Ulch
Нāнʼи хэсэни
Native toRussia
RegionKhabarovskiy Kray
Ethnicity2,800 Ulch (2010 census)[1]
Native speakers
150 (2010 census)[1]
Tungusic
Cyrillic
Language codes
ISO 639-3ulc
Glottologulch1241
ELPUlch
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
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) Ё ё (ё̄) Ж ж З з И и (ӣ) Й й
К к Л л М м Н н Нʼ нʼ Ӈ ӈ О о (о̄)
П п Р р С с Т т У у (ӯ) Ф ф Х х
Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ ъ Ы ы ь Э э
(э̄) Ю ю (ю̄) Я я (я̄)

In brackets are letters that are used in writing, though not officially included in the alphabet.

References

  1. 1 2 Ulch at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 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.
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