Selkup language
Encyclopedia
Selkup language is a language
of the Selkups, belonging to the Samoyedic
group of the Uralic language family
. It is spoken by some 1,570 people (1994 est.) in the region between the Ob
and Yenisei River
s (in Siberia
). The language name Selkup comes from the Russian
"" (selkupsky yazyk), based on the native name used in the Taz dialect, šöľqumyt әty, lit. forest-man language. Different dialect
s use different names, and these variations are shown in the infobox to the right.
Selkup is fractured in an extensive dialect continuum
whose ends are no longer mutually intelligible
. The three main varieties are the Taz
(Northern) dialect , which became the basis of the Selkup written language
in the 1930s, Tym
(Central) dialect , and Ket
dialect .
and 16 consonant
phoneme
s in the Taz dialect.
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
of the Selkups, belonging to the Samoyedic
Samoyedic languages
The Samoyedic languages are spoken on both sides of the Ural mountains, in northernmost Eurasia, by approximately 30,000 speakers altogether....
group of the Uralic language family
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages constitute a language family of some three dozen languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...
. It is spoken by some 1,570 people (1994 est.) in the region between the Ob
Ob River
The Ob River , also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia and is the world's seventh longest river. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean .The Gulf of Ob is the world's longest estuary.-Names:The Ob is known to the Khanty people as the...
and Yenisei River
Yenisei River
Yenisei , also written as Yenisey, is the largest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean. It is the central of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean...
s (in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
). The language name Selkup comes from the Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
"" (selkupsky yazyk), based on the native name used in the Taz dialect, šöľqumyt әty, lit. forest-man language. Different dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s use different names, and these variations are shown in the infobox to the right.
Selkup is fractured in an extensive dialect continuum
Dialect continuum
A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the...
whose ends are no longer mutually intelligible
Mutual intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand each other without intentional study or extraordinary effort...
. The three main varieties are the Taz
Taz River
The Taz is a river located in western Siberia, has a length of 1401 km and drains a basin estimated at 150,000 km².The Taz River flows into the Tazovskaya Guba, a roughly 250 km long estuary that begins in the area of Tazovskiy town and ends in the Gulf of Ob...
(Northern) dialect , which became the basis of the Selkup written language
Written language
A written language is the representation of a language by means of a writing system. Written language is an invention in that it must be taught to children, who will instinctively learn or create spoken or gestural languages....
in the 1930s, Tym
Tym River
Tym River is a river in Krasnoyarsk Krai and Tomsk Oblast in Russia, right tributary of the Ob River. The length of the river is 950 km. The area of its basin is 32,300 km². The Tym River freezes up in October - early November and stays icebound until late April - May. It is navigable within...
(Central) dialect , and Ket
Ket River
right|thumb|300px|The Ket was a part of the [[Siberian River Routes]] - double clickKet River , also known in its upper reaches as the Big Ket River is a river in the Krasnoyarsk Krai and Tomsk Oblast in Russia, a right tributary of the Ob River. The length of the Ket River is 1,621 km. The area...
dialect .
Phonology
There are 25 vowelVowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
and 16 consonant
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
phoneme
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s in the Taz dialect.
| Labial Labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals... | Dental | Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... (ized) Palatalization In linguistics, palatalization , also palatization, may refer to two different processes by which a sound, usually a consonant, comes to be produced with the tongue in a position in the mouth near the palate.... | Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... | Uvular Uvular consonant Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasals Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
/m/ | /n/ | /nʲ/ | /ŋ/ | [ɴ] |
| Stops Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &... |
/p/ | /t/ | /tʲ/ | /k | /q/ |
| Fricatives Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
([f]) | /s/ | /sʲ/ | ([x]) | ([χ]) |
| Trills Trill consonant In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. Standard Spanish <rr> as in perro is an alveolar trill, while in Parisian French it is almost always uvular.... |
/r/ | [ʀ] | |||
| Laterals Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth.... |
/l/ | /lʲ/ | |||
| Semivowel Semivowel In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel is a sound, such as English or , that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary rather than as the nucleus of a syllable.-Classification:... s |
/w/ | /j/ |
- VoicingVoice (phonetics)Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...
is not phonemic. Stops and fricatives may be voiced between vowels or after sonorantSonorantIn phonetics and phonology, a sonorant is a speech sound that is produced without turbulent airflow in the vocal tract; fricatives and plosives are not sonorants. Vowels are sonorants, as are consonants like and . Other consonants, like or , restrict the airflow enough to cause turbulence, and...
consonants. - The palatalized stop and fricative /tʲ/, /sʲ/ are most typically rendered as an alveolo-palatal affricateAffricate consonantAffricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :...
[tɕ] and fricative [ɕ]. - Before front vowelFront vowelA front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...
s, palatalized varieties of other consonants are also found. - [ɴ] and [ʀ] are allophones of /q/ when occurring before nasals and liquids, respectively.
- The non-coronal stops /p/, /k/, /q/ have optionalFree variationFree variation in linguistics is the phenomenon of two sounds or forms appearing in the same environment without a change in meaning and without being considered incorrect by native speakers...
fricative allophones [f], [x], [χ] when occurring before /s/ or /sʲ/.