Ulch language
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Ulch | |
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Нāнʼи хэсэни | |
Native to | Khabarovskiy Kray |
Ethnicity | 2,800 Ulch (2010 census)[1] |
Native speakers | 150 (2010 census)[1] |
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | ulc |
Glottolog | ulch1241 |
ELP | Ulch |
Ulch is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
The Ulch language, or Olcha, is a Tungusic language spoken by the Ulch people in the Russian Far East. The language is moribund, with only 150 speakers (2010 census).
Phonology
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | ɪ ~ e | ə | ʊ ~ o |
Open | a |
- Vowel length is also distributed.
Consonants
Labial | Alveolar | Alveolo- palatal |
Velar | Uvular | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n
|
ɲ | ŋ | ||
Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t
|
t͡ɕ | k | (q) |
voiced | b | d
|
d͡ʑ | ɡ | ||
Fricative | voiceless | (f) | s | x | (χ) | |
voiced | β | (ɣ) | ||||
Lateral | l
|
|||||
Rhotic | r
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Approximant | (w) | j |
- [f] is a rare sound in native words.
- /β ɡ/ have allophones of [w ɣ].
- /k x/ can become uvularized as [q χ] before vowels /a o/.[2]
Alphabet
А а | ( а̄ )
|
Б б | В в | Г г | Д д | Дʼ дʼ | Е е |
( е̄ )
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Ё ё | ( ё̄ )
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Ж ж | З з | И и | ( ӣ )
|
Й й |
К к | Л л | М м | Н н | Нʼ нʼ | Ӈ ӈ
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О о | ( о̄ )
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П п | Р р | С с | Т т | У у | ( ӯ )
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Ф ф | Х х |
Ц ц | Ч ч | Ш ш | Щ щ | ъ | Ы ы | ь | Э э |
( э̄ )
|
Ю ю | ( ю̄ )
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Я я | ( я̄ )
|
In brackets are letters that are used in writing, though not officially included in the alphabet.
References
- ^ a b Ulch at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Sunik, 1985
Bibliography
- Bitkeeva, A.N.; V.Y. Gusev; O.A. Povoroznyuk; D.A. Funk; N.V. Khokhlov; K.G. Shakhovtsov (2005). "Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia". UNESCO Moscow Office. Archived from the original on 28 July 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- Sunik, O. P. (1985). Ul'chskij jazyk: issledovanija i materialy. Leningrad: Nauka, Leningradskoe Otdelenie. 262pp.