The article describes a new model of a universal linguistic knowledge graph for Turkic languages as a basis for creating ontolinguistic resources. In the model, world knowledge is formalized as an ontological core that integrates taxonomic and situational ontologies (by analogy with WordNet and FrameNet) and is closely interrelated with linguistic data from Turkic languages. The relevance of the work is determined by the low-resource nature of most Turkic languages and the loss of effectiveness of neural network approaches in processing agglutinative languages with rich morphology. The goal of the project is to develop a new model of a universal linguistic knowledge graph for Turkic languages. The objectives are: integrating world knowledge and deep linguistic information at all levels of the language system; constructing the graph according to the principle of a semiotic vertical; ensuring the morphemocentricity of the model; and integrating it with international language standards. The foundational method is a pragmatically-oriented approach that focuses the research domain on the structural and functional features of Turkic languages. The knowledge graph is constructed according to the principle of a semiotic vertical that unites five levels – phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic – as well as three inter-level bridges (morphonological, morphosyntactic, and morphosemantic). A key feature of the model is its morphemocentricity: the morpheme acts as the basic linguistic unit, connected with units of all language levels of the model, which fundamentally distinguishes this approach from word-centric models for fusional languages. The model is integrated with international standards: IPA, Universal Dependencies, UDS, UMR, FrameNet, WordNet, and DiAML, each of which is used to describe linguistic elements and relations at its own level. The model has already found practical application in several software products, such as the linguistic portal “Turkic Morpheme” and the new version of the Tatar corpus “Tugan Tel”. Prospects include improving the interpretability of LLMs, improving the quality of machine translation, and unifying annotations of electronic corpora. 

In the context of globalization, the problem of preserving the disappearing forms of traditional culture of the peoples of the Arctic is acute. The Olenyok Evenki National District of Yakutia is a zone of intensive interethnic interaction, where historical bans on the use of the Evenki language in the early 20th century led to total linguistic assimilation. This resulted in the loss of the verbal component of song genres and the disappearance of ritual forms. The aim of the study is to identify the specifics and mechanisms of interaction between Evenki and Yakut cultures in the modern narrative and musical folklore of the Olenyok Evenks. Objectives include comprehensive recording of field material; analysis of the transformation of genre systems (using the example of the chabyrǧakh ‘tongue-twister’ and women’s songs); systematization of phonetic instruments; assessment of the degree of preservation of archaic motifs under conditions of a change in the linguistic code. The study is based on materials from a comprehensive expedition conducted on November 20–27, 2014, in the village of Olenyok and the settlement of Kharyialakh. The study employed in-depth interviews conducted with 25 informants, along with audio and video recordings of 29 song samples, etymological analysis using the dictionaries of E.K. Pekarsky and A.N. Myreeva, and classification of phono-instruments from the collections of the Olenyok Historical and Ethnographic Museum, using the Hornbostel-Sachs system and the regional-historical typology of Yu.I. Sheykin. The results revealed that, after the loss of the language, the song tradition became the main means of transmitting meanings and communicating with the world of the ancestors. The study is the first to introduce information about yllammat yryalar ‘forbidden songs’ and tüül yryata ‘songs performed in dreams’ into scientific circulation. The multifunctionality of phonoinstruments, which perform protective, signaling, and playing functions, has been established. The study concludes that musical folklore took on the role of an ethnic identifier after the loss of the language. The significance of the work is determined by the need for urgent digital documentation of the disappearing culture. The prospects are linked to the creation of a unified digital database of musical folklore and the development of methods for teaching traditional vocal techniques in educational institutions in the region.

The article addresses the problem of attributing borrowings in the context of multidirectional contacts. The object of the study is two lexemes of the Yakut language, möömö ‘bear’ and khajyһar ‘skis’, which are traditionally regarded as possible Yukaghirisms. The relevance of the work is determined by the fact that Yukaghir elements in the Yakut language have remained on the periphery of scholarly attention: in Yukaghir studies, research has focused mainly on borrowings into the Yukaghir language, whereas the reverse direction has not been studied in detail and systematically. The aim of the work is to establish the degree of reliability of the Yukaghir etymology for each of the two lexemes; for this purpose, the dialect material was systematized, Yakut forms were compared with Yukaghir and Tungusic-Manchu data, and the phonetic adaptation of the lexemes under consideration by means of Yakut phonology was analyzed. The material includes dialectological and explanatory dictionaries, etymological works, and StarLing databases. Comparative-historical, etymological, phonetic, areal, and dialectological methods were employed. The results showed a fundamentally different degree of reliability of attribution. For möömö, a combination of features – localization exclusively in northern dialects, a borrowing label in dialectological dictionaries, and an exact Yukaghir correspondence in the absence of independent Tungusic parallels – allows the Yukaghir etymology to be considered the most probable. For khajyһar, the presence of an independent Even form and the absence of direct evidence of a Yukaghir source do not permit an unambiguous decision: the lexeme is qualified as an areal contact unit with an indeterminate direction of borrowing. Thus, no single criterion of attribution is sufficient by itself; only their combination allows one to speak with varying degrees of confidence about the direction of borrowing. Prospects for further research are connected with clarifying the status of the Even qаjsаr, studying the entire system of Yakut ski designations, and expanding the material at the expense of other putative Yukaghirisms.

The article examines the hypothesis of color determination of identity, according to which stable chromatic dominants of the natural landscape are primary in relation to the cultural color code and set the basic “color matrix”. The study draws on theoretical and secondary empirical materials: studies of natural landscapes of the Eurasian North, data on the light regime of high latitudes, snow albedo, plant aspects (lichens, mosses, cloudberry, cotton grass) and seasonal color dynamics, as well as results from traditional cultures of the peoples of the North and color-associative data from sociological studies of territorial identity. The work is theoretical in nature and is conducted at the intersection of cultural geography, semiotics, anthropology, ethnopsychology, and cognitive cultural studies of color. An interdisciplinary methodology is employed, including ontological, structural-semiotic, cognitivecultural, and comparative methods. The theoretical framework comprises Yu. Lotman’s concept of the semiosphere, R. Barthes’ ideas on sign systems, and M. Chirimuuta’s new ontology of color, which interprets color as a mode of human interaction with the world and emphasizes its communicative nature. The landscape and its color component are considered as a “text” possessing its own grammar and syntactics, which largely have a cultural genesis and on which its communication with culture is built. Special attention is paid to the high-latitude landscapes of the Eurasian North – tundra and forest-tundra – where the color rhythm is determined by circumpolar achromaticity and short intense bursts (summer green, autumn ochre). A stable natural triad (blue, green, ochre-red) is identified, which, unlike cultural triads, is imposed by the environment. The color metamorphosis of the landscape (the alternation of “white”, “green”, and “ochre-golden” seasons) modulates collective identity, marking shifts in economic seasons, social roles, and psychological states. In the context of the new ontology of cold and the concept of cryosophy of geocryologist V.P. Melnikov, white color in high latitudes acquires an ontological dimension. Based on the results of the study, the hypothesis of color determination of identity is substantiated, the specificity of the coloristics of high latitudes is revealed, and the determining significance of white in the context of the new ontology of cold and cryosophy is shown. The color code is defined as a “compressed semiotic model” of the landscape, performing orienting, social, sacred, and psychological functions. 

This study examines the vocabulary used for outerwear in the Altai language. The relevance of the research stems from the fact that this lexical layer has not been sufficiently studied in Altai. The practical significance of this study lies in the fact that its findings can be used in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of language, folklore, and ethnography, as well as in the compilation of various dictionaries, including the forthcoming explanatory dictionary of the Altai language. The study employs an integrated methodology combining descriptive and comparative methods with etymological and statistical analysis. The research material was drawn from lexicographic, ethnographic, folkloric, and other sources. The lexical layer under investigation was analyzed using materials from other Turkic languages, as well as Mongolic languages. The study considers the names of various types of Altai fur coats worn during the cold season. These include uncovered and cloth-covered coats; long and short coats; coats with the fur worn outward or inward; and coats made from the hides of domestic and wild animals, including sheep, lambs, calves, roe deer, moose, foxes, sable, lynx, mink, marmots, and others. At the same time, it was established that in the Altai language, men’s, women’s, and children’s fur coats are primarily referred to using general terms, with very few specialized terms for them. The findings show that most Altai names for fur coats are complex descriptive expressions containing the common component ton ‘fur coat; coat’. It has been shown that the most productive motivating feature in the naming of fur coats in the Altai language is the material from which they are made. Less frequently, names are motivated by such features as color, fur or wool length, fur or wool density, the method used to finish the hide, the size of the fur coat, and so on. In total, the study identified 24 names for fur coats in Altai. It was established that some of them are inherited Turkic words (25%), some are borrowings from Mongolic languages (16,7%), and many are regional terms (58,3%). The analysis of this lexical group drew on materials from other Turkic and Mongolic languages.

Research on cardinal directions in Sakha has predominantly concentrated on the linguistic and folkloristic dimensions of these concepts. This article aims to elucidate the complex meanings of cardinal directions by integrating fundamental aspects of local environmental perceptions, orientational systems, and metageographies. Drawing on local narrative knowledge collected during fieldwork conducted in Central Yakutia from 2002 to 2015, the author examines the representation of cardinal directions in Sakha narratives. The study addresses a gap in existing scholarship: while the etymology and ritual uses of directional terms have been thoroughly studied, the stratified and interconnected nature of their conceptualization – encompassing egocentric, intrinsic, and absolute orientational systems alongside emic metageography – has received insufficient attention. The methodology combines linguistic anthropology, cognitive approaches to spatial orientation, and the analysis of local narrative practices. Field materials include interviews, mental maps drawn by interlocutors, and associative dictionary data. The author contends that the characteristics of the permafrost landscape and the presence of an archipelago of alaas meadows in the boreal forest contribute to a distinctively Sakha environmental perception, emphasizing the importance of both egocentric and allocentric navigation in the Central Yakutian Lowland. Furthermore, cardinal directions not only locate and contextualize the immediate environments of villages in Central Yakutia, but also contribute to stereotyped images of landscapes and residents in distinct regions. Both the ethnic affiliation and the major character traits of those who dwell in a particular landscape can be stereotypically defined in this system. The results show that in Sakha environmental perception, cardinal directions are not neutral: south (soghuruu) and east (ilin) carry positive values and are associated with the Sakha homeland and the alaas landscape, while north (khotu) and west (arghaa) are linked to frost, evil spirits, and the territories of Evenki peoples. The study demonstrates how a linguistic system – specifically the concepts describing cardinal directions – is interwoven with environmental perception, lifestyle, and ethnic traditions. The findings contribute to comparative folklore studies, linguistic anthropology, and research on Sakha metageography, and suggest directions for further fieldwork in Northern Yakutia and the Vilyuy River region.

Anadyr – the capital of Russia’s northeasternmost region, the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug – is a distinctive city with a population of approximately 13,000. Situated at the edge of the continent and isolated from overland road networks, it embodies a complex interplay between migrant and indigenous populations. Yet, despite its unique position, Anadyr remains a rarely studied subject in the humanities. This study offers a cultural-anthropological analysis of Chukotka’s regional capital as a specific spatiotemporal phenomenon shaped by its Arctic context and post-Soviet history, examining it through the lenses of local discourse, the visual environment, and everyday practices. The research draws on long-term participant observation conducted between 2003 and 2025, over 60 semi-structured interviews with residents of diverse social backgrounds, and an analysis of diary entries, personal narratives regarding the architectural landscape, and online communities. The findings reveal a divergence between the city’s administrative boundaries and its mental map: residents exclude the village of Tavaivaam from their concept of the “city”, while Anadyr itself is perceived as an island cut off from the “mainland” – a perception that reinforces in-group solidarity. Within the urban landscape, the representation of indigenous inhabitants has shifted from Soviet-era paternalistic “enlightenment” to a form of superficial visual appropriation, where ethnic symbols and cuisine serve as decorative identity markers without effecting any real change in the social status of indigenous communities. Anadyr’s temporality is polychronic: the natural cycles of the polar day and night intersect with the work schedules of administrative institutions, the seasonality of maritime supply deliveries, and a nine-hour time difference relative to Moscow. Historical memory is structured through an emic periodization – a local conceptualization of eras defined by stability, ruin, and “facade-style” renewal. The study expands the understanding of Arctic cities as fully fledged social organisms whose logic is shaped by isolation, climate, and intercultural interaction, rather than merely by their function as resource hubs. A promising avenue for further research is the study of mobility – specifically, crossings across the Anadyr Estuary and air links – as practices that maintain the city’s connectivity with the outside world.