Udmurt language

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Udmurt
Удмурт кыл Udmurt kyl
Native toRussia, Kazakhstan
RegionUdmurtia
Native speakers
550,000 (1989 census)
Official status
Official language in
Udmurtia
Language codes
ISO 639-2udm
ISO 639-3udm
ELPUdmurt

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.

Alphabet

The Udmurt alphabet is based on the Russian Cyrillic alphabet:

Udmurt alphabet

Uppercase Lowercase Transliteration IPA Letter name
A a a [ɑ] а
Б б b [b] бэ
В в v [v] вэ
Г г g [g] гэ
Д д d [d]; palatal [dʲ] when followed by я, е, и, ё, ю or ь дэ
Е е e [je]; [ʲe] when preceded by д, т, з, с, л, or н е
Ë ë ë [jo]; [ʲo] when preceded by д, т, з, с, л, or н ё
Ж ж ž [ʒ] жэ
Ӝ ӝ [dʒ] ӝэ
З з z [z]; palatal [ʑ] when followed by я, е, и, ё, ю or ь зэ
Ӟ ӟ [dʲʑ] ӟe
И и i [i]; [ʲi] when preceded by д, т, з, с, л, or н и
Ӥ ӥ ï [i] и с точками
Й й j [j] и краткое
К к k [k] ка
Л л l [ɫ]; palatal [lʲ] when followed by я, е, и, ё, ю or ь эл
М м m [m] эм
Н н n [n]; palatal [nʲ] when followed by я, е, и, ё, ю or ь эн
О о o [o] o
Ö ö ö [ʌ] ~ [ə] ö
П п p [p] пэ
Р р r [r] эр
С с s [s]; palatal [ɕ] when followed by я, е, и, ё, ю or ь эс
Т т t [t]; palatal [tʲ] when followed by я, е, и, ё, ю or ь тэ
У у u [u] у
Ф1 ф f [f] эф
Х1 х x [x] ха
Ц1 ц c [ts] цэ
Ч ч č [tɕ] чэ
Ӵ ӵ tʲč [t͡ɕ] ӵэ
Ш ш š [ʃ] ша
Щ1 щ šč [ɕ], [ɕː] ща
Ъ2 ъ - твёрдый знак "hard sign"
Ы ы y [ɨ] ~ [ɯ] ы
Ь ь ' [ʲ] мягкий знак "soft sign"
Э э è [e] э
Ю ю ju [ju]; [ʲu] when preceded by д, т, з, с, л, or н ю
Я я ja [jɑ]; [ʲa] when preceded by д, т, з, с, л, or н я
  • 1 Only used in Russian loanwords and names.
  • 2 Silent, but required to distinguish palatalized consonants (/dʲ 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/ӵ) are unique to the Udmurt alphabet. Writing system uses Latin script too. Additional letters : Ģģ Ţţ Ņņ Đđ Ŧħ Žž Šš Ĺĺ Śś Ŏŏ Żż Ċċ ź

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 (2008). Udmurtin kielioppia ja harjoituksia (in Finnish) (2nd ed.). Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura. ISBN 978-952-5150-34-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Moreau, Jean-Luc (2009). Parlons Oudmourte. Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 2-296-07951-2.

External links