About the Chair
Originally an informal research group by the Institute of Oriental Studies, the Chair of Central Asiatic and Siberian languages was founded in 1997 at the initiative of Prof. Marek Stachowski. The staff consists of scholars who are devoted to the study of the languages and nations of Siberia. The Chair organizes discussions on currently investigated topics, and open-access lectures. So far, twenty such lectures were held, attended by circa four hundred listeners. Some were delivered by Polish academics but the majority was given by Chair’s guests from Japan, Germany, Russia, Turkey, USA and Hungary. The topics include:
- history and the current state of Siberian languages and cultures (e.g. “Dolgans or Turks beyond the Arctic Circle” – with slides),
- place of the Russian language in Siberia (e.g. “Govorka or a Russian pidgin in the north of Siberia”),
- southern Siberia’s neighbouring languages and nations (e.g. “Fu-Yü Kirghiz in Mongolia”),
- history of the relations between Siberia and Europe (e.g. “gamza, a Siberian wandering name for ‘pipe’ and Polish gandzia ‘marijuana’”, “Siberian origin of Polish zośka”, “Siberian background of the Hungarian language”),
- history of academic contacs (e.g. “Bronisław Piłsudski and Leo Sternberg, and the research on Ainu”).