The paper is a comprehensive description of the vocabulary of the dancing culture of Tungus
ethnic groups – Evens and Evenks. The development of Even and Evenk folk dancing art was preconditioned by the peculiarities of their economic activity and way of life and the geo-
graphical conditions of the northern region. The dances and games reflect the local features
related to the history of Even and Evenk settlements in the territories they currently inhabit.
Round and imitative dances, an integral part of all ritual celebrations, are the most typical and
distinctive for their dancing culture. Intimate relationship to nature is important for dancing
vocabulary formation. The traditional culture of Tungus peoples was considerably influenced
by their confession: as pagans, they shaped their mythical and real notions of a totem. The
dancing tempo of Evenk round dances was influenced by Yakut round dance osuokhai.
The analysis of ethnographic, folklore, linguistic, and the authors’ field materials allowed presenting the titles of Evens’ and Evenks’ imitative round dances for the first time holistically.
Common and distinctive features of Even and Evenk vocabulary of the round and imitative
dances’ titles are revealed. The notions of dance and song in Even and Evenk languages are
often indivisible, expressed by cognate words: Even nѳrgenek “dancing with singing”, Evenk
iken, ike-vun “dancing with singing”. Most of the vocabulary common to the Even and
Evenk languages is indigenous to them, with Evenk-Even linguistic correlations on the lexical
and semantic levels, suggesting the commonality of the historical processes affecting the development of these languages.
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