Semyon Novgorodov | |
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Семён Новгородов | |
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| Born | (1892-02-13)February 13, 1892 2nd Khatlinsky nasleg of Boturus Ulus,Sakha |
| Died | February 28, 1924(1924-02-28) (aged 32) |
| Nationality | Yakut |
| Other names | Сэмэн Ноҕоруодап |
| Known for | Yakut linguist, creator of a Yakut alphabet |
Semyon Andreyevich Novgorodov (Yakut:Семен Андреевич Новгородов,romanized: Semen Andreyevich Novgorodov, the older orthographyYakut:Сэмэн Ноҕоруодап,romanized: Semen Noğoruodap;Russian:Семён Андреевич Новгородов; February 13, 1892 – 28 February 1924) was aYakutpolitician andlinguist, the creator of aYakutwritten language.
Semyon Andreyevich Novgorodov was born in the 2nd Khatlinskynasleg of Boturus Ulus (now Boltoginsky nasleg ofChurapchinsky Ulus ofSakha). His father was poor, but later acquired some wealth. He taught his son to readOld Church Slavonic. Later, Novgorodov studied under sexton Andrey Vinokurov, who taught himRussian and arithmetic. Then he visited the private school of exiled I. T. Tsypenko inChurapcha. As Semyon was a brilliant pupil, in 1905 he enteredYakutskRealschule (Реальное училище). During his time at the college, Novgorodov read widely. Novgorodov started to collect Yakut folklore, his works were published in the first Yakut literature magazineSaqa sanata, which was published in 1912–1913.
As the earliest Yakut writing was invented by Russians, it didn't reflect some features of theYakut language well. Novgorodov's first writings used a mixture of the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. After Novgorodov graduated from Realschule, he taught in Yelovsky elementary school andVilyuy municipal school. In 1913 he came toSaint Petersburg and entered the Arab-Persian-Turkish class of the Oriental department ofSt. Petersburg University. In December 1913 Novgorodov participated in the All-Russian Congress of Popular Teachers, where he presented a paper about teaching in the national languages of indigenous peoples and the necessity of schoolbooks in the Yakut language.
One year later, Novgorodov entered a Mongol-Manchu-Turkish class. In 1914, on the instructions of Russian Committee on the Exploration of the Central and East Asia, he collected folklore inTattinsky Ulus,Yakutia. Summer holidays of 1915 he spent inUfa Governorate, where he practiced theTatar language of the Tatar colonists and collected folklore ofTiptär Tatars.
Exploring a variety of different writing systems, he was attracted by theInternational Phonetic Alphabet. He argued for the adoption of this alphabet to the Yakut language. Some Yakut intelligentsia led by poet A. Ye. Kulakovsky opposed him, advocating Cyrillic. Novgorodov's arguments were these:
The main difficulty was caused by numerousumlauts and brevity and duration signs. Novgorodov found that they reduced the speed of writing. Further, the missionary variant was totally incorrect with respect to pronunciation.
Novgorodov spent the winter of 1916–1917 teaching in aYakutsk school. HisThe Main Problems of Yakut Intelligentsia was published inYakutskie Vedomosti newspaper. Novgorodov supported theFebruary Revolution of 1917. He participated in many meetings and was even elected to the Public Security Committee ofYakutsk. At the First Free Congress of Yakut Peasants, Novgorodov presented hisIPA-based new Yakut alphabet and spoke about the necessity of publishing the first Yakut primer (in collaboration with V.M. Ionov). The congress supported him, and during spring and summer 1917 Novgorodov, with the help of N. Ye. Afanasyev, remade the primer, which was namedsaqalɯ: suruk bicik. This alphabet was not the IPA at all, as some characters were unable to be represented in local presses.
In autumn 1917 he returned toPetrograd to continue his education. In summer 1918 he was contracted as an interpreter to a hydrographic expedition to theLena River's delta. However, theRussian Civil War disturbed his plans. Thus, he ultimately spent 4 months working in Ehirit-Buhachat Aymak ofIrkutsk Governorate. As he studied Mongolian, he fluently spokeBuryat language and participated in local meetings. In March 1919 he published several articles where he argued for a chair of Yakutology inIrkutsk University and noted to the similarity of modern Yakut and ancient Turkic, found inOrkhon inscriptions. Later his theory was verified by other scholars.
In September 1919 Novgorodov reachedYakutsk and joined theSaqa aymaq cultural society. As theKolchak government didn't support his ideas, he was pleased with the return of Soviet power. He became the head of theYakutsk Oblast Exploring Department, the head of its linguistic section, a participant of expeditions to the easternuluses ofYakutia, a lecturer of propagandist and pedagogy courses, a head of the committee for Yakut schoolbooks. As the region had a problem with printing-plants, Novgorodov was entrusted to buy in Central Russia in 1920.
In 1922 he published the re-written primer,basta:nnɯ suruk bicik. In the same year, the Yakut language was introduced in schools ofYakut ASSR. In 1923, the new Yakut font was made inPetrograd. Another primer,suruk bicik and a book for readinga:ʃar kinige[1] were published. This primer was much better than the others and consisted of five parts: fiction, history, geography, medicine and folklore. In 1923–24 the primer was spread all over Yakutia andlikbezy (special schools for illiterates) started their work. As new presses appeared in the republic, it became possible for the local leaders to print their own newspapers and the first of these,kɯ:m, was published in 1923. Until 1930, when Yakut was switched toJaꞑalif, more than 200 books were published in the Novgorodov alphabet, including 30 schoolbooks. A new alphabet gave a major impulse to the development of Yakut culture.In 1922 Novgorodov graduated the university and along with M. K. Ammosov represented Yakutia inNarkomnats (Peoples' Committee for Nationalities). He participated in the commission fordelimitation ofYakutia's borders. Also Novgorodov was a deputy of IX Congress of the Soviets, elected by Yakutsk Governorate Congress of the Revolutionary Committee. Semyon Novgorodov died ofuraemia in the prime of his life at February 28, 1924.[2]
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