Teleut
(the description of the language of small indigenous people of Russia)

In 2007, the first field expeditions to find the lexical units of the Teleut language started at the
Kemerovo State University. The language material was analyzed based on theoretical assumptions
developed by the scientists of the Kemerovo Derivateological School, which has existed for 26
years. The main method of studying was the propositional-frame modelling method, which was
successfully tested.
The collection of language material was carried out using questionnaires developed by the
project participants. Audio, video and photo libraries were created. In 2013–2014, the material
was also collected using a free psycholinguistic experiment. New when collecting material
in 2015 – writing texts in Teleut language by informants themselves.
As a result of the work done, the culturally significant frames are described: «Shamanism»,
«Horse Breeding», «Haymaking», «Food, Food», «Fishery», «Shaman's Tambourine», «Birth
of a Child», «Family Relations», «Soul», «Dwelling», «Means of transportation», «Beekeeping»,
«Household items», «Tableware», «Livestock», «Hunting», «Wedding», «Clothes and shoes»,
«Games», «Headgear» «Characteristics of man». It has been found that frames do not exist
in isolation from each other and together represent the picture of the world of Teleuts.
Lexicographic activity contributed to the creation of a propositional-frame dictionary. The
structure of the dictionary allows one to reconstruct the image of modern teleut. As an appendix,
the dictionary is presented in the collective monograph «The language picture of the world
of Teleuts» (Kemerovo, 2016). The first descriptions of the non-verbal components of the Teleut
speech are given, the features of their everyday and, in part, ritual multimodal communication are
studied.
In parallel, starting in 2015, the material of other languages was collected: Kyrgyz, Chinese,
English. As a result of the comparison, the hypothesis was confirmed, according to which
compact thematic associations in different-language languages tend to be formalized
by specialized formal means. It turned out that the language picture of the world of Teleuts is
characterized by its uniqueness, based on centuries of established traditions.