Contents

Juha Janhunen
On the ethnonyms Orok and Uryangkhai
SEC 19 (2014), 71–81

Abstract
The paper discusses the etymology of the ethnonym Orok, as used for one of the aboriginal populations of the Island of Sakhalin. It has been generally assumed that this ethnonym is connected with the Tungusic term for ‘reindeer’, especially since the Orok, also known by the name Uilta, are reindeer herders. The author demonstrates the unlikeliness of this etymology and proposes instead a connection with the widespread generic ethnonym Uryangkhai. This term was transferred on the Orok via the languages of their neighbours, the Sakhalin Ainu and the Sakhalin Ghilyak.

BibTeX

@article{Janhunen14,
	author	= {Janhunen, Juha},
	title	= {On the ethnonyms \textit{Orok} and \textit{Uryangkhai}},
	journal	= {Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia},
	volume	= {19},
	year	= {2014},
	pages	= {71–81}
}