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Udmurt language

 
Wikipedia: Udmurt language
Udmurt
Удмурт кыл Udmurt kyl
Spoken in Russia, Kazakhstan
Region Udmurtia
Total speakers 550,000 (1989 census)
Language family Uralic
Official status
Official language in Udmurtia
Regulated by No official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1 None
ISO 639-2 udm
ISO 639-3 udm

Udmurt (удмурт кыл, udmurt kyl) is a Finno-Permic language spoken by the Udmurts, natives of the Russian constituent republic of Udmurtia, where it is coofficial with the Russian language. It is written in the Cyrillic script with five additional characters. Together with Komi and Komi-Permyak languages, it constitutes the Permic grouping. Among outsiders, it has traditionally been referred to by its Russian exonym, Votyak. Udmurt has borrowed vocabulary from the neighboring languages Tatar and Russian.

Contents

Alphabet

The Udmurt alphabet is based on the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. From top to bottom: letters, their names (in Russian for Ӥ, Й, Ъ and Ь), and their pronunciation in IPA:

А а Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж Ӝ ӝ З з
а бэ вэ гэ дэ е ё жэ ӝэ зэ
/a/ /b/ /v/ /ɡ/ /d/, /dʲ/1 /e/2, /ʲe/3, /je/ /ʲo/3, /jo/ /ʒ/ /d͡ʒ/ /z/, /zʲ/1
Ӟ ӟ И и Ӥ ӥ Й й К к Л л М м Н н О о Ӧ ӧ
ӟэ и и с точками и краткое ка эль эм эн о ӧ
/d͡ʑ/ /ʲi/3, /i/ /i/ /j, -ĭ/ /k/ /l/, /lʲ/1 /m/ /n/, /nʲ/1 /o/ /ʌ/
П п Р р С с Т т У у Ф ф2 Х х2 Ц ц2 Ч ч
пэ эр эс тэ у эф ха цэ че
/p/ /r/ /s/, /sʲ/1 /t/, /tʲ/1 /u/ /f/ /x/ /t͡s/ /t͡ɕ/
Ӵ ӵ Ш ш Щ щ2 Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я
ӵэ ша ща твёрдый знак ы мягкий знак э ю я
/t͡ʃ/ /ʃ/ /ɕ ~ ɕtʲ͡ɕ/ /(j)/4 /ɨ, ə~ɯ/ /ʲ/ /e/ /ʲu/3, /ju/ /ʲa/3, /ja/
  • 1 If followed by я, е, и, ё, ю or ь.
  • 2 Only used in Russian loanwords and names.
  • 3 If preceded by д, т, з, с, л, or н.
  • 4 Silent, but required to distinguish palatalized consonants (/dʲ tʲ zʲ sʲ lʲ n/) from unpalatalized consonants followed by /j/ if followed by a vowel; for example, /zʲo/ and /zjo/ are written -зё- and -зъё-, respectively.

Four of these characters (Ӝ/ӝ, Ӟ/ӟ, Ӥ/ӥ, Ӵ) are unique to the Udmurt alphabet.

Phonology

The language does not distinguish between long and short vowels and does not have vowel harmony.

Grammar

Udmurt language textbook (in Russian)

Udmurt is an agglutinating language. It uses affixes to express possession, to specify mode, time, and so on.

Lexicon

Based on the style, about 10 to 30 percent of the Udmurt lexicon consists of loanwords. Many loanwords are from the Tatar language, which has also strongly influenced Udmurt phonology and syntax. Words related to technology, science and politics have been borrowed from Russian.

A bilingual sign proclaiming "welcome" in Russian (upper) and Udmurt (lower). This picture was taken in Izhevsk, the capital of Udmurtia.

Bibliography

  • Kel'makov, Valentin; Sara Hännikäinen (2008) (in Finnish). Udmurtin kielioppia ja harjoituksia (2nd ed.). Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura. ISBN 978-952-5150-34-6. 
  • Moreau, Jean-Luc (2009). Parlons Oudmourte. Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 2-296-07951-2. 

External links

Wikipedia
Udmurt language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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