Mana, Bazaikha, Kuskun, Narva: the first Russian-Kamasin phrasebook was created in Krasnoyarsk
Authors of the phrasebook declarethat this is “the only manual in the world for live communication” in the Kamasin language, from which such Siberian toponyms as Mana, Bazaikha, Kuskun, Narva, Kamarchaga and others came.
The collection was compiled by Vladimir Chernikov, a researcher into the history of Siberian peoples and a member of the Russian Geographical Society, and Andrei Pivovarov, an amateur linguist from Krasnoyarsk. The project is not funded by anyone; the specialists worked on the phrasebook pro bono.
An electronic version of the book with audio narration of Kamasin texts is available. HERE.
The Kamasin language is one of the Sayan Samoyedic languages. It is considered dormant, meaning it survives only as isolated words. It disappeared from use in 1989 with the death of its last native speaker. The language was spoken on the northern slopes of the Sayan Mountains in the valleys of the Kan and Mana rivers.