Chelkan (also Chalkan, Chalqandu) is a Turkic language spoken in the Altai Republic in Russia.

Chelkan
Kuu-Kizhi, Chalkan
куу, чалканду
Native toRussia
RegionAltai Republic
EthnicityChelkans
Native speakers
648 (2021)[1]
Turkic
Cyrillic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottologchel1242
A map of the Altai languages, including Chelkan (in red).

The Chelkans

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The Chelkans are sometimes called "Lebeds" (Russian: Лебедины, Lebediny), of the name of the river which runs through the Altai Republic, or Qu'Kiji. In the 2002 Russian census, their population rose to 855 people.

Internal classification

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Chelkan is classified in the Siberian Turkic languages. It is considered to be a dialect of Northern Altai. Chelkan, aside from knowing Chelkan, can also understand Tubalar and Kumandin.

Phonology

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Consonants

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Consonants in Chelkan[2]
Labial Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal
Nasal /m/ /n/ /ɲ/ /ŋ/
Stop voiceless /p/ /t/ /k/ /q/
voiced /d/ /g/
Fricative voiceless /s/ /ʃ/ /ħ/
voiced /β/ /z/ /ʒ/ /ɣ/
Approximant /w/ /l/ /j/
Vibrant /r/

Vowels

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Vowels of Chelkan[2]
Front Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
short long short long short long short long
Close i ʏ ʏː ɪ ɪː ʊ ʊː
e
Mid œ œː ɔ ɔː
Open ɑ ɑː

Orthography

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In 2008, an alphabet was created for the Chelkan language.

А а Б б В в Г г Ӷ ӷ Д д Ј ј Е е Ё ё Ж ж
З з И и Й й К к Л л М м Н н Ң ң О о Ӧ ӧ
П п Р р С с Т т У у Ӱ ӱ Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч
Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я

In 2017-18, the alphabet was modified with the addition of the letter Њ њ.

А а Б б В в Г г Ғ ғ Д д Ј ј Е е Ё ё Ж ж
З з И и Й й К к Қ қ Л л М м Н н Ҥ ҥ Њ њ
О о Ӧ ӧ П п Р р С с Т т У у Ӱ ӱ Ф ф Х х
Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я

Notes and references

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  1. ^ 7. НАСЕЛЕНИЕ НАИБОЛЕЕ МНОГОЧИСЛЕННЫХ НАЦИОНАЛЬНОСТЕЙ ПО РОДНОМУ ЯЗЫКУ
  2. ^ a b "Челканский | Малые языки России". minlang.iling-ran.ru. Retrieved 2024-06-12.

Sources

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  • (ru) Баскаков, Н.A., Диалект чернёвых татар (туба-кижи), Северные диалекты алтаиского (ойротского) языка, 2 volumes, Moscou, Nauka, 1965–1966.
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