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{{Infobox language
| name             = Oroshan language
| nativename       = ''Kikŋaʔvəvi, kikŋaʔvəvi kəğači''
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|[kigŋaʔvəˈvi]}}
| states           = {{flag|Oroshia}}
| ethnicity        = [[Oroshan people]]
| speakers         = ca. 2,300,000
| date             = 2018
| familycolor      = Paleosiberian
| fam1             = [[Gujino-Bintani languages|Gujino-Bintani]]
| fam2 = Gujin
| fam3 = Coast Gujin
| protoname        = [[Gujino-Bintani languages#Proto-Gujino-Bintani language|Proto-Gujino-Bintani]]
| ancestor         = 
| ancestor2        = <!-- up to ancestor5 -->
| standards        = 
| stand1           = 
| stand2           = <!-- up to stand6 -->
| dialects         = 
| listclass        = 
| dia1             = 
| dia2             = <!-- up to dia20 -->
| script           = {{wp|Latin script|Sabarian}}
| sign             = 
| map              = Oroshanlanguagemappng.png
| mapsize          = 250px
| mapalt           = 
| mapcaption       = Map of regions where a majority (dark blue) and a minority (light blue) are native speakers of Oroshan.
| posteriori       = 
| nation           = [[Oroshia]]
| minority         = 
| agency           = 
| iso1             = or
| iso2             = oro
| iso3             = oro
| notice           = IPA
}}

'''Oroshan''' (''kikŋaʔvəvi'', <small>pronounced:</small> {{IPA|[kigŋaʔvəˈvi]}}) is a [[Gujino-Bintani languages|Gujino-Bintani language]] spoken in the extreme northeast of [[Surucia]], mostly contained in [[Oroshia]], where nearly 2 million speakers reside. It is a [[Gujino-Bintani languages#Gujin languages|Gujin language]], genetically, within the wider Gujino-Bintani family. Specifically, it is a Coast Gujin language, along with the [[Yvlipkan language]], who diverged from their common ancestor an estimated 1,500 years ago. It is still relatively close to languages such as Yvlipkan, and more distant to other Gujin languages, and even [[Gujino-Bintani languages#Bintan languages|Bintan languages]], as part of the wider family. It is considerably more conservative than its closest relative, Yvlipkan, which has innovated greatly phonologically and grammatically.

It is accepted that speakers of Gujino-Bintan languages migrated to their present location from the west, though there is some scant evidence that they instead moved in a northwards direction. Originally a nomadic culture of {{wp|reindeer herding|reindeer herders}}, the original Gujino-Bintan speakers have not left any written evidence of their language behind. Instead, it has been reconstructed with help from extant languages, many of which are threatened by extinction. The Oroshan language first began to be written under {{wp|Korean people|Jogin}} colonial rule, and the {{wp|Korean language|Jogin language}} exerted its influence on the Oroshan language, mainly through loanwords. Under colonial rule, the use of Oroshan was discouraged, and its use banned in schools, up until the early 1900s.

Oroshan is the primary official language in Oroshia, alongside Jogin, where it serves as a lingua franca, especially among the minority [[Namchog people|Namchogi]] population, whose language saw even greater stigma than the Oroshan language itself. Oroshan is also spoken to the west of Oroshia, and by a diaspora population of around 200,000.

==History==
Oroshan is a coast Gujin language, along with [[Yvlipkan language|Yvlipkan]], with which it shares a large portion of vocabulary and some common grammatical innovations. It is estimated that they both diverged from each other around 1500 years ago, after Gujino-Bintani speaking nomads migrated into the [[Oroshan Peninsula]], largely supplanting the native [[Namchog people|Namchogi]] population.

Oroshan had been a purely oral language until the arrival of explorers and colonizers. In 1462, Keian mariner Onishi Ken landed somewhere in Oroshia, presumably between [[Sochvel]] and [[Yaykvek]], where he wrote the following: ''テントの人々は速いペースで話します。私は彼らにいくつかの規定を提供し、彼らは "は-る-し-る-む-す" と答えました.'' Translated, this reads "The tent-people (i.e. Oroshans) speak at a rapid pace. I offered them provisions, to which they responded, 'ha-ru-si-ru-mu-su'"." This constitutes the first known identification of Oroshan as a language, and this short sample has been identified in modern Oroshan as ''ğałči łupəč'', "[this] food is good".

[[File:Cho Haejin.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Ğavał Vivipok is a Jogin-Oroshan writer, who combines folk tales with modern influences.]]

No more than a century later, as Jogin colonization began in earnest, Seol Young-soon was the first to compile a short dictionary of Oroshan and Jogin, though no copies survive. Through the Jogin language decree in 1734, the use of Oroshan was outlawed, though in practice this could not be well enforced outside of major settlements, and the free use of Oroshan continued elsewhere.

In [[Tilgin]], a hotbed of anti-colonial sentiment since the early 1800s, an Oroshan newspaper was first put into circulation beginning in 1816, though this was quickly outlawed and discontinued. A Rythenian traveller, Charles Inermine, was the first to include a sample of Oroshan in a Rythenian-language publication, which he did in ''Songs and Legends of the Anchegian Wilderness'' (1807). In this, he included a version of the Oroshan mythical description of the [[Oroshan shamanism|spirit world]], which he translated in verse.

{{Blockquote
|text=
Us nihnl vulveck sickitch <br>
ilnovi kalatch, ilnovi juputch, <br>
ilnovi ickeet. <br>
Chal-eeskutuhungtchee ah keetchackluhump saynuhts, <br>
uhab vihivihts. <br>
Ni ilnohun, <br>
sitch unckteenohon. <br> <br>

The valley below <br>
as wide and deep, <br>
as it is vast. <br>
Lined by faces, places <br>
and people past. <br>
Where we will meet again, <br>
awoken at last. <br>
|multiline=yes
|author=Charles J. Inermine
|title="The Anchegian Reverence of Death"
|source=''Songs and Legends of the Anchegian Wilderness'' (1807).
}}

Oroshan would experience a revival from the early 1900s in terms of literary work, as Jogin control began to wane. Poets and authors began to freely write in Oroshan, and newspapers began to switch to Oroshan. Many Oroshan-language newspapers were popular among the growing labour movement of the time, and the use of Oroshan language became symbolic of these political organizations, and, later, the drive for independence. In the 1960s, [[Saint-Baptiste|Baptistois]] linguist Théodore Lozé introduced a new {{wp|Latin alphabet|Sabarian}} script for Oroshan, which more easily captured the structure of the language.

==Phonology==
The phonology of Oroshan is very conservative compared to its sister language, [[Yvlipkan language|Yvlipkan]]. Some dialects of Oroshan have made phonological developments not shown here, particularly the western dialects, which have had considerable superstrate influence from {{wp|Korean language|Jogin}} and [[Namchog language|Namchogi]].
===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Oroshan consonant phonemes
!
!{{wpl|Labial consonant|Labial}}
!{{wpl|Alveolar consonant|Alveolar}}
!{{wpl|Palatal consonant|Palatal}}
!{{wpl|Velar consonant|Velar}}
!{{wpl|Uvular consonant|Uvular}}
!{{wpl|Glottal consonant|Glottal}}
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Nasal stop|Nasal}}
|{{wpl|Bilabial nasal|{{IPA|m}}}}
|{{wpl|Alveolar nasal|{{IPA|n}}}}
|
|{{wpl|Velar nasal|{{IPA|ŋ}}}}
|
|
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Stop consonant|Plosive}}
|{{wpl|Voiceless bilabial plosive|{{IPA|p}}}}
|{{wpl|Voiceless alveolar plosive|{{IPA|t}}}}
|
|{{wpl|Voiceless velar plosive|{{IPA|k}}}}
|{{wpl|Voiceless uvular plosive|{{IPA|q}}}}
|{{wpl|Glottal stop|{{IPA|ʔ}}}}
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Fricative consonant|Fricative}}
|{{wpl|Voiced labiodental fricative|{{IPA|v}}}}
|{{wpl|Voiceless alveolar fricative|{{IPA|s}}}}
|
|{{wpl|Voiced velar fricative|{{IPA|ɣ}}}}
|
|
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Affricate}}
|
|{{wpl|Voiceless alveolar affricate|{{IPA|ts}}}}
|{{wpl|Voiceless postalveolar affricate|{{IPA|tʃ}}}}
|
|
|
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Lateral consonant|Lateral fricative}}
|
|{{wpl|Voiceless dental and alveolar lateral fricatives|{{IPA|ɬ}}}}
|
|
|
|
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Affricate#Lateral affricates|Lateral affricate}}
|
|{{wpl|Voiceless alveolar lateral affricate|{{IPA|tɬ}}}}
|
|
|
|
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Approximant consonant|Approximant}}
|
|
|{{wpl|Palatal approximant|{{IPA|j}}}}
|
|
|
|}

The glottal stop does not behave like a regular plosive consonant in Oroshan. It does not follow phonotactic rules, and appears in clusters that would not normally be allowed, were it treated as a normal plosive. Instead, glottalization is thought of as a 'quality' of a syllable, wherein the coda consonant (or coda consonant cluster) is glottalized, or not. Glottalization carries important grammatical meaning, and through reconstruction, it was determined that glottalization is the remnant of a glottal affix in an earlier stage of the [[Gujino-Bintani languages#Proto-Gujino-Bintani language|Proto-Gujino-Bintani language]]. The [[Gujino-Bintani languages#Bintani languages|Bintani languages]] still exhibit a productive glottal affix.

There are voiced allophones of the plosive series, which occur before a nasal or /j/ in the onset of the following syllable, such as in ''qitjak'' /qitjak/, "house", realized as [qedjak] or [qeɟak]. /v/ and /ɣ/ are frequently devoiced when glottalized in the syllable coda, if not followed by a vowel, as in ''ŋaʔv'' /ŋaʔv/, "chiefs", realized as [ŋaʔf]. Western dialects have developed a marginal voiced plosive series under the influence of [[Namchog language|Namchogi]].

===Vowels===
Oroshan is reputed to follow a 5-vowel system, a pattern which is quite common cross-linguistically. However, Oroshan contains no /e/ phoneme, instead having merged it with /ə/, which arose earlier from unstressed /a/. Vowel length is not contrastive, but stressed syllables have considerably longer vowel duration than unstressed syllables.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Oroshan vowel phonemes
!
!{{wpl|Front vowel|Front}}
!{{wpl|Central vowel|Central}}
!{{wpl|Back vowel|Back}}
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Close vowel|Close}}
| {{wpl|Close front unrounded vowel|{{IPA|i}}}}
|
| {{wpl|Close back rounded vowel|{{IPA|u}}}}
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Mid vowel|Mid}}
| 
| {{wpl|Schwa|{{IPA|ə}}}}
| {{wpl|Open-mid back rounded vowel|{{IPA|ɔ}}}}
|-
!style="text-align: left;" | {{wpl|Open vowel|Open}}
|
|
| {{wpl|Open front unrounded vowel|{{IPA|a}}}}
|}

/i/ and /u/ are lowered to /e/ and /o/, respectively, surrounding the uvular plosive /q/. This is also quite common cross-linguistically, but is only allophonic, and /e/ and /o/, while phonologically separate from their higher counterparts, do not constitute separate phonemes. In some eastern dialects, however, /q/ is beginning to merge with /k/ for some younger speakers (assumed to be born after 1980). For these speakers, the contrast is now phonemic after /k/. For example, in standard Oroshan, spoken in [[Sochvel]], ''qit'' [qet] "to build", and ''kit'' [kit] "you (absolutive)" are phonemically /qit/ and /kit/ respectively. In younger, eastern speech, they are ''qit'' [ket] "to build", and ''kit'' [kit] "you (absolutive)", which phonemically are analyzed as /ket/ and /kit/, implying that they have become separate phonemes for these speakers.

===Phonotactics===
The maximum syllable structure in Oroshan is CVjNC, where C is any consonant, V any vowel, and N a nasal /m/, /n/, or /ŋ/. As stated above, glottalization is suprasegmental, and is not considered part of syllable structure, but rather a 'quality' of the syllable wherein the coda consonant or consonant cluster is glottalized. Affricates are considered to have a single consonant value, and are not considered to be clusters of a homorganic plosive and fricative pair. An example of maximum syllable structure is ''ğajnts'' /ɣajnts/, "its (inanimate)", with a final consonant cluster of ''j-n-ts''. This syllable can be glottalized, in ''ğaʔjnts'' /ɣaʔjnts/, "its (inanimate plural)", normally realized as [ɣajnts'], but which may also be realized as [ɣa.ʔints] in two phonetic syllables, but is considered to be one phonemic syllable. The stress therefore remains on the first phonetic syllable in this realization,  in [ˈɣa.ʔints], not *[ɣaˈʔints] as would be expected if it were treated as a phonemically disyllabic word. /ɣaʔjnts/ may also be realized [ɣaʔɲcç] or [ɣaɲc'] through progressive {{wp|assimilation (phonology)|assimilation}} of /nts/ with /j/. The palatal realizations are not considered independent phonemes, rather, allophones of alveolars arising in a palatal environment.

===Stress===
Stress in Oroshan is regular and predictable. Primary stress will invariably fall on the final syllable of polysyllabic words, unless the final syllable consists only of /ə/, when it will fall on the penultimate syllable. Secondary stress is more variable, and will generally fall on the second or third syllable in a word. Stressed syllables tend to be, on average, twice as long (in vowel length) as unstressed syllables. The strong stress pattern falling on the final syllable gives Oroshan a 'rhythmic' sound, as first described by {{wp|Japanese people|Keian}} scholars in the 16th century. Stress has no grammatical bearing in Oroshan, unlike glottalization.

==Morphology==
Oroshan is a moderately {{wp|synthetic language}}, with a predominantly {{wp|agglutination|agglutinative}} typological structure. Verbs conjugate for tense, and nouns inflect for number and {{wp|grammatical case|case}}. It has a productive process of {{wp|derivational morphology}} wherein the function of a word changes through the addition of affixes. Exhibiting predominantly {{wp|Head-directionality_parameter|head-final}} {{wp|ergative-absolutive alignment}}, nouns may be converted into verbs, verbs into nouns, and both into adverbs freely. Nouns are frequently compounded together to create new meanings, and nouns may be compounded with verbs to give new meanings, though this is less common, and it is linguistically not considered {{wp|incorporation (linguistics)|incorporation}}.
===Nouns===
Nouns in Oroshan belong to one of two {{wp|grammatical gender|grammatical genders}}, animate or inanimate. These categories generally follow whether the noun in question is alive or not, and so can generally be easy to predict. However, this is not always the case. Nouns like ''vəł'' "river" are animate, presumably because they 'move', though they are abiotic. All abstract nouns formed with the abstract nominalization suffix ''-či'' are inherently inanimate, and all agent nouns derived using the agent nominalization suffix ''-ka'' are inherently animate. 

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Oroshan !! Gloss !! Translation
|-
| isku || see || to see (v.)
|-
| iskuči (i.) || see-NMLZ.ABSTR || vision ''(i.e. the act of seeing)''
|-
| iskuka (a.) || see-NMLZ.AGN || watcher ''(i.e. someone who watches)''
|}

Nouns decline for four {{wp|grammatical case|cases}}, ergative, absolutive, oblique, and genitive. Which declension pattern a noun takes can be known from its gender. Nouns also decline in two {{wp|grammatical number|numbers}}, singular and plural. The plural of nouns is marked by the glottalization of the coda.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! colspan="2" | Singular
! colspan="2" | Plural
|-
!
! ''jak'' ("fire", animate) !! ''vək'' ("land", inanimate)
! ''jak'' ("fire", animate) !! ''vək'' ("land", inanimate)
|-
! Absolutive
| jak || vək || jaʔk || vəʔk
|-
! Ergative
| jakək || vəkəŋ || jakəʔk || vəkəʔŋ
|-
! Oblique
| jakəł || vəkən || jakəʔł || vəkəʔn
|-
! Genitive
| jakəs || vəkənts || jakəʔs || vəkəʔnts
|}

Compounding of nouns is frequent, and is used in forming new senses. The Oroshan word for "legislature", ''sisavŋaʔvqitjak'', is composed of the words ''sisavŋaʔv'', "government", and ''qitjak'', "house", giving it the literal meaning of "government house". The word ''sisavŋaʔv'', "government", for its part, is a verb-noun compound, made up of the verb ''sisav'', "to be fair, equal", and ''ŋaʔv'', "ruler (pl.)", giving the literal meaning of "fair rulers". ''Qitjak'' is another verb-noun compound, from ''qit'', "to build", and ''jak'', "fire", approximating the meaning of "where a fire is built".

{| class="wikitable"
! sisav
! ŋa<ʔ>v
! qit
! jak
|-
| fair
| ruler<PL>
| build
| fire
|-
| colspan="2" | government
| colspan="2" | house
|-
| colspan="4" | legislature
|}

===Verbs===
Verbs in Oroshan inflect only for a non-past tense (uninflected), and a past tense (glottalized). Other elements of {{wp|Tense–aspect–mood|tense, aspect, and mood}} are expressed through the use of adverbs, which immediately precede a verb, and are also uninflected. Verbs inflect for the agent of the clause, taking suffixes for both the absolutive and ergative agents, derived from the set of personal pronouns. Plural verb clitics also carry the glottalization characteristic of plural number in Oroshan, as well as the verbal past tense. Verbs carry the typological category of adjectives observed in many other languages. In Oroshan, characteristics are described through a verb with a meaning such as "to be red", which inflects as a normal verb would. Words of other lexical categories can be verbalized through the verbalization suffix ''-no''.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Tense inflection in Oroshan
|-
!
! to be small !! to gather, pick !! to speak
|-
! Non-past
| ajp || iqat || kəğa
|-
! Past
| aʔjp || iqaʔt || kəʔğa
|}

The agent suffixed inflection of verbs is shown below. The agent suffix encodes information about person, number, and case.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Agent inflection in Oroshan
|-
! colspan="9" | ''kəvkəv'' "to be sick"
|-
!
! colspan="4" | Absolutive
! colspan="4" | Ergative
|-
!
! colspan="2" | Singular 
! colspan="2" | Plural 
! colspan="2" | Singular 
! colspan="2" | Plural
|-
! 1SG
| kəvkəvən || ''I am sick.'' || kəvkəvəʔn || ''We are sick.'' || kəvkəvənk || ''I (erg.) am sick.'' || kəvkəvəʔnk || ''We (erg.) are sick.''
|-
! 2SG
| kəvkəvət || ''You are sick.'' || kəvkəvəʔt || ''You (pl.) are sick.'' || kəvkəvtək || ''You (erg.) are sick.'' || kəvkəvtəʔk || ''You (pl. erg.) are sick.''
|-
! 3SG.ANIM
| kəvkəvənt || ''He/she/they (sing.) are sick.'' || kəvkəvəʔts || ''They (pl.) are sick.'' || kəvkəvnək || ''He/she/they (sing. erg.) are sick.'' || kəvkəvnəʔk || ''They (pl. erg.) are sick.''
|-
! 3SG.INAN
| kəvkəvəč || ''It is sick.'' || kəvkəvəʔč || ''They (inan. pl.) are sick.'' || kəvkəvčəŋ || ''It (erg.) is sick.'' || kəvkəvčəʔŋ || ''They (inan. pl. erg.) are sick.''
|}

There are also 5 copula verbs, which behave differently than other verbs in the sense that the syntactical subject and object of the copulas agree in case with each other, forming a predicate. The affirmative copula is used for possession, in a metaphorical construction using the bare oblique case, implying an indirect object. For example, ''kik ninł ahant'' translates to "I have a reindeer" but literally means "it is a reindeer to me".

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Oroshan verb !! Copula type !! Example !! Translation
|-
| aha || affirmative || Vəł ahant. || ''It is a river.''
|-
| ŋit || negative || Vəł ŋitənt. || '' It is not a river.''
|-
| səjn || locative || Vəł səjnənt. || ''There is a river.''
|-
| tata || interrogative || Vəł tatant? || ''Is it a river?''
|-
| tisəjn || locative interrogative || Vəł tisəjnənt? || ''Where is a river?''
|}

===Adverbs and adpositions===
Adverbs are the most varied lexical class in Oroshan grammar. They are often a single morpheme, though they can be formed from other lexical categories through the use of the adverbialization suffix ''-vi''. Adverbs modify verbs, directly preceding them in word order, adding information such as tense, aspect, mood, and voice, and more general adverbial information such as method, degree, and negation. Interestingly, adverbs can modify a verb that has since been moved to a different lexical category through the use of derivational morphology. For instance, the verb ''kəğa'', "to speak", can be modified with the adverb ''kisvi'', "badly" (itself from the verb ''kis'', "to be bad"), giving ''kisvi kəğa'', "to speak badly". When the verb is nominalized, the adverb can remain, technically modifying the internal verb. ''kisvi kəğači'' is "bad speech", or more literally, "the act of speaking badly". There is no limit to how many adverbs can stack in front of a verb, modifying it.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2" | Selection of adverbs modifying ''ğał'' "to eat"
|-
! Oroshan !! Translation
|-
| łoč ğał || will eat
|-
| ŋił ğał || to not eat
|-
| sič ğał || to begin to eat
|-
| kəvkəvəvi ğał || to eat in a poorly manner
|-
| nivnav ğał || to barely eat
|-
| qaʔłvəŋočəčivi ğał || to eat like a Namchogi person
|}

Adpositions are also uninflected, though they force nouns (which immediately follow the adposition) into the oblique case. Nouns in the oblique case without an adposition are treated as an indirect object. An example of a common adposition is ''jusi'', which translates to "over, on" and is used quite frequently when talking "about" something. The preposition ''jusi'' is used in this case, to speak "on" something.

{|
! colspan="5" | Jusi ğajn kəğan.
|-
! jusi
! ğaj
! -n
! kəğa
! -n
|-
| style="width:125px" | on
| style="width:125px" | 3SG.INAN
| style="width:125px" | -OBL
| style="width:125px" | speak
| style="width:125px" | -1SG.ABS
|-
| colspan="5" | ''I speak on (about) it.''
|}

===Pronouns===
Pronouns in Oroshan are found for two numbers, singular and plural, and two genders, animate and inanimate, though gender is only distinguished in the third person. Below is a table of lone pronoun forms in Oroshan. Notice the glottalization in the plural. Contrary to many [[Gujino-Bintani languages]], Oroshan does not distinguish {{wp|clusivity}} in the first person plural.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Absolutive !! Ergative !! Oblique !! Genitive
|-
! 1SG
| nin || nink || ninł || nins
|-
! 2SG
| kit || kitək || kitł || kits
|-
! 3SG.ANIM
| not || notək || notł || nots
|-
! 3SG.INAN
| ğaj || ğajŋ || ğajn || ğajnts
|-
! 1PL
| niʔn || niʔnk || niʔnł || niʔns
|-
! 2PL
| kiʔt || kitəʔk || kiʔtł || kiʔts
|-
! 3SG.ANIM
| noʔt || notəʔk || noʔtł || noʔts
|-
! 3SG.INAN
| ğaʔj || ğaʔjŋ || ğaʔjn || ğaʔjnts
|-
|}

==Syntax==
Oroshan is a {{wp|head-directionality parameter|head-final}} language, with the verb taking the final spot in the sentence, almost invariably. Therefore, the main word order is SOV, though the subject is frequently expressed as a suffix on the verb. Interrogation and negation are expressed through adverbs or a copula verb, and do not cause a change in word order. Adpositions and adverbs directly precede the noun or verb they modify, demonstrating sub-sentence level head-finality. A relatively simple ditransitive sentence with the subject expressed through the verb suffix and, optionally, alone, is shown below.

{|
! colspan="7" | (Notək) sikaʔv ninł kiʔtsninək.
|-
! (not
! -k)
! sika<ʔ>v
! nin
! -ł
! ki<ʔ>tsni
! -nək
|-
| style="width:125px" | (3SG.ANIM
| style="width:125px" | -ERG)
| style="width:125px" | berry<PL>
| style="width:125px" | 1SG
| style="width:125px" | -OBL
| style="width:125px" | throw<PST>
| style="width:125px" | -3SG.ANIM.ERG
|-
| colspan="7" | ''He/she/they threw me berries.''
|}
<br>
In genitive constructions, the possessed noun will normally come after the genitive noun, though this may be reversed with no difference in meaning if the possessor is considered to be more topical. The informal Oroshan name for Oroshia is ''vək kikŋaʔvs'', with "land" first, and "of the reindeer chiefs (Oroshans)" second, because it is considered more important to emphasize to whom the land belongs. Though uncommon, ''kikŋaʔvs vək'', in the standard head-final construction, is also gramatically correct and intellgible.

==Orthography==
Oroshan is written in the {{wp|Latin script|Sabarian script}}, an {{wp|alphabet|alphabetic}} writing system, which in Oroshan has a straightforward one-to-one symbol-to-phoneme correlation, save for the digraphs ⟨ts⟩ and ⟨tł⟩, which represent the affricates /ts/ and /tɬ/, respectively. This script began to be adopted in the early 1900s, because the {{wp|Hangul|Jogin script}} did not have adequate characters to represent some Oroshan phonemes.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Oroshan Sabarian
| Aa
| Čč
| Əə
| Ğğ
| Ii
| Jj
| Kk
| Łł
| Mm
| Nn
| Ŋŋ
| Oo
| Pp
| Qq
| Ss
| Tt
| Uu
| Vv
| ʔ
|-
! IPA
| /a/
| /tʃ/
| /ə/
| /ɣ/
| /i/
| /j/
| /k/
| /ɬ/
| /m/
| /n/
| /ŋ/
| /ɔ/
| /p/
| /q/
| /s/
| /t/
| /u/
| /v/
| /ʔ/
|}
===Jogin script===
Under Jogin, rule, a {{wp|Hangul|Jogin script}} was used. Because of the differences in phonology between {{wp|Korean language|Jogin}} and Oroshan, some Jogin characters were used in radically different ways than in Jogin itself. The Jogin script consists of base phonemes, in consonants and vowels, which are then combined into syllable blocks. When there is an initial vowel in Oroshan, a dummy ''ㅎ'' character is used as an initial.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Consonants
! Jogin
|ㄱ
|ㄲ
|ㄴ
|ㄸ
|ㄹ
|ㅁ
|ㅂ
|ㅃ
|ㅅ
|ㅇ
|ㅈ
|ㅉ
|ㅊ
|ㅋ
|ㅌ
|ㅎ
|-
!Oroshan Sabarian
|''ğ''
|''k''
|''n''
|''t''
|''ł''
|''m''
|''v''
|''p''
|''s''
|''ŋ''
|''č''
|''j''
|''ts''
|''q''
|''tł''
|''ʔ''
|-
!Jogin Sabaricization
|''g''
|''kk''
|''n''
|''tt''
|''r''
|''m''
|''b''
|''pp''
|''s''
|''ng, '''
|''j''
|''jj''
|''ch''
|''k''
|''t''
|''h''
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Vowels
!Jogin
|ㅏ
|ㅓ
|ㅗ
|ㅜ
|ㅣ
|ㅡ
|-
!Oroshan Sabarian
|''a''
|''ə''
|''o''
|''u''
|''i''
|filler<sup>1</sup>
|-
!Jogin Sabaricization
|''a''
|''eo''
|''o''
|''u''
|''i''
|''eu''
|-
|}
<sup>1</sup>A filler vowel is used for syllable-final consonant clusters, which occur in Oroshan, but not in Jogin.

==Text Sample==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! ''The Mountain in Labour: A translation of Aesop's fable.''
|-
! Oroshan Sabarian
| Ğin ołokəč<br>Ğin kisvi vaŋaʔŋč ə ołoʔkəč. Qaʔł iʔskuʔts ə łopəčəči łoč viʔtanəʔk, ŋə qapəł nivnav iʔskunəʔk. Ğink qapəł ołoʔkčəŋ.<br>Ŋił tiłvi kəğat jusi niłčin!
|-
! Oroshan Jogin
| 긴 호로껒<br>긴 낏비 바앟읒 허 호롷껒. 카흘 힣스꾸흧 허 로뻐저지 롲 빟따너흒, 어 카뻘 닙납 힣스꾸너흒. 기늒 카뻘 호롷끄정.<br>일 띨비 꺼가ㄸ 쭈시 닐진!
|-
! Oroshan Jogin Sabaricization
| Gin horokkeoj<br>Gin kkisbi bangahngeuj heo horohkkeoj. Kaheur hihseukkuhch heo roppeojeoji roj bihttaneohkk, ngeo kappeor nibnab hihseukkuneohkk. Gineukk kappeor horohkkeujeong.<br>Ngir ttirbi kkeogatt jjusi nirjin!
|-
! {{wp|International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA}} broad transcription
| /ɣin ɔɬɔkətʃ/<br>/ɣin kisvi vaŋaʔŋtʃ ə ɔɬɔʔkətʃ qaʔɬ iʔskuʔts ə ɬɔpətʃətʃi ɬɔtʃ viʔtanəʔk ŋə qapəɬ nivnav iʔskunəʔk ɣink qapəɬ ɔɬɔʔktʃəŋ ŋiɬ tiɬvi kəɣat jusi niɬtʃin/
|-
! Translation
| The Mountain Gives Birth<br>A mountain was groaning badly and giving birth. People watched and next anticipated the event, but they barely saw a mouse. The mountain gave birth to a mouse.<br>Do not talk tall about nothing!
|}

{|
|+ Gloss
! ğin
! ołok
! -č
|-
| style="width:125px" | mountain 
| style="width:125px" | birth
| style="width:125px" | -3SG.INAN.ABS
|}

{|
! ğin
! kis
! -vi
! vaŋa<ʔ>ŋ
! -č
! ə
! oło<ʔ>k
! -č
|-
| style="width:125px" | mountain 
| style="width:125px" | bad
| style="width:125px" | -ADV 
| style="width:125px" | groan<PST>
| style="width:125px" | -3SG.INAN.ABS 
| style="width:125px" | CONJ 
| style="width:125px" | birth<PST>
| style="width:125px" | -3SG.INAN.ABS
|}

{|
! qa<ʔ>ł
! i<ʔ>sku
! -<ʔ>ts
! ə
! łopəč
! -či
! łoč
! vi<ʔ>ta
! -nə<ʔ>k
|-
| style="width:125px" | person<PL>
| style="width:125px" | look<PST>
| style="width:125px" | -3SG.ANIM.ABS<PL> 
| style="width:125px" | CONJ 
| style="width:125px" | happen
| style="width:125px" | -NMLZ 
| style="width:125px" | next 
| style="width:125px" | expect<PST>
| style="width:125px" | -3SG.ANIM.ERG<PL>
|}

{|
! ŋə
! qapəł
! nivnav
! i<ʔ>sku
! -nə<ʔ>k
|-
| style="width:125px" | CONJ.NEG 
| style="width:125px" | mouse 
| style="width:125px" | barely 
| style="width:125px" | see<PST>
| style="width:125px" | -3SG.ANIM.ERG<PL>
|}

{|
! ğin
! -k
! qapəł
! oło<ʔ>k
! -čəŋ
|-
| style="width:125px" | mountain
| style="width:125px" | -ERG 
| style="width:125px" | mouse 
| style="width:125px" | birth<PST>
| style="width:125px" | -3SG.INAN.ERG
|}

{|
! ŋił
! tił
! -vi
! kəğa
! -t
! jusi
! niłči
! -n
|-
| style="width:125px" | NEG
| style="width:125px" | tall
| style="width:125px" | -ADV
| style="width:125px" | talk
| style="width:125px" | -2SG.ABS
| style="width:125px" | over
| style="width:125px" | nothing
| style="width:125px" | -OBL.INAN
|}

[[Category:Oroshia]]