Ös tili (middle and upper Chulym dialects): towards a comprehensive documentation

Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, Turkic Languages 10 (1, 2006): 47-72.This paper presents results from a July 2005 field expedition to document speakers of the Ös language of the Middle and Upper Chulym river basin. Native ethnonyms include bistin kishiler (‘our people’) and øs kishiler ‘Ös people’. Exonyms include 1) xakas, 2) jasatshnije (Russian ‘tribute-payers’), 3) tadar ‘Tatar’. The native designation for the language is almost always øs til[i]~ ø:s til[i], and less frequently tadar til[i]. The former, while indeed partially coinciding with the Turkic stem øs ‘self’ (albeit in this language always appearing in a possessed form such as øzym, øzyn, or øzy) is probably primarily derived from the native designation for the Chulym River, viz. ø:s (and further upriver, y:s, whence the Russian designation Ijus for its southeastern tributary in northern Khakasia).