OREANDA-NEWS. May 08, 2013. The Russian-Uilta Dictionary ‘Uilta Lexis as a Historical and Ethnographic Source’ compiled by L.I. Missonova was presented today in Moscow by Sakhalin Energy and the Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

The publication of this historical and ethnographic source is critical for preserving the Uilta lexis and preventing extinction of the rich lexical legacy of one of the smallest Tungus-Manchurian peoples of Russia. The author of the dictionary is Ludmila Missonova, Candidate of Historical Sciences and the supervisor of the multi-volume encyclopedic series ‘Peoples and Cultures’ that is being published by the Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology.

“The Company has been providing support to the linguistic studies and publications of the folklore literature for many years. This, for example, included the publications of the Orok-Russian dictionary in 2003 and the first ABC book of the Uilta language in 2008. The publication of Ludmila Missonova’s dictionary continues the efforts to preserve the Uilta language. Today, these three publications are the only and unique learning aids, especially knowing that Uilta had no written language prior to the 21st century”, said Oleg Sapozhnikov, Sakhalin Energy External Affairs Manager.

The book, which is of paramount importance for the indigenous people communities of Sakhalin and Russia and for the world at large, was published by Nauka, the publishing house of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with a financial support from Sakhalin Energy as part of the Sakhalin Indigenous Minorities Development Plan.