Language Information

Ostyak, now officially known as Khanty, is spoken in western Siberia, along the banks of the Ob River and its numerous tributaries. Ostyak and Vogul (Mansi), spoken just to the west, are known as the Ob-Ugric languages, which together with Hungarian constitute the Ugric branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. The area in which Ostyak and Vogul are spoken is known as the Khanty-Mansi (formerly Ostyak-Vogul) National District. Its capital, Khanty-Mansiisk, stands near the confluence of the Ob and Irtysh rivers. Speakers of Ostyak number about 15,000. There are several dialects and subdialects.

Family: Uralic
Subgroup: Finno-Ugric
Branch: Ugric

Writing Sample

Translation

It was a bright and calm day. Only the leaves of the birch tree rustled softly. That day I went with my younger sisters to pluck berries. We went by boat.
It was good in the forest. We listened to the singing of the little birds.
In that year there were a lot of berries in the forest.
When we had plucked our pots full, we put them beside a big tree. We ran far and wide to eat berries. Before me, out of the bushes leaped a streaked squirrel.