Chukchi language

**Chukchi** /ˈtʃʊktʃiː/, also known as **Chukot**, is a Chukotko–Kamchatkan language spoken by the Chukchi people in the easternmost extremity of Siberia, mainly in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. It is one of the only language families to have autonomously produced its own written script, and the northern most language in the world to have done so through the work of Tenevil. The language is closely related to Koryak. Chukchi, Koryak, Kerek, Alutor, and Itelmen form the Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family. There are many cultural similarities between the Chukchis and Koryaks, including economies based on reindeer herding. Both peoples refer to themselves by the endonym ***Luorawetlat*** (ԓыгъоравэтԓьат [ɬəɣʔorawetɬʔat]; singular ***Luorawetlan*** ԓыгъоравэтԓьан [ɬəɣʔorawetɬʔan]), meaning "the real people". All of these peoples and other unrelated minorities in and around Kamchatka are known collectively as Kamchadals.

*Chukchi* and *Chukchee* are anglicized versions of the Russian exonym *Chukcha* (plural *Chukchi*). This came into Russian from *Čävča*, the term used by the Chukchis' Tungusic-speaking neighbors, itself a rendering of the Chukchi word чавчыв [tʃawtʃəw], which in Chukchi means "[a man who is] rich in reindeer," referring to any successful reindeer herder, a wealthy man by local standards.

Although Chukchi language is taught in 28 elementary schools in Chukotka Autonomous Region to 1616 children (according to 2015-2016 data), and there are several hours of daily TV and radio broadcasts in the Chuckchi language, the everyday use and proficiency in the language is declining among native Chukchis. According to the 2020 census, 8,526 of the 16,200 Chukchi people speak Chukchi; and most Chukchi now speak Russian (fewer than 100 report not speaking Russian at all). In the UNESCO Red Book, the language is on the list of endangered languages.

## Phonology

* [ɸ, x, ɻ̊, j̊] are heard as allophones of /β, ɣ, ɻ, j/ after voiceless stops.
* /ɻ/ is mostly heard as an alveolar trill [r], when in between vowels.
* /s/ is phonetically [s~t͡ʃ] in free variation and only occurs in the men's dialect.
* /t͡ʃ/ becomes [s] before /q/ and only occurs in the women's dialect.
* /s/, /t͡ʃ/ and /ɻ/ have different distributions between men's and women's dialects.

There are no voiced stops in the language; these are only found in loanwords.

The vowels are /i/, /u/, /e₁/, /e₂/, /o/, /a/, and /ə/. /e₁/ and /e₂/ are pronounced identically but behave differently in the phonology. (Cf. the two kinds of /i/ in Inuit Eskimo, whose known cause is the merger of two vowels /i/ and /ə/, which are still separate in Yup'ik Eskimo.)

A notable feature of Chukchi is its vowel harmony system largely based on vowel height. /i, u, e₁/ alternate with /e₂, o, a/, respectively. The second group is known as "dominant vowels" and the first group as "recessive vowels"; that is because whenever a "dominant" vowel is present anywhere in a word, all "recessive" vowels in the word change into their "dominant" counterpart. The schwa vowel /ə/ does not alternate but may trigger harmony as if it belonged to the dominant group.

Initial and final consonant clusters are not tolerated, and schwa epenthesis is pervasive.

Stress tends to: 1. be penultimate; 2. stay within the stem; 3. avoid schwas.

## References

1. ↑ chapter2\_9 (2013-10-30).
2. ↑ Skorik (1961)
3. ↑ Dunn (1999)
4. ↑ Chukchi language, alphabet and pronunciation.