The Origins of Tuvan Ethnicity and the Formation of the Tuvan Language in the Synthesizing Concept of Churguy-ool M. Dorzhu
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2026.2.21Keywords:
Tuvans, ethnicity, ethnos, Tuvan language, deconstruction, ethnolinguistic concept, Churguy-ool Mikhailovich DorzhuAbstract
This article presents a reflection on the monographic study by Churguy-ool M. Dorzhu “The History of the Formation of the Tuvan Language (A Comparative-Historical Study)” (2025).
Aligning with the position of the publishing team, the authors argue that this work, for the first time in scholarly discourse, introduces a study that examines the ethnogenesis of the Tuvan people and the history of the formation of the Tuvan language in their inseparable unity. The consideration of various extralinguistic factors and criteria, together with extensive analysis of empirical linguistic data, allows Dorzhu’s research to be regarded as a new synthesizing concept in the field. The periodization proposed by the scholar — defined as a conditional division of the history of the Tuvan language into specific chronological stages—may also be interpreted as a periodization of the formation of Tuvan ethnicity.
The article focuses primarily on interpreting the author’s deconstruction of the entrenched stereotype, present both in academia and in public discourse, concerning the ethnogenesis and the “recently developed written tradition” of the Tuvan people, as well as on his proposed periodization of the history of the Tuvan language. An attempt is also made to establish correlations between the author’s ideas and those of other scholars whose works are absent from the monograph’s bibliography for objective reasons, thereby providing a form of verification of his conclusions.
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For citation:
Tuimebayev Zh. K., Bakhtikireeva U. M., Syzdykova Zh. S. The Origins of Tuvan Ethnicity and the Formation of the Tuvan Language in the Synthesizing Concept of Churguy-ool M. Dorzhu. New Research of Tuva, 2026, no. 2, pp. 332‑345. (In Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2026.2.21
Author Biographies
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Zhanseit K. Tuimebayev Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
Doctor of Philology, Professor, Rector, Farabi University.
Postal address: 71 Al-Farabi Ave., 050000, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan.
E-mail: turkology.ri@gmail.com
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Uldanay M. Bakhtikireeva RUDN University of Russia; A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Doctor of Philology, Professor, Department of Russian Language and Intercultural Communication, Institute of Russian Language, RUDN University;
Leading Researcher, Department of Literature of Russia’s Ethnicities and the CIS Countries, Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
Postal addresses: 10F Miklukho-Maklaya St., 117198, Russia, Moscow; 25a Povarskaya St., 121069, Russia, Moscow.
E-mail: uldanai@mail.ru
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Zhibek S. Syzdykova Institute of Asian and African Studies, Lomonosov State University
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Leading Researcher, Ecology of Oriental Culture Research Laboratory, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Lomonosov State University.
Postal address: 11 Mokhovaya St., Moscow, 103009, Russia.
E-mail: ccca-iaas@yandex.ru
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