Chuvan () is an extinct Yukaghir language 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 ...

, part of a

dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...

with the two surviving languages. It was most likely last spoken in the 19th century. Already in the 1860s, no more speakers of Chuvan could be located. Chuvan was widespread in the lower region of the

Anadyr River The Anadyr (; Yukaghir: Онандырь; ) is a river in the far northeast of Siberia which flows into the Gulf of Anadyr of the Bering Sea and drains much of the interior of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Its basin corresponds to the Anadyrsky ...

(near

Chuvanskoye Chuvanskoye () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a ''village#Russia, selo'') in Anadyrsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Russia, located west of Markovo, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Markovo on the banks of the Ye ...

), spoken by

Chuvans Chuvans () are one of the forty or so "Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East" recognized by the Russian government. Most Chuvans today live within Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the far northeast of Russia. Bas ...

. The translations of 22 sentences, recorded in

1781 Events January–March * January – William Pitt the Younger, later Prime Minister of Great Britain, enters Parliament of Great Britain, Parliament, aged 21. * January 1 – Industrial Revolution: The Iron Bridge opens ...

by I. Benzig, and 210 words written by Fyodor Matyushkin in 1821 have been preserved.Matyushkin FF, Collection of the words of the Chuvansky and Omok languages, in: Vrangel F.P., Journey through the northern shores of Siberia and along the Arctic Ocean, accomplished in 1820-1824, Part 2, Additions, St. Petersburg, 1841; Chuvan descendants are known to have spoken a distinct dialect of Russian.

References

{{Paleosiberian languages Yukaghir languages Extinct languages of Asia Languages extinct in the 18th century stub