to save the Orochon language and culture. Those include the ones in the spheres of economy, language policy, education, traditional lifestyle preservation, and family traditions that would encourage the use of Orochon for active communication.