Altay language
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| Altay () | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Mongolia, China, Altai Republic (federal subject of Russia) |
| Region: | Gorno-Altai Mountains |
| Total speakers: | 71,600 |
| Ranking: | Not in top 100 |
| Genetic classification: | Altaic languages (disputed) |
| Official status | |
| Official language of: | Altai Republic |
| Regulated by: | - |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | - |
| ISO 639-2 | tut |
| SIL | ATV (Northern) ALT (Southern) |
| See also: Language – List of languages | |
The Altay language is a language of the Turkic group of languages. It is an official language of Altai Republic, Russia. The language was called Oyrot prior to 1948. There were ca. 52,000 people speaking this language in 1989. Two dialects of the Altay language are northern (with the Tuba, Kumandy, and Chalkan varieties named after the main tribes) and southern (with the Altai proper and Telengit varieties).
The language was utilizing the Latin alphabet in 1928-1938, and Cyrillic alphabet (with addition of 4 extra letters: ) since 1938.
External links
- Ethnologe report for Northern Altai (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ATV)
- Ethnologue report for Southern Altai (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ALT)