Yakut language

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Yakut
Sakha tyla
саха тыла, saqa tıla
Pronunciation	[saxa tɯla]
Native to	Russia
Region	Yakutia
Ethnicity	Yakuts (2010 census)
Native speakers	450,000 [1] (2010 census)
Language family	Turkic Common Turkic Siberian Northern Yakut
Writing system	Cyrillic
Official status
Official language in	Russia  Yakutia
Language codes
ISO 639-2	sah
ISO 639-3	sah
Glottolog	yaku1245
ELP	Yakut
Sakha language   Dolgan language
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Yakut,^[2][3] also known as Yakutian, Sakha, Saqa or Saxa, is a Turkic language with around 450,000 native speakers spoken in Sakha (Yakutia), a federal republic in the Russian Federation, by the Yakuts.

The Yakut language differs from all other Turkic languages in the presence of a layer of vocabulary of unclear origin (possibly Paleo-Siberian). There are also a large number of words of Mongolian origin related to ancient borrowings, as well as numerous recent borrowings from Russian. Like other Turkic languages and their ancestor Proto-Turkic, Yakut is an agglutinative language and employs vowel harmony.

Classification[]

Yakut is a member of the Northeastern Common Turkic family of languages, which includes Shor, Tuvan and Dolgan in addition to Yakut. Like most Turkic languages, Yakut has vowel harmony, is agglutinative and has no grammatical gender. Word order is usually subject–object–verb. Yakut has been influenced by Tungusic and Mongolian languages.^[4]

Geographic distribution[]

Yakut is spoken mainly in the Sakha Republic. It is also used by ethnic Yakuts in Khabarovsk Region and a small diaspora in other parts of the Russian Federation, Turkey, and other parts of the world. Dolgan, a close relative of Yakut, considered by some^[who?] a dialect, is spoken by Dolgans in Krasnoyarsk Region. Yakut is widely used as a lingua franca by other ethnic minorities in the Sakha Republic – more Dolgans, Evenks, Evens and Yukagirs speak Yakut than their own languages. About 8% of the people of other ethnicities than Yakut living in Sakha claimed knowledge of the Yakut language during the 2002 census.^[5]

Phonology[]

One characteristic feature of Yakut is vowel harmony. For example, if the first vowel of a Yakut word is a front vowel, the second and other vowels of the same word are usually the same vowel or another front vowel: кэлин (kelin) "back": э (e) is open unrounded front, и (i) is close unrounded front. Yakut initial s- corresponds to initial h- in Dolgan and played an important operative rule in the development of proto-Yakut, ultimately resulting in initial Ø- < *h- < *s- (example: Dolgan huoq and Yakut suox, both meaning "not"). The hypothetical change of *s > h (debuccalization) is a common sound-change across the world's languages, being characteristic of such languages as Greek and Indo-Iranian in their development from Proto-Indo-European, as well as such Turkic languages as Bashkir, e.g. höt 'milk' < *süt.^[6] Debuccalization of /s/ to /h/ is also found as a diachronic change from Proto-Celtic to Brittonic, and has actually become a synchronic grammaticalised feature called lenition in the related Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish, and Manx).

Consonants[]

Consonant phonemes of Yakut

		Bilabial	Dental/ alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive / affricate	voiceless	p	t	c͡ç	k
	voiced	b	d	ɟ͡ʝ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless		s		x	h
	voiced				ɣ
Approximant	plain		l	j
	nasalized			ȷ̃
Flap			ɾ

• /n, t, d/ are laminal denti-alveolar [n̪, t̪, d̪], whereas /s, l, ɾ/ are alveolar [s, l, ɾ].
• /k, x, ɣ/ vary between velar [k, x, ɣ] and uvular [q, χ, ʁ].

The Sakha language (except the Dolgan language) is the only Turkic language without hushing sibilants. Also, Sakha and Khorasani Turkic are the only known Turkic languages with voiced palatal nasal /ɲ/.

Vowels[]

Vowel phonemes of Yakut

		Front		Back
		unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
Close	short	i	y	ɯ	u
	long	iː	yː	ɯː	uː
Diphthong		ie̯	y̑ø	ɯa̯	u̯o
Open	short	e	ø	a	ɔ
	long	eː	øː	aː	ɔː

Orthography[]

Yakut is written using the Cyrillic script: the modern Yakut alphabet, established in 1939 by the Soviet Union, consists of the usual Russian characters but with five additional letters: Ҕҕ, Ҥҥ, Өө, Һһ, Үү.

Yakut alphabet (Saxalıı suruk-biçik):

Letter	Name	IPA	Note	Latin translit.[citation needed]
А а	а	/a/		A a
Б б	бэ	/b/		B b
В в	вэ	/v/	found only in Russian loanwords [7]	V v
Г г	гэ	/ɡ/		G g
Ҕ ҕ	ҕэ	/ɣ, ʁ/		Ğ ğ
Д д	дэ	/d/		D d
Дь дь	дьэ	/ɟ͡ʝ/		C c
Е е	е	/e, je/	found only in Russian loanwords	Ye ye or e
Ё ё	ё	/jo/	found only in Russian loanwords	Yo yo
Ж ж	жэ	/ʒ/	found only in Russian loanwords	J j
З з	зэ	/z/	found only in Russian loanwords	Z z
И и	и	/i/		İ i
Й й	ый	/j, ȷ̃/	Nasalization of the glide is not indicated in the orthography	Y y
К к	кы	/k/		K k
Л л	эл	/l/		L l
М м	эм	/m/		M m
Н н	эн	/n/		N n
Ҥ ҥ	ҥэ	/ŋ/		Ñ ñ
Нь нь	ньэ	/ɲ/		Ny ny
О о	о	/ɔ/		O o
Ө ө	ө	/ø/		Ö ö
П п	пэ	/p/		P p
Р р	эр	/ɾ/		R r
С с	эс	/s/		S s
Һ һ	һэ	/h/		H h
Т т	тэ	/t/		T t
У у	у	/u/		U u
Ү ү	ү	/y/		Ü ü
Ф ф	эф	/f/	found only in Russian loanwords	F f
Х х	хэ	/x, q~χ/		Q q
Ц ц	цэ	/ts/	found only in Russian loanwords	Ts ts
Ч ч	че	/c͡ç/		Ç ç
Ш ш	ша	/ʃ/	found only in Russian loanwords	Ş ş
Щ щ	ща	/ɕː/	found only in Russian loanwords	Şç şç
Ъ ъ	кытаанах бэлиэ	/◌.j/	found only in Russian loanwords	"
Ы ы	ы	/ɯ/		I ı
Ь ь	сымнатар бэлиэ	/◌ʲ/	natively in дь and нь (see above); otherwise only in Russian loanwords	'
Э э	э	/e/		E e
Ю ю	ю	/ju/	found only in Russian loanwords	Yu yu
Я я	я	/ja/	found only in Russian loanwords	Ya ya

Grammar[]

Syntax[]

The typical word order can be summarized as subject – adverb – object – verb; possessor – possessed; noun – adjective.

Nouns[]

Nouns have plural and singular forms. The plural is formed with the suffix /-LAr/, which may surface as -лар (-lar), -лэр (-ler), -лөр (-lör), -лор (-lor), -тар (-tar), -тэр (-ter), -төр (-tör), -тор (-tor), -дар (-dar), -дэр (-der), -дөр (-dör), -дор (-dor), -нар (-nar), -нэр (-ner), -нөр (-nör), or -нор (-nor), depending on the preceding consonants and vowels. The plural is used only when referring to a number of things collectively, not when specifying an amount. Nouns have no gender.

Final sound basics	Plural affix options	Examples
Vowels, л	-лар, -лэр, -лор, -лөр	Кыыллар (beasts), эһэлэр (bears), оҕолор (children), бөрөлөр (wolves)
к, п, с, т, х	-тар, -тэр, -тор, -төр	Аттар (horses), күлүктэр (shadows), оттор (herbs), бөлөхтөр (groups)
й, р	-дар, -дэр, -дор, -дөр	Баайдар (rich people)*, эдэрдэр (young people)*, хотойдор (eagles), көтөрдөр (birds)
м, н, ҥ	-нар, -нэр, -нор, -нөр	Кыымнар (sparks), илимнэр (fishing nets), ороннор (beds), бөдөҥнөр (they're large)*

Notes[]

* Adjectives can also be nouns. So, for example, улахан is big (something/someone) and улаханнар is bigs (something/someones) or correctly they are big.

There are exceptions: уол (boy) — уолаттар (boys) and кыыс (girl) — кыргыттар (girls).

Pronouns[]

Personal pronouns in Yakut distinguish between first, second, and third persons and singular and plural number.

		Singular	Plural
1st person		мин (min)	биһиги (bihigi)
2nd person		эн (en)	эһиги (ehigi)
3rd person	human	кини (kini)	кинилэр (kiniler)
	non-human	ол (ol)	олор (olor)

Although nouns have no gender, the pronoun system distinguishes between human and non-human in the third person, using кини (kini, 'he/she') to refer to human beings and ол (ol, 'it') to refer to all other things.^[8]

Questions[]

Question words in Yakut remain in-situ; they do not move to the front of the sentence. Sample question words include: туох (tuox) "what", ким (kim) "who", хайдах (xaydax) "how", хас (xas) "how much", ханна (xanna) "where", and ханнык (xannık) "which".

Vocabulary[]

Yakut (Cyrillic)	Yakut (Latin)	Turkish	Azerbaijani	English	Mongolian (Cyrillic) /Mongolian (Latin)
��ччыктааһын	aççıktahin	açlık	aclıq	hunger	өлсгөлөн / ölsgölön
аччык	aççık	aç	ac	hungry	өлссөн / ölssön
аат	aat	ad	ad	name	нэр / ner
балык	balık	balık	balıq	fish	загас / zagas
балыксыт	balıksıt	balıkçı	balıqçı	fisherman	загасчин / zagaschin
yy	uu	su	su	water	ус /us
тимир	timir	demir	dəmir	iron	төмөр /tömör
күөл	küöl	göl	göl	lake	нуур /nuur
атах	atax	ayak	ayaq	foot
мурун	murun	burun	burun	nose
баттах	battax	saç	saç	hair	үс /üs
илии	ilii	el	əl	hand
күн	kün	gün	gün	day, sun
муус	muus	buz	buz	ice	мөс /mös
ыт	ıt	it	it	dog
сүрэх	sürex	yürek	ürək	heart	зүрх /zürx
сарсын	sarsın	yarın	sabah	tomorrow
бүгүн	bügün	bugün	bugün	today
былыт	bılıt	bulut	bulud	cloud
хаар	xaar	kar	qar	snow
хаан	xaan	kan	qan	blood
эт	et	et	ət	meat
тиис	tiis	diş	diş	tooth
ат	at	at	at	horse
таас	taas	taş	daş	stone
үүт	üüt	süt	süd	milk	сүү /süü
ынах	ınax	inek	inək	cow	үнээ /ünee
хара	xara	kara	qara	black	хар / xar
сыттык	sıttık	yastık	yastıq	pillow
быһах	bıhax	bıçak	bıçaq	knife
бытык	bıtık	bıyık	bığ	mustache
кыс, кыһын	kıs, kıhın	kış, kışın	qış, qışın	winter
туус	tuus	tuz	duz	salt
тыл	tıl	dil	dil	tongue, language	хэл /xel
cаха тылa	saxa tıla	saha dili, sahaca	saxa dili, saxaca	Yakut language	Якут хэл / Yakut khel
кыыс	kııs	kız	qız	girl, daughter
уол	uol	oğul, oğlan	oğul, oğlan	son, boy
үөрэтээччи	üöreteeççi	öğretici, öğretmen	müəllim	teacher
үөрэнээччи	üöreneeççi	öğrenci,talebe	şagird, tələbə	student
уһун	uhun	uzun	uzun	long, tall
кулгаах	kulgaax	kulak	qulaq	ear
сыл	sıl	yıl	il	year	жил /jil
киһи	kihi	kişi	insan, kişi	human, man	хүн /hün
суол	suol	yol	yol	road, way
асчыт	asçıt	aşçı	aşbaz	cook
тараах	taraax	tarak	daraq	comb
орто	orto	orta	orta	middle
күн ортото	kün ortoto	gün ortası	günorta	midday, noon
күл	kül	gülmek	gülmək	to laugh
өл	öl	ölmek	ölmək	to die
ис	is	içmek	içmək	to drink
бил	bil	bilmek	bilmək	to know
көр	kör	görmek	görmək	to see	хар /xar
үөрэн	üören	öğrenmek	öyrənmək	to learn
үөрэт	üöret	öğretmek	öyrətmək	to teach
ытыр	ıtır	ısırmak	dişləmək	to bite
хас	xas	kazmak	qazmaq	to dig
тик	tik	dikiş dikmek, dikmek	tikiş, tikmək	to sew
кэл	kel	gelmek	gəlmək	to come
салаа	salaa	yalamak	yalamaq	to lick
тараа	taraa	taramak	daramaq	to comb
биэр	bier	vermek	vermək	to give
бул	bul	bulmak	tapmaq	to find
диэ	die	demek	demək	to say
киир	kiir	girmek	girmək	to enter
иһит	ihit	işitmek	eşitmək	to hear
ас	as	açmak	açmaq	to open
тут	tut	tutmak	tutmaq	to hold

Numbers[]

In this table, the Yakut numbers are written in Latin transcription (see Writing system).

Old Turkic	Azerbaijani	Turkish	Yakut	English
bir	bir	bir	biir	one
eki	iki	iki	ikki	two
üç	üç	üç	üs	three
tört	dörd	dört	tüört	four
beş	beş	beş	bies	five
altı	altı	altı	alta	six
yeti	yeddi	yedi	sette	seven
sekiz	səkkiz	sekiz	ağis	eight
tokuz	doqquz	dokuz	toğus	nine
on	on	on	uon	ten

Literature[]

The first printing in Yakut was a part of a book by Nicolaas Witsen published in 1692 in Amsterdam.^[9]

In 2005, Marianne Beerle-Moor, director of the Institute for Bible Translation, Russia/CIS, was awarded the Order of Civil Valour by the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for the translation of the New Testament into Yakut.^[10]

Oral traditions[]

The Yakut have a tradition of oral epic in their language called "Olonkho", traditionally performed by skilled performers. Only a very few older performers of this Olonkho tradition are still alive. They have begun a program to teach young people to sing this in their language and revive it, though in a modified form.^[11]

Examples[]

Article 1 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Novgorodov's alphabet 1920–1929. (Latin alphabet/IPA)	зɔn barɯta beje sltatɯgar nna bɯra:bɯgar teŋ blan try:ller. kiniler barɯ rk:n jd:q, sbasta:q blan try:ller, nna beje bejeleriger tɯlga ki:riniges bɯhɯ:lara dɔʃɔrdɔhu: tɯ:nna:q blqta:q.
Latin alphabet 1929—1939. (Yañalif)	Çon вarьta вeje suoltatьgar uonna вьraaвьgar teꞑ вuolan tɵryyller. Kiniler вarь ɵrkɵn ɵjdɵɵq, suoвastaaq вuolan tɵryyller, uonna вeje вejeleriger tьlga kiiriniges вьhььlara doƣordohuu tььnnaaq вuoluoqtaaq.
Modern Cyrillic 1939—present.	Дьон барыта бэйэ суолтатыгар уонна быраабыгар тэҥ буолан төрүүллэр. Кинилэр бары өркөн өйдөөх, суобастаах буолан төрүүллэр, уонна бэйэ бэйэлэригэр тылга кииринигэс быһыылара доҕордоһуу тыыннаах буолуохтаах.
English	All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

See also[]

• Yakuts
• Dolgan language
• Semyon Novgorodov – the inventor of the first IPA-based Yakut alphabet

References[]

External links[]

Sakha edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yakut language test of Wiktionary at Wikimedia Incubator

Sakha edition of Wikisource, the free library

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Sakha phrasebook.

Language-related[]

• Yakut Vocabulary List (from the World Loanword Database)
• Yakut thematic vocabulary lists
• [3]
• Comparison of Yakut and Mongolian vocabulary
• Yakut texts with Russian translations in the Internet Archive – heroic poetry, fairy tales, legends, proverbs, etc.
• Sakhalyy suruk – Yakut Unicode fonts and Keyboard Layouts for PC
• Sakhatyla.ru – On-line Yakut–Russian, Russian–Yakut dictionary
• Yakut–English Dictionary
• BGN/PCGN romanization tool for Yakut
• Sakha Open World Archived 2006-06-19 at the Wayback Machine – mp3's of Sakha Radio

Content in Yakut[]

• Sakha Open World – Орто Дойду Archived 2017-09-22 at the Wayback Machine – A platform to promote the Yakut Language on the web; News, Lyrics, Music, Fonts, Forum, VideoNews (in Yakut, Unicode)
• Baayaga village website – news and stories about and by the people of Baayaga (in Yakut)
• Kyym.ru – site of Yakut newspaper