Koryak ( ), also known as Nymylan, Korjakische, Chavchuven and Koræiki, is a
Chukotko-Kamchatkan language spoken by 1,665 people as of 2010
in the easternmost extremity of
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
, mainly in
Koryak Okrug. It is mostly spoken by
Koryaks. Its close relative, the
Chukchi language, is spoken by about three times that number. The language together with Chukchi,
Alyutor and
Itelmen forms the
Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family. Its native name in Koryak is нымылан ''nymylan'', but variants of the Russian name "Koryak" are most commonly used in English and other languages. The Chukchi and Koryaks form a cultural unit with an economy based on
reindeer herding
Reindeer herding is when reindeer are herded by people in a limited area. Currently, reindeer are the only semi-domesticated animal which naturally belong to the North. Reindeer herding is conducted in nine countries: Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russ ...
and both have autonomy within the
Russian Federation
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
.
Phonology
may be an
allophone
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is one of multiple possible spoken soundsor '' phones''used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, the voiceless plos ...
of .
[Zhukova, 1972]
Koryak alphabet
References
Further reading
* Bogoras, Waldemar, and Franz Boas. Koryak Texts. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1917.
* Comrie, Bernard. ''Inverse Verb Forms in Siberia Evidence from Chukchee, Koryak and Kamchadal''. Amsterdam: Bibliotheek v.h. Inst. voor Algemene Taalwetenschap v.d. Univ. van Amsterdam], 1985.
*Zhukova, A. N., 1972. Grammatika Korjakskogo Jazyka: Fonetika, Morfologia. Moscow: Akademia Nauk SSSR. 327pp. (In kyrill. Schrift).
* Zhukova, A. N., and Tokusu Kurebito. ''Basic topical dictionary of the Koryak-Chukchi languages = Basovyĭ tematicheskiĭ slovarʹ kori︠a︡ksko-chukotskikh i︠a︡zykov''. Tokyo, Japan: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 2004.
* Campbell, George L. and Gareth King. "Compendium of the World's Languages". 2013.
External links
Endangered Languages of Siberia - The Koryak language
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koryak Language
Agglutinative languages
Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages
Languages of Russia
stub