Carolina Chickadee

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

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.

Internal classification

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

Consonants

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

Vowels

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

Orthography

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

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

Sources

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

External links

Ethnologue: Languages of the World (unknown ed.). SIL International.^{[This citation is dated, and should be substituted with a specific edition of Ethnologue]}, which is incorrect about Northern Altai dialects, for which it gives names of southern dialects as alternative names.
(en) Chelkan on the Russian UNESCO website for Siberian languages

[1] 7. НАСЕЛЕНИЕ НАИБОЛЕЕ МНОГОЧИСЛЕННЫХ НАЦИОНАЛЬНОСТЕЙ ПО РОДНОМУ ЯЗЫКУ

[:0-2] "Челканский | Малые языки России". minlang.iling-ran.ru. Retrieved 2024-06-12.

[2]