About the language

Chulym (Ös dili)

The Chulym language, also known as Ös dili, is a Turkic language spoken by the Chulym people. The language is spoken in Russia, at many different locations along the Chulym River. The language is primarily located in what is called the "Central Siberia Language Hotspot," which is a hotspot full of linguistic diversity and language endangerment (Anderson and Harrison 2008). Along with linguistic diversity is a host of biological diversity including plants, insects, birds, and mammal species. Another issue facing the Chulym people is the loss of important cultural practices such as the traditional knowledge of "river navigation, and fishing, gathering of berries and roots, and hunting with snares and weapons." (Anderson and Harrison 2008). By digging deeper into the Chulym language, linguists hope to discover more about the Siberian area and history. The language was highlighted in the Film. The Linguists, in which David Harrison and Greg Anderson traveled to the area to begin documenting the language. 

Relationships with other languages

Chulym is closely related to the Yakut, Tuvan, Altai, Khakas, Shor, Dolgan, Tofa, and Western Yugur languages. They are all a part of what is known as the Siberian Turkic languages (Wikipedia). 

Dialects of Chulym

There are multiple dialects of Chulym spoken. These include: Lower and Middle Chulym. Lower Chulym is now thought to be extinct, while Middle Chulym is still spoken by a few people today. Both dialects have sub-dialects. For example, Middle Chulym has two sub-dialects called Tutal (tutaɫ tš'onu) and Melet (pilet tš'onu) (Wikipedia).

Glottolog Codes

• chul1246
• lowe1396
• midd1324