Chelkan language
Turkic language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chelkan (also Chalkan, Chalqandu) is a Turkic language spoken in the Altai Republic in Russia by 648 Chelkans.
| Chelkan | |
|---|---|
| Kuu-Kizhi, Chalkan | |
| куу, къуу, чалкъанду, шалкъанду | |
| Native to | Russia |
| Region | Altai Republic |
| Ethnicity | Chelkans |
Native speakers | 648 (2021)[1] |
Turkic
| |
| Cyrillic script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
alt_quu Qü | |
| Glottolog | chel1242 |
 A map of the Altai languages, including Chelkan (in red). | |
The Chelkans
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.
Classification
Chelkan is classified in the Siberian Turkic languages. It is considered to be a dialect of Northern Altai. The Chelkan, aside from knowing Chelkan, can also understand Tubalar and Kumandin, which comprise the Northern Altai language.
Phonology
Orthography
In 2008, an alphabet was created for the Chelkan language. However, only one textbook has been published, "Аба-jыштың-аң-куштары" (Animals and Birds of Primeval Taiga), in 2004.[2]
| 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 |
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