The Chukchi language

Brief Information

The Chukchi language (an exoethnonym) is spoken by the Chukchi, an Indigenous people of the extreme Northeast of Asia.

According to 2010 Russian census, the majority of the Chukchi live in settlements or migrate across the tundra of the or migrate across the tundra of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (formerly part of Magadan Oblast). The Kolyma Chukchi live in the Nizhnekolymsky District of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the village of Kolyma and in the district center of the village of Chersky. Reindeer-herding brigades of the Kolyma Chukchi roam the tundra west of the Kolyma River (Khalarchinskaya tundra). Some of the Chukchi live in the Olyutorsky District of Kamchatka Krai, and some reside in the city of Magadan

According to the 2010 Russian census, the Chukchi population numbers 15,908 people and 5,095 of them speak the Chukchi language.

Based on contemporary linguistic data, three dialect groups can be distinguished: eastern (eastern and central Chukotka), western, and southern (Khatyr–Vaezh). Dialectal differences are relatively minor and do not hinder mutual intelligibility.

Differences in traditional lifestyles have resulted in notable lexical divergence between the two groups of Chukchi speakers: 

  • Coastal Chukchi (аӈӄальыт, sg. аӈӄальын) – people of the seaside, who are settled on the shores of the Bering and Chukchi seas and are engaged in the trade of marine mammals;
  • Reindeer Chukchi (чавчыват [chavchyvat], sg. чавчыван [chavchyvan]), who migrate across the inland tundra of Chukotka and practice reindeer herding.

In the 1920s, the Chukchi language was renamed into Luoravetlan (from the Chukchi autonym лыгъоравэтльат [lyg"oravetl’at] (sg. лыгъоравэтльан [lyg"oravetl’an]) – луораветланы [luoravetlany], meaning 'real people’. However, this name did not gain wide acceptance.

Researchers agree that the Chukchi were originally hunters of wild reindeer, following seasonal migration routes. Over time, part of the population adopted reindeer husbandry, apparently borrowed from neighboring peoples. The earliest evidence of small domestic herds among the Chukchi dates to the first half of the 18th century, when herding was still closely integrated with hunting. Another group of Chukchi shifted to marine hunting, adopting this subsistence strategy from Eskimo groups inhabiting the northeastern coasts. Despite extensive interethnic marriages and partial language loss, coastal Chukchi continue to identify themselves as part of the broader Chukchi people.

Genealogy

Traditionally, the Chukchi language has been classified among the so-called Paleo-Asiatic languagess, which are a purely geographical and non-linguistic association. In genetic classification, it belongs to the Chukchi-Kamchatkan language family, which typically includes Chukchi, Koryak, Alyutor, Kerek (now extinct) and Itelmen languages [Skorik 1968: 233]. However, some researchers propose a narrower Chukchi–Koryak subgroup, treating Itelmen as a language isolate [Volodin 1997: 13].

Distribution

Most Chukchi (12,772 people) live in settlements or migrate across the tundra of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Kolyma Chukchi reside in the in Nizhnekolymsky District of Yakutia (670 people), primarily in the villages of Kolyma and Chersky. Reindeer-herding brigades of the Kolyma Chukchi roam about the tundra to the west of the Kolyma River (Khalarchinskaya tundra). Some Chukchi live in the Olyutorsky District of Kamchatka Krai (1,496 people), with confirmed compact residence in the village of Middle Pakhachi and possible residence in other settlements. About 285 Chukchi live in Magadan.

Language contacts and multilingualism

Russian is spoken by the vast majority of Chukchi. In tundra areas and remote Indigenous settlements, a very small proportion of people – typically those over 70 years old – have limited proficiency in Russian.

Historically, Chukchi functioned as a regional lingua franca among the peoples of northeastern Russia (Eskimos, Evens, Koryaks, Yukaghirs), therefore, so many representatives of these peoples, living side by side with the Chukchi, were fluent in this language. In peripheral areas (Nizhnekolymsky District of Yakutia, Penzhinsky and Olyutorsky Districts of Kamchatka), many Chukchi speakers are multilingual, speaking Even, Yakut, or Koryak in addition to Chukchi.

During the 20th century, Chukchi language – along with the Russian, Yakut, Even and Yukaghir languages, – formed part of the multilingual repertoire of residents of the Nizhnekolymsky District of Yakutia. Due to extensive interethnic marriages, it is sometimes impossible to assign speakers to a single ethnic category, since many of them are descendants of mixed Chukchi-Yukaghir-Even-Yakut marriages that thus have formed a kind of Nizhnekolymsky “superethnos”.

Language functioning

In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Chukchi language is recognized as the local official language in areas of Chukchi residence [‘O yazykakh v Respublike Sakha (Yakutiya)’ About languages in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Chapter I, Article 6]. It has no official status in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug or Kamchatka Krai.

Chukchi is a relatively young written language. V. Bogoraz, the first researcher of the Chukchi language, recorded materials using a special phonetic Latin-based script. The first official orthography appeared in 1932 based on the Unified Northern Alphabet (its graphic system was Latin-based, too). The first alphabet book in the Chukchi language was published. Later, in the mid-30s, the Chukchi writing system, along with writing systems of other peoples of the North, was converted to Cyrillic.

Even before the introduction of the alphabetic writing system, in the early XX century, the Chukchi shepherd Tenevil was inspired by the idea of writing and developed an independent ideographic writing system based on primitive signs. During his lifetime he perfected this system; as a result, signs appeared not only for verbs and nouns, but also for pronouns and conjunctions. Writing system was spread among the Tenevil’s camp and possibly among several nearby campsites. The use of the writing system ceased after his death.

The modern standard orthography is based on the eastern (Uelen) dialect of coastal Chukchi.
 

Chukchi traditionally distinguishes masculine and feminine sociolects, characterized by systematic phonological differences (for example, the r/ç alternation in many positions). The masculine sociolect formed the basis of the literary standard and was used as a medium of instruction; the female language, being less prestigious, has been gradually falling out of use since then and to the present day. Many speakers perceive this situation as tragic, noting that women speaking the masculine variant are often felt to sound unnatural.

The literary tradition remains limited, and the standard language is still in an early stage of development. Fiction, journalistic, and educational texts exist, but functional stylistic differentiation is minimal; special literature in Chukchi is no being published. Representatives of the national intelligentsia point out that the language of fiction literature is often heavily influenced by Russian calques, which is why it is stylistically unnatural and contains texts that present notable difficulties for comprehension. Only a small number of authors have succeeded in writing in a more natural, “living” Chukchi.

Dynamics of language usage

Language use varies considerably between the seaside Chukchi and reindeer Chukchi. The sedentary lifestyle of the seaside Chukchi has made them more exposed to Russian influence, resulting in almost complete loss of Chukchi in this traditional economic domain.

During marine hunting, older hunters rarely exchange remarks in Chukchi; due to younger hunters’ limited knowledge of the language, all primary commands are given in Russian. Monolingual Chukchi speakers persist mainly among the elderly (ages 65–80) who have chosen not to move to villages after retirement and continue living in the tundra. Their children are compelled to communicate with them in Chukchi, but the grandchildren of these monolingual elders typically do not speak the language, creating significant intergenerational communication gaps.

In some seaside settlements, elderly monolingual Chukchi speakers are unable to communicate with their grandchildren, further illustrating the generational shift. Middle-aged speakers often communicate in Russian, inserting Chukchi words only occasionally for humorous effect or identity marking; Chukchi also occurs between relatives or friends, in situations where it is necessary to hide something from others (as a so-called “secret language”).

Chukchi remains in use among people aged 50 and older while working in reindeer herding brigades. It is also used during friendly communication between native speakers of 50 years and older, organized for the sake of language practice itself. Among younger adults (ages 30–35), the language is rarely used, and the transmission to children is minimal. Native speakers sometimes use Chukchi to signal their national identity during brief exchanges or casual conversations, though young people generally do not employ it except when addressing older or middle-aged community members.

Language structure

Phonetics

The Chukchi language has 6 vowels and 14 consonant phonemes.

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Morphology

Chukchi is an agglutinative language, with extensive use of affixation, incorporation is also possible.

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Syntax

Basic word order is SOV. The language with split ergativity.

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Vocabulary

Contact with Russian has influenced Chukchi lexically and syntactically.

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Language experts

Maria Yuryevna Pupynina
(Saint Petersburg, Russia)

Author of numerous studies on the Chukchi language and multilingualism in the Lower Kolyma and Chukotka.

In 2015-2017, the Chukchi-Russian Dictionary was digitized under the leadership of Maria Yurievna as a part of the project of the foundation of the non-profit organization “Kupol [Dome]”. It was completed and arranged using the modern T-Lex program. The work on the dictionary was started in 1987-1988 by a senior researcher of the Institute – P. I. Inenlikey.
 

Oleg Sergeyevich Volkov
(HSE, Moscow)

Researcher and author of several publications on verbal categories in Chukchi.

One of the organizers of the Chukchi expedition of the HSE School of Linguistics.

Michael Dunn
(Uppsala University, Sweden)

Author of a comprehensive grammar of Chukchi and studies on its sociolinguistic aspects.

Research centres

Department of Languages of the Peoples of Russia ILS RAS

Currently, the department includes specialists in Mongolic, Baltic-Finnic, Samoyedic, Tungus-Manchu, Turkic, Chukchi-Kamchatkan, and Eskimo-Aleutian languages.

 
Higher School of Economics

Linguistic expeditions to Chukotka began in 2016, in collaboration with the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics of Moscow State University. Teachers (Oleg Volkov and Ivan Stenin) participate in expeditions organized by the HSE School of Linguistics as well as undergraduate and graduate students.

Core references

Grammatical descriptions: grammars, sketches

Bogoraz V. G. Luoravetlanskiy (chukotskiy) yazyk // Yazyki i pis'mennost' narodov Severa [The Luoravetlan (Chukchi) language // Languages and writing of the peoples of the North]. Pt. 2: Yazyki i pis'mennost' paleoaziatskikh narodov [Languages and writing of Paleoasiatic peoples]. M.; L.: Uchpedgiz, 1934. p. 5-46.

Skorik P. Ya. Grammatika chukotskogo yazyka. Chast' pervaya. Fonetika i morfologiya imennykh chastey [Grammar of the Chukchi language. Part one. Phonetics and morphology of nominal parts]. M., L.: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR [Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR], 1961.

Skorik P. Ya. Grammatika chukotskogo yazyka. Chast' vtoraya. Glagol, narechie, sluzhebnye slova [Grammar of the Chukchi language. Part two. Verb, adverb, link words]. M., L.: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR [Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR], 1977.

Dunn M. J. A Grammar of Chukchi. Thesis. Canberra: Australian National University, 1999.

Dictionaries

Inenlikey P. I. Slovar' chukotsko-russkiy i russko-chukotskiy: Uchebnoe posobie dlya uchashchikhsya sredney shkoly [The Chukchi-Russian and Russian-Chukchi Dictionary: A textbook for secondary school students]. – Ed. 3rd, ed. Saint Petersburg.: Izd-vo “Drofa” [Publishing House “Bustard”], 2006.

Moll T. A., Inenlikey P. I. Chukotsko-russkiy slovar': Posobie dlya uchashchikhsya 5–9 kl. obshcheobraz. uchrezhd [The Chukchi-Russian Dictionary: A manual for students of 5-9 grades. general education institution]. – 2nd ed., redone and add. St. Petersburg: Filial izd-va “Prosveshchenie” [Branch of the Publishing House “Enlightenment”], 2005.

Ranavroltyna V. G. Elektronnyy chukotsko-russkiy tematicheskiy slovar' [The electronic Chukchi-Russian thematic Dictionary]. Anadyr, 2005.

Publications of texts

Materialy po izucheniyu chukotskogo yazyka i fol'klora, sobrannye v Kolymskom okruge V. G. Bogorazom. Chast'  I.  Obraztsy narodnoy slovesnosti chukoch (teksty s perevodami i pereskazy). Trudy Yakutskoy ekspeditsii, snaryazhennoy na sredstva I. M.  Sibiryakova [Materials on the study of the Chukchi language and folklore that were collected in the Kolyma District by V. G. Bogoraz. Part I.  Samples of the Chukchi’s folk literature (texts with translations and retellings). Proceedings of the Yakut expedition, equipped at the expense of I. M. Sibiryakov], Ed. 3, vol. XI, P. III  St. Petersburg: tipogr. Imper. Akad. Nauk [typogr. Imperial. Acad. Science], 1900.

Bogoras W. Chukchee Mythology. (Publications of the American Ethnological Society, VIII.) New York: AMS Press, 1910.

https://web.archive.org/web/20100315132016/http://www.ling-atlas.jp/r/tale/list – tales in Chukchi with English substring.

Работы по этнологии

Vdovin I. S. Vaegskie chukchi // Sibirskiy etnograficheskiy sbornik [The Vayeg Chukchi // Siberian ethnographic collection]. Release 4. Moscow: In-t etnologii i antropologii [Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology], 1962. p. 153-164.

Istoriya i kul'tura chukchey. Istoriko-etnograficheskie ocherki [History and culture of the Chukchi. Historical and ethnographic essays] / Ed. by I. S. Vdovin. L.: Nauka [Science], 1987.

Resources

Corpora and text collections

Multimedia corpus of the Amguem dialect of the Chukchi language

The website “Chuklang” is a multimedia Internet resource that presents materials and studies on the Chukchi language. The two main components of this resource are the corpus of oral texts and the sketch. All the materials were collected during linguistic expeditions to the Amguema village of the Uilta District of the Chukot Autonomous Area.

Other electronic resources

Dictionary of the Chukchi language

The dictionary is a substantially expanded and improved version of the Chukchi-Russian Dictionary created by T. A. Moll and P. I. Inenlikey and firstly published in 1956 and reissued in 2005.

Data for this page kindly provided by

Maria Pupynina (ILS RAS) and Evgenia Roltyntonau (Herzen State Pedagogical University).