Southern Altai language

Last updated
Southern Altai
Oirot, Oyrot (before 1948)
тÿштÿк алтай тил, tüştük altay til
Southern Altai language.png
Southern Altai written in Cyrillic and Latin scripts
Native to Russia
Region Altai Republic
Native speakers
68,700 (2020) [1]
Turkic
Cyrillic
Language codes
ISO 639-2 alt
ISO 639-3 alt
Glottolog sout2694
ELP Southern Altai

Southern Altai (also known as Oirot, Oyrot, Altai and Altai proper) is a Turkic language spoken in the Altai Republic, a federal subject of Russia located in Southern Siberia on the border with Mongolia and China. The language has some mutual intelligibility with the Northern Altai language, leading to the two being traditionally considered as a single language. According to modern classifications—at least since the middle of the 20th century—they are considered to be two separate languages. [5]

Contents

A man, named Dmitry, speaking Southern Altai.

Written Altai is based on Southern Altai. According to some reports, however, it is rejected by Northern Altai children. Dialects include Altai Proper and Talangit. [6]

Classification

Southern Altai is a member of the Turkic language family. Within this family, there have been various attempts to classify Altai, and not all of them agree as to its position as it has a number of ambiguous characteristics. [7] Due to certain similarities with Kyrgyz, some scholars group Altai with the Kyrgyz–Kipchak subgroup of the Kypchak languages. [2] [3] [8]

Geographic distribution

Southern Altai is primarily spoken in the Altai Republic, where it has official status alongside Russian.

Dialects

Baskakov identifies three dialects of Southern Altai, some of which have distinctive sub-varieties: [2]

Some sources consider Telengit and Teleut to be distinct languages. [9] [10]

Phonology

Southern Altai has 8 vowels, which may be long or short, and 20 consonants, plus marginal consonants that occur only in loan words. [11]

Vowels

Southern Altai vowels
Front Back
High i y ɯ u
Low e ø a o

Consonants

Southern Altai consonants
Labial Alveolar Post-alveloar Velar Uvular
Plosive p b t d ɟ k ɡ q
Affricate ( ts )
Fricative f v s z ʃ ʒ ( x ) ɣ
Nasal m n ŋ
Trill r
Approximant l j

Phonemes in parentheses occur only in Russian loanwords.

Writing system

Southern Altai employs a version of the Cyrillic alphabet with additional characters to represent sounds not found in Russian. [12]

А аБ бВ вГ гД дЈ јЕ е
Ё ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ йК кЛ л
М мН нҤ ҥО оӦ ӧП пР р
С сТ тУ уӰ ӱФ фХ хЦ ц
Ч чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ э

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkic languages</span> Language family of Eurasia

The Turkic languages are a language family of more than 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and West Asia. The Turkic languages originated in a region of East Asia spanning from Mongolia to Northwest China, where Proto-Turkic is thought to have been spoken, from where they expanded to Central Asia and farther west during the first millennium. They are characterized as a dialect continuum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uzbek language</span> Turkic language of the Karluk sub-branch

Uzbek, formerly known as Turki, is a Karluk Turkic language spoken by Uzbeks. It is the official and national language of Uzbekistan and formally succeeded Chagatai, an earlier Karluk language also known as "Turki", as the literary language of Uzbekistan in the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyrgyz language</span> Kipchak Turkic language of Central Asia

Kyrgyz is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia. Kyrgyz is the official language of Kyrgyzstan and a significant minority language in the Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, China and in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan. There is a very high level of mutual intelligibility between Kyrgyz, Kazakh, and Altay. A dialect of Kyrgyz known as Pamiri Kyrgyz is spoken in north-eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. Kyrgyz is also spoken by many ethnic Kyrgyz through the former Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Turkey, parts of northern Pakistan, and Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altai languages</span> Kipchak Turkic language

Altai is a set of Turkic languages spoken officially in the Altai Republic, Russia. The standard vocabulary is based on the Southern Altai language, though it's also taught to and used by speakers of the Northern Altai language as well. Gorno–Altai refers to a subgroup of languages in the Altai Mountains. The languages were called Oyrot (ойрот) prior to 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nogai language</span> Kipchak Turkic language of the North Caucasus

Nogai also known as Noğay, Noghay, Nogay, or Nogai Tatar, is a Turkic language spoken in Southeastern European Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. It is the ancestral language of the Nogais. As a member of the Kipchak branch, it is closely related to Kazakh, Karakalpak and Crimean Tatar. In 2014 the first Nogai novel was published, written in the Latin alphabet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kumyk language</span> Kipchak Turkic language

Kumyk is a Turkic language spoken by about 426,212 people, mainly by the Kumyks, in the Dagestan, North Ossetia and Chechen republics of the Russian Federation. Until the 20th century Kumyk was the lingua-franca of the Northern Caucasus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siberian Tatars</span> Indigenous Turkic-speaking ethnic group of South Siberia

Siberian Tatars or Sibirs/Sybyrs are the indigenous Turkic-speaking population of the forests and steppes of Western Siberia, originating in areas stretching from somewhat east of the Ural Mountains to the Yenisey River in Russia. The Siberian Tatars call themselves Yerle Qalıq, to distinguish themselves from more recent Volga Tatar immigrants to the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teleuts</span> Ethnic group

Teleuts are a Turkic Indigenous people of Siberia living in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. According to the 2010 census, there were 2,643 Teleuts in Russia. They speak the Teleut language/dialect of Southern Altai language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telengits</span> Turkic ethnic/subethnic group living in the Siberian Altai Republic

Telengits or Telengut are a Turkic ethnic group primarily found in the Altai Republic, Russia. Telengits mainly live in a territory of Kosh-Agach District of the Altai Republic. They are part of a larger cultural group of Southern Altaians which include Altai-Kizhi and Tolos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altai people</span> Turkic people living in the Siberian Altai Republic, Russia

The Altai people, also the Altaians, are a Turkic ethnic group of indigenous peoples of Siberia mainly living in the Altai Republic, Russia. Several thousand of the Altaians also live in Mongolia and China but are not officially recognized as a distinct group and listed under the name "Oirats" as a part of the Mongols, as well as in Kazakhstan where they number around 200. For alternative ethnonyms see also Tele, Black Tatar, and Oirats. During the Northern Yuan dynasty, they were ruled in the administrative area known as Telengid Province.

The Kipchak languages are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family spoken by approximately 30 million people in much of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, spanning from Ukraine to China. Some of the most widely spoken languages in this group are Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Tatar.

Baraba or Baraba Tatar, is spoken by at least 8,000 Baraba Tatars in Siberia. It is a dialect of Siberian Tatar language. While middle aged individuals and the young generation speak Russian and Volga-Ural Tatar languages, the Baraba dialect is used by the older generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Altai language</span> Siberian Turkic language of the Altai Republic, Russia

Northern Altai or Northern Altay is the several tribal moribund Turkic dialects spoken in the Altai Republic of Russia. Though traditionally considered one language, Southern Altai and the Northern varieties are not fully mutually intelligible. Written Altai is based on Southern Altai, and is rejected by Northern Altai children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikolai Baskakov (linguist)</span> Soviet Turkologist (1905–1996)

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Baskakov was a Soviet Turkologist, linguist, and ethnologist. He created a systematization model of the Turkic language family, and studied Turkic-Russian contacts in the 10-11th centuries CE. During 64 years of scientific work (1930-1994), Baskakov published almost 640 works including 32 books. The main area of Baskakov's scientific interests was linguistics, but he also studied folklore and ethnography of the Turkic peoples, and also was a musician and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chirag language</span> Northeast Caucasian language or dialect in Dagestan, Russia

Chirag is a language in the Dargin dialect continuum spoken in Dagestan, Russia. It is spoken around the village of Chirag, but some speakers have moved to Kaspiysk. Chirag is often considered a divergent dialect of Dargwa, despite not being mutually intelligible with literary Dargwa. Ethnologue lists it under the dialects of Dargwa but recognizes that it may be a separate language.

Siberian Tatar (Сыбырца) is a Turkic language spoken in Western Siberia, Russia, primarily in the oblasts of Tyumen, Novosibirsk, Omsk but also in Tomsk and Kemerovo. According to Marcel Erdal, due to its particular characteristics, Siberian Tatar can be considered as a bridge to Siberian Turkic languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kumandin language</span> Turkic language

The Kumandin language is a Turkic language spoken in the Altai Republic in Russia.The Kumandins name themselves "Kumandi-Kiji".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teleut language</span> Turkic language

Teleut is a Turkic language spoken in the Altai Republic in Russia. It is sometimes considered a dialect of Southern Altai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telengit language</span> Turkic language

Telengit is a Turkic language spoken in the Altai Republic in Russia by the Telengits.

References

  1. "Информационные материалы об окончательных итогах Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года". Russian Federal State Statistics Service. 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Baskakov, N. A. (1958). "La Classification des Dialectes de la Langue Turque d'Altaï". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae (in French). 8: 9–15. ISSN   0001-6446.
  3. 1 2 Kormushin, I. V. (2018). "Алтайский язык" [Altai language]. Большая российская энциклопедия/Great Russian Encyclopedia Online (in Russian).
  4. Tekin, Tâlat (January 1989). "A New Classification of the Chuvash-Turkic Languages". Erdem. 5 (13): 129–139. doi:10.32704/erdem.1989.13.129. ISSN   1010-867X. S2CID   64344619.
  5. Nikolay Baskakov (1958). The Altai language. Moscow: Nauka.
  6. Raymond G. Gordon, Jr, ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
  7. Schönig, Claus (1997). "A new attempt to classify the Turkic languages (1)". Turkic Languages. 1: 117–133.
  8. Schönig, Claus (2007). "Some notes on Modern Kipchak Turkic (Part 1)". Ural-altaische Jahrbücher. 21: 170–202.
  9. "Telengitsky yazyk | Malye yazyki Rossii" Теленгитский язык | Малые языки России [Telengit language | Minor languages of Russia]. minlang.iling-ran.ru. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  10. "Teleutsky yazyk | Malye yazyki Rossii" Телеутский язык | Малые языки России [Teleut language | Minor languages of Russia]. minlang.iling-ran.ru. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  11. Baskakov, N.A. (1997). "Altaysky yazyk" Алтайский язык[Altai language]. In Institut Jazykoznanija (ed.). Tyurkskie yazykiЯзыки мира: тюркские языки[Languages of the world: Turkic languages]. Jazyki mira / Rossijskaja Akademija Nauk, Institut Jazykoznanija. [Glav. red. koll.: V. N. Jarceva (otv. red.) ...] Biškek: Kyrgyzstan. ISBN   978-5-655-01214-1. OCLC   42579926.
  12. Russko-altaysky slovar. Tom 1: A-OРусско-алтайский словарь. Том I: А – О[Russian-Altai dictionary. Book I: A-O]. Gorno-Altaysk: Nauchno-issledovatelsky institut altaistiki im. S.S. Surazakova. 2015. ISBN   978-5-903693-23-8.