Chukchi is a Chukotko-Kamchatkan language spoken in eastern Siberia, mainly in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. According to the 2010 census there are about 5,000 speakers of Chukchi, which is also known as Chukchee, Chukot, Chuchi, or Chuchee. The Chukchi call themselves Ԓыгъоравэтԓьэн (Lyg'oravetl'en), which means "the real people". The name Chukchi is an Anglicized version of a Russian adaptation of Čävča (a man who is rich in reindeer), which is what the Chukchis' Tungusic-speakers neighbours call them.
There are two groups of Chukchi: the Tundra or Interior Chukchi (Chavchu - "reindeer men") and the Coastal Chukchi (Ankalyn - "coastal men"). The majority of Chavchu speak Chukchi and resist Russian language and culture, while most of the Ankalyn under 50 speak Russian in addition to Chukchi. Many Chukchi also speak Yakut, Lamut, and/or Yukaghir.
Chukchi was first written at the beginning of the 20th century. Before then one Chukchi man named Tenevil had devised a pictographic script, however this was only used in his camp. The first official script for Chukchi was a version of the Latin alphabet devised in 1931 by Vladimir Bogoraz, a Russian revolutionary exiled to Chukotka. He also wrote a grammar of Chukchi, and an ethnographic study of the Chukchi. In 1937 the Latin alphabet for Chukchi was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. This was revised in the 1950s and 1980s.
A few books and newspapers in Chukchi have been published. Chukchi is can also be heard on radio and television for about an hour a day, and is used as a medium of instruction in primary schools.
The letters Бб, Дд, Жж, Зз, Сс, Фф, Хх, Цц, Шш and Щщ are only used for loanwords.
Download an alphabet chart for Chukchi (Excel)
Information about Chukchi pronunciation compiled by Wolfram Siegel, with corrections by Captain Lokason.
Вай ромакасьёт каԓетайкыёт рычечьатынвы википедиягты ԓыгъоравэтԓьаеԓымэԓ нумэкэтръуӄинэт. Тургин рытрэԓгыргын ԓыгъоравэтԓьаеԓымэԓ ӈанӄо тэгъеӈу ныԓгыӄин. Ванԓягыргын рытомгавынвы википедия ԓыгъоравэтԓьаеԓымэԓ вэймэну нараԓгыӈын ыныкит каԓетайкыёт мэчынкы нэрэрыкуврэтэвынэт. Вэймэну ԓынъё, ымыԓьо йыръыйыр ӈутку рычечьатынвы нэрэривԓыӈын википедияӄэнак турывэтгысӄык.
Vaj romakas’jot kaletajkyjot rycec’atynvy vikipedijagty lyghoravetlaelymel numeketrhuqinet. Turgin rytrelgyrgyn lyghoravetlaelymel ŋaŋqo tegheŋu nylgyqin. Vanljagyrgyn rytomgavynvy vikipedija lyghoravetl’aelymel vejmenu naralgyŋyn ynykit kaletajkyjot mecynky nererykuvretevynet. Vejmenu lynhjo, ymyl’o jyrhyjyr ŋutku rycec’atynvy nererivlyŋyn vikipedijaqenak turyvetgysqyk.
Sample text provided by Sammy Silvers
Information about Chukchi | Numbers
Information about Chukchi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chukchi_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ckt
http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~spena/Chukchee/chapter1.html
Photos of the Chukchi people
http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk/gallery2/arctic/peoples/chukchi/chukchi.htm
Alyutor, Chukchi, Itelmen, Koryak
Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Aghul, Akhvakh, Akkala Sámi, Aleut, Altay, Alyutor, Andi, Archi, Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian, Avar, Azeri, Bagvalal, Balkar, Bashkir, Belarusian, Bezhta, Bosnian, Botlikh, Budukh, Bulgarian, Buryat, Chamalal, Chechen, Chelkan, Chukchi, Chulym, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Dargwa, Daur, Dolgan, Dungan, Enets, Erzya, Even, Evenki, Gagauz, Godoberi, Hinukh, Hunzib, Ingush, Interslavic, Itelmen, Juhuri, Kabardian, Kaitag, Kalderash Romani, Kalmyk, Karaim, Karakalpak, Karata, Karelian, Kazakh, Ket, Khakas, Khanty, Khinalug, Khorasani Turkic, Khwarshi, Kildin Sámi, Kili, Komi, Koryak, Krymchak, Kryts, Kubachi, Kumandy, Kumyk, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lak, Lezgi, Lingua Franca Nova, Lithuanian, Ludic, Macedonian, Mansi, Mari, Moksha, Moldovan, Mongolian, Montenegrin, Nanai, Negidal, Nenets, Nganasan, Nivkh, Nogai, Old Church Slavonic, Oroch, Orok, Ossetian, Pontic Greek, Romanian, Rushani, Russian, Rusyn, Rutul, Selkup, Serbian, Shor, Shughni, Siberian Tatar, Sirenik, Slovio, Soyot, Tabassaran, Tajik, Talysh, Tat, Tatar, Teleut, Ter Sámi, Tindi, Tofa, Tsakhur, Tsez, Turkmen, Tuvan, Ubykh, Udege, Udi, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Ulch, Urum, Uyghur, Uzbek, Veps, Votic, Wakhi, West Polesian, Xibe, Yaghnobi, Yakut, Yazghulami, Yukaghir (Northern / Tundra), Yukaghir (Southern / Kolyma), Yupik (Central Siberian)
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 20.01.22
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