Chukchi is a Chukotko-Kamchatkan language spoken by about 8,500 people in mainly in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the northeast of the Koryak Okrug in the Russian Far East region in the northeast of the Russian Federation. It is also spoken in the Nizhnekolymsky District of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).
Chukchi is also known as Chukchee, Chukot, Chuchi, or Chuchee. The Chukchi call themselves ԓыгъоравэтԓьат (Luorawetlat), which means "the real people". This name is also used by the Koryak people, whose language is closely related to Chukchi. The name Chukchi is an Anglicized version of a Russian adaptation of Čävča (a man who is rich in reindeer), which is what the Chukchis' Tungusic-speakers neighbours call them.
There are two groups of Chukchi: the Tundra or Interior Chukchi (чавчыв / Chav-Chyv - "reindeer men") and the Coastal Chukchi (ан’к’альын / Ankalyn - "coastal men"). The majority of Interior Chukchi speak Chukchi and resist Russian language and culture, while most of the Coastal Chukchi under 50 speak Russian in addition to Chukchi. Many Chukchi also speak Yakut, Lamut and/or Yukaghir.
The first book in Chukchi was published in 1823. A number of religious texts were written in the language during the 19th century, however there was no official orthography.
A Chukchi man named Tenevil (Теневиль) devised a script for Chukchi, known as the Tenevil Script, in around 1927 or 1928. It is not certain whether the script was ideographic, pictographic or logographic, and its classification is debated by scholars. About 1,000 distinct symbols, including numerals, have been identified. The script was used within Tenevil’s extended family, and was known by his friends. He used it to send messages to his sons, and wrote on boards, bones, walrus tusks and sweet wrappers.
The first official script for Chukchi was a version of the Latin alphabet devised in 1931 by Vladimir Bogoraz, a Russian revolutionary exiled to Chukotka. A revised version, shown below, was used in textbooks from 1932. He also wrote a grammar of Chukchi, and an ethnographic study of the Chukchi. In 1937 the Latin alphabet for Chukchi was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. This was revised in the 1950s and 1980s.
A few books and newspapers in Chukchi have been published. Chukchi is can also be heard on radio and television for about an hour a day, and is used as a medium of instruction in some primary schools.
The letters B, F, H and Z were only used in loanwords from Russian, and the [ʨ] sound was written c, є or ç.
Download an alphabet chart for Chukchi (Excel)
The letters Бб, Дд, Жж, Зз, Сс, Фф, Хх, Цц, Шш and Щщ are only used for loanwords.
Information about Chukchi pronunciation compiled by Wolfram Siegel, with corrections by Captain Lokason.
Вай ромакасьёт каԓетайкыёт рычечьатынвы википедиягты ԓыгъоравэтԓьаеԓымэԓ нумэкэтръуӄинэт. Тургин рытрэԓгыргын ԓыгъоравэтԓьаеԓымэԓ ӈанӄо тэгъеӈу ныԓгыӄин. Ванԓягыргын рытомгавынвы википедия ԓыгъоравэтԓьаеԓымэԓ вэймэну нараԓгыӈын ыныкит каԓетайкыёт мэчынкы нэрэрыкуврэтэвынэт. Вэймэну ԓынъё, ымыԓьо йыръыйыр ӈутку рычечьатынвы нэрэривԓыӈын википедияӄэнак турывэтгысӄык.
Vaj romakasʼjot kaletajkyjot rycecʼatynvy vikipedijagty lyghoravetlaelymel numeketrhuqinet. Turgin rytrelgyrgyn lyghoravetlaelymel ŋaŋqo tegheŋu nylgyqin. Vanljagyrgyn rytomgavynvy vikipedija lyghoravetlʼaelymel vejmenu naralgyŋyn ynykit kaletajkyjot mecynky nererykuvretevynet. Vejmenu lynhjo, ymylʼo jyrhyjyr ŋutku rycecʼatynvy nererivlyŋyn vikipedijaqenak turyvetgysqyk.
Sample text provided by Sammy Silvers
Information about Chukchi | Numbers
Information about Chukchi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chukchi_language
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Чукотский_язык
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Чукотская_письменность
https://lingsib.iea.ras.ru/en/languages/chukchi.shtml
https://www.everyculture.com/wc/Norway-to-Russia/Chukchi.html
https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/items/13c157be-0582-421f-b1e9-5d18d8e8ebad
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/chuk1273
https://www.scribd.com/document/359245395/Muravyova I a Daniel M a Zhdanova T ju Chukchi Language and Folklore in Texts Collected by v G Bogoraz
https://minlang.iling-ran.ru/en/lang/chukchi-language
Alyutor, Chukchi, Itelmen, Koryak
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Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 17.03.26
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