Chuvash (UK: /ˈtʃuːvɑːʃ/ CHOO-vahsh,^[2] US: /tʃʊˈvɑːʃ/ chuu-VAHSH;^[3] Чӑвашла, translit. Çăvašla, IPA: [tɕəʋaʃˈla])^{[lower-alpha 1]} is a Turkic language spoken in European Russia, primarily in the Chuvash Republic and adjacent areas. It is the only surviving member of the Oghur branch of Turkic languages, one of the two principal branches of the Turkic family.^[4] Despite grammatical similarity with the rest of Turkic language family, the presence of changes in Chuvash pronunciation (which are hard to reconcile with other members of the Turkic family) has led some scholars to see Chuvash as originating not from Proto-Turkic but from another proto-language spoken at the time of Proto-Turkic (in which case Chuvash and all the remaining Turkic languages would be part of a larger language family).^[5]

The writing system for the Chuvash language is based on the Cyrillic script, employing all of the letters used in the Russian alphabet and adding four letters of its own: Ӑ, Ӗ, Ҫ and Ӳ.

Usage

Stamp of the Soviet Union, Chuvash people, 1933

Chuvash is the native language of the Chuvash people and an official language of Chuvashia.^[6][7] There are contradictory numbers regarding the number of people able to speak Chuvash nowadays; some sources claim it is spoken by 1,640,000 persons in Russia and another 34,000 in other countries^[8] and that 86% of ethnic Chuvash and 8% of the people of other ethnicities living in Chuvashia claimed knowledge of Chuvash language during the 2002 census.^[9] However, other sources claim that the number of Chuvash speakers is on the decline, with a drop from 1 million speakers in 2010 to 700,000 in 2021; observers suggest this is due to Moscow having a lack of interest in preserving the language diversity in Russia.^[10] Although Chuvash is taught at schools and sometimes used in the media, it is considered endangered by the UNESCO,^[11][12] because Russian dominates in most spheres of life and few children learning the language are likely to become active users.

A fairly significant production and publication of literature in Chuvash still continues. According to UNESCO's Index Translationum, at least 202 books translated from Chuvash were published in other languages (mostly Russian) since ca. 1979.^[13] However, as with most other languages of the former USSR, most of the translation activity took place before the dissolution of the USSR: out of the 202 translations, 170 books were published in the USSR^[14] and just 17, in the post-1991 Russia (mostly, in the 1990s).^[15] A similar situation takes place with the translation of books from other languages (mostly Russian) into Chuvash (the total of 175 titles published since ca. 1979, but just 18 of them in post-1991 Russia).^[16]

History

Chuvash is the most distinctive of the Turkic languages and cannot be understood by other Turkic speakers, whose languages have varying degrees of mutual intelligibility within their respective subgroups. Chuvash is classified, alongside several extinct languages including Bulgar, as the only remaining member of the Oghuric branch of the Turkic language family, or equivalently, the sole surviving descendant of West Old Turkic.^[17] Since the surviving literary records for the non-Chuvash members of Oghuric (Khazar and Bulgar) are scant, the exact position of Chuvash within the Oghuric family cannot be determined.

Italian historian and philologist Igor de Rachewiltz noted a significant distinction of the Chuvash language from other Turkic languages. According to him, the Chuvash language does not share certain common characteristics with Turkic languages to such a degree that some scholars consider it an independent Onoguric (Bulgharic) family similar to Uralic and Turkic languages. Turkic classification of Chuvash was seen as a compromise solution for classification purposes.^[18]

The Oghuric branch is distinguished from the rest of the Turkic family (the Common Turkic languages) by two sound changes: r corresponding to Common Turkic z and l corresponding to Common Turkic š.^[19] The first scientific fieldwork description of Chuvash, by August Ahlqvist in 1856, allowed researchers to establish its proper affiliation.^[20]

Some scholars suggest Hunnic had strong ties with Chuvash^[21] and classify Chuvash as separate Hunno-Bulgar.^[22] Chuvash is so divergent from the main body of Turkic languages that some scholars formerly considered Chuvash to be a Uralic language.^[23] Conversely, other scholars regard it as Oghuric language significantly influenced by Finnic languages.^[24]

The following sound changes and resulting sound correspondences are typical:^[25][26]

Most of the (non-allophonic) consonant changes listed in the table above are thought to date from the period before the Bulgars migrated to the Volga region in the 10th century; some notable exceptions are the č > ś shift and the final stage of the -d > -ð > -z > -r shift, which date from the following, Volga Bulgar period (between the 10th-century migration and the Mongol invasions of the 13th century). The vowel changes mostly occurred later, mainly during the Middle Chuvash period (between the invasions and the 17th century), except for the diphthongisation, which took place during the Volga Bulgar period. Many sound changes known from Chuvash can be observed in Turkic loanwords into Hungarian (from the pre-migration period) and in Volga Bulgar epitaphs or loanwords into languages of the Volga region (from the Volga Bulgar period). Nevertheless, these sources also indicate that there was significant dialectal variation within the Oguric-speaking population during both of these periods.^[26]

Comparison with Turkic languages

In the 8-10th centuries in Central Asia, the ancient Turkic script (the Orkhon-Yenisei runic script) was used for writing in Turkic languages. Turkic epitaphs of 7-9th centuries AD were left by speakers of various dialects (table):

• Often in the Chuvash language, the Common Turkic sounds of /j/ (Oghuz), /d/ (Uighur), /z/ (Kipchak) are replaced by /r/, example rhotacism:

Words for "leg" and "put" in various Turkic languages:

j - languages (Oguz): ajaq, qoj-

d - languages (Uyghur): adaq, qod-

z - languages (Kypchak): azaq, qoz-

r - languages (Oghur): ura, hor- ^[27]

• Often in the Chuvash language, the Turkic sound /q/ is replaced by /h/, example hitaism:

Comparison table^[27]

Сhitacism (Q > H)

• The -h- sound disappears if it is the final sound of a syllable.

Dudaq - Tuta - Lips instead of Tutah

Ayaq - Ura - Leg instead of Urah

Balyq - Pulă - Fish instead of Pulăh

Ineq - Ĕne - Cow instead of Ĕneh ^[27]

• Turkic sound -j- (oguz) and -ž- (kipchaks) is replaced by chuvash -ş-, example:

Words in Turkic languages: egg, snake, rain, house, earth

Oguz: jumurta, jylan, jagmur, jurt, jer (turk., azerb., tat.,)

Kipchaks: žumurtka, žylan, žamgyr, žort, žer (kyrgyz., kazakh.)

Chuvash: şămarta, şĕlen, şămăr, şurt, şĕr ^[27]

• The Turkic sound -š- is replaced by the Chuvash -L-, example lambdaism:

Comparison table^[27]

• In the field of vowels, we observe the following correspondences: the common Turkic -a- in the first syllable of the word in Chuvash correspond to -u-.

Comparison table^[27]

In modern times, in Chuvash [a] remains, Tatar "kapka" ~ Chuvash "hapha" (gate), when there should be a "hupha" from the root "hup - close".

• In the field of vowels, G. F. Miller observes another example when -u- is replaced by -wu- or -wă-

Comparison table^[27]

• The fricative -g- in some words in Chuvash corresponds to -v-

Comparison table^[27]

Ogur and Oguz

It is well known that the Oguz group of Turkic languages differs from the Kipchak in that the word “I” was pronounced by the Oguzes and Ogurs in ancient times by "bä(n)", and the rest of the Turks - by "män". Transition b < m. There is such a difference in the modern Turkic languages of the Volga region:

tat., bash. Min, ogur/chuv. Epĕn (< *pen), turk. Ben, eng. «I am»;

tat., bash. Mең, ogur/chuv. Pin', turk. Bin, eng. «thousand»;

tat., bash. Milәš, ogur/chuv. Pileš, eng. «rowan»;

tat. Мәçә, ogur/chuv. Pĕşi, Pĕşuk, az. Pišik, eng. «cat»;

tat. Miçеү, ogur/chuv. Piçev, eng. «buckle»

Dialects

The linguistic landscape of the Chuvash language is quite homogeneous, the differences between dialects are insignificant. Currently, the differences between dialects are even more leveled.

Researchers distinguish three main dialects:

• Riding dialect / cv.Turi jal ("sound prevails О") — upstream of the Sura;
• Middle dialect (mixed, transitional);
• Lover dialect / cv. Anatri jal ("sound prevails U") is downstream of the Sura.

The riding dialect is closer to the Oguz, the lower dialect - which is closer to the Kipchaks.

The Malokarachinsky dialect is designated as occupying a separate position.

The literary language is based on both the Lower and Upper dialects. Both Tatar and the neighbouring Uralic languages such as Mari have influenced the Chuvash language, as have Russian, Mongolian, Arabic and Persian, which have all added many words to the Chuvash lexicon.

All dialects established to date have their own sub-dialects, which have their own exceptional features and peculiarities, thereby they are divided into even smaller dialect forms. It turns out a dialect matryoshka where there are basic dialects, and these dialects are divided in turn into sub-dialects.

The following dialect ramifications in the Chuvash language have been identified:

1) as part of the upper dialect, the subdialects are: a) Sundyrsky; b) Morgaussko-Yadrinsky; c) Krasnochetaysky; d) Cheboksary; e) Kalininsko-Alikovsky;

2) in the zone of the middle dialect: a) Malocivilsky; b) Urmarsky; c) civil-marposadsky;

3) in the zone of the grassroots dialect: a) Buin-Simbirsk; b) Nurlatsky (prichemshanye);

Phonetic differences:

a) All words of the riding dialect (except exc. Kalinin-Alikov subgroup) in the initial syllable, instead of the "lower" sound -U- is used -O- for example:

In English: yes, six, found

in Turi: por, olttă, toprăm

in Anatri: pur, ulttă, tuprăm

b) In the upper dialect in the Sundyr sub-dialect, instead of the sound -ü- (used in all other dialects), the sound -ö- is used, which is a correlative soft pair of the posterior -o-, for example:

in English: hut, back, broth

in Turi: pӧrt, tӧrt, šӧrpe

in Anatri: pürt, türt, šürpe

с) In the upper dialect (in most sub-dialects) the loss of the sound -j- before the sonorant -l-, -n-, -r- and stop -t- is characterized, which in turn entails palatalization of these consonants, for example:

in English: russian woman, choose

in Turi: mar'a, sul'l'a

in Anatri: majra, sujla

d) In the higher dialect (for most sub-dialects), gemination of intervocalic consonants is characteristic, as in the Finnish language, for example:

in English: shawl, drunk, crooked

in Turi: tottăr, ĕssĕr, kokkăr

in Anatri: tutăr, üsĕr, kukăr

In general, gemination itself is the norm for the Chuvash language, since many historically root words in both dialects contain gemination, for example: anne (mather), atte (father), picche (brother), appa (sister), kukka (uncle), pĕrre (one), ikkĕ (two), vişşĕ (three), tvattă (four), pillĕk (five), ulttă (six), şiççĕ (seven), sakkăr (eight), tăhhăr (nine), vunnă (ten), etc. Some linguists are inclined to assume that this is the influence of the Volga Finns at the turn of the 7th century when the ancestors of the Chuvash moved to the Volga, there are those who disagree with this statement. In one of the subgroups of the Trans-Kama Chuvash, in the same words there is no gemination at all, for example, the word father is pronounced as Adi, and mother as Ani, their counting looks like this: pĕr, ik, viş, tvat, pül, şiç, sagăr, tăgăr, vun - but many scientists assume that this is a consequence of the influence of the Tatar language. They also have many words in the Tatar style, the word “hare - kuşana” (tat.kuyan) is “mulkach” for everyone, “pancakes - kujmak” for the rest is ikerchĕ, “cat - pĕşi” for the rest is “sash”, etc.

e) In the middle and upper dialects there are rounded vowels -ă°-, -ĕ°- (pronounced with the lips rounded and slightly pulled forward), in the lower dialect this is not observed, here they correspond to the standard sounds -ă-, -ĕ-.

f) In the upper and lower dialects, consonantism is distinguished by the pronunciation of the affricate sound -ç-. Among the upper Chuvash and speakers of the middle dialect, the sound -ç- is almost no different from the pronunciation of the Russian affricate; in the lower dialect it is heard almost like a soft -ç-, as in the Tatar language.

Morphological differences:

a) In the upper dialect there are synharmonic variants of the plural affix -sam/-sem, and in the lower dialect only -sem, for example:

in English: horses, sheep, meadows, cows, flowers

in Turi: lašasam, surăhsam, şaramsam, ĕnesem, çeçeksem

in Anatri: lašasem, surăhsem, şeremsem, ĕnesem, çeçeksem

b) In the upper dialect (in most sub-dialects) the affix of the possessive case is -jăn (-jĕn), the dative case is -ja (-je), while in the lower dialect -năn (-nĕn, -n), -na (-ne) , For example:

in Turi: lašaiăn, ĕnejĕn, lašaja, ĕneja, ĕneje

in Anatri: lašan(ăn), ĕnen(ĕn), lašana, ĕnene

c) in the upper dialect, affixes of belonging, with the exception of the 3rd person affix -i (-ĕ), have almost fallen out of use or are used extremely rarely. In the latter case, the 2nd person affix -u (-ü) of the upper dialect usually corresponds to -ă (-ĕ) in the lower dialect;

in English: your head, your daughter

in Turi: san puşu, san hĕrü

in Anatri: san puşă, san hĕrĕ

*There is also a mixed type, where all variants of the case are used at once, this is especially noticeable in those settlements that arose at the turn of the 17th-20th centuries, such villages created by combining speakers of upper and lower dialects gave birth to a more universal dialect where both options were used .

Writing systems

1873–1938

The initial alphabet of Ivan Yakovlev, with 47 letters.

Yakovlev's revised alphabet

The modern Chuvash alphabet was devised in 1873 by school inspector Ivan Yakovlevich Yakovlev.^[34]

Cursive

а

е

ы

и/і

у

ӳ

ӑ

ӗ

й

в

к

л

ԡ

м

н

ԣ

п

р

р́

с

ҫ

т

т̌

ꚋ

х

ш

In 1938, the alphabet underwent significant modification which brought it to its current form.

Phonology

Vowels

A possible scheme for the diachronic development of Chuvash vowels (note that not all the sounds with an asterisk are necessarily separate phonemes).

According to Krueger (1961), the Chuvash vowel system is as follows (the precise IPA symbols are chosen based on his description since he uses a different transcription).

	Front		Back
	unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
High	i ⟨и⟩	y ⟨ӳ⟩	ɯ ⟨ы⟩	u ⟨у⟩
Low	e ⟨е⟩	ø̆ ⟨ӗ⟩	a ⟨а⟩	ŏ ⟨ӑ⟩

András Róna-Tas (1997)^[37] provides a somewhat different description, also with a partly idiosyncratic transcription. The following table is based on his version, with additional information from Petrov (2001). Again, the IPA symbols are not directly taken from the works so they could be inaccurate.

	Front		Back
	unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
High	i ⟨и⟩	y ⟨ӳ⟩	ɯ ⟨ы⟩	u ⟨у⟩
Close-mid	ӗ ⟨ĕ⟩		ɤ̆ ⟨ӑ⟩
Open-mid	ɛ ⟨е⟩
Low			a ⟨а⟩

The vowels ӑ and ӗ are described as reduced, thereby differing in quantity from the rest. In unstressed positions, they often resemble a schwa or tend to be dropped altogether in fast speech. At times, especially when stressed, they may be somewhat rounded and sound similar to /o/ and /ø/.

Additionally, ɔ (о) occurs in loanwords from Russian where the syllable is stressed in Russian.

Grammar

As characteristic of all Turkic languages, Chuvash is an agglutinative language and as such, has an abundance of suffixes but no native prefixes or prepositions, apart from the partly reduplicative intensive prefix, such as in: шурӑ - white, шап-шурӑ - snow-white, хура - black, хуп-хура - jet black, такӑр - flat, так-такӑр - absolutely flat, тулли - full, тӑп-тулли - chock full (compare to Turkish beyaz - white, bem-beyaz snow-white, kara - black, kap-kara - jet black, düz - flat, dümdüz - absolutely flat, dolu - full, dopdolu - chock full). One word can have many suffixes, which can also be used to create new words like creating a verb from a noun or a noun from a verbal root. See Vocabulary below. It can also indicate the grammatical function of the word.

Numerals

The number system is decimal. The numbers from one to ten are:

• 1 – pĕrre (пĕрре), pĕr (пĕр)
• 2 – ikkĕ (иккĕ), ikĕ (икĕ), ik (ик)
• 3 – wişşĕ (виççĕ), wişĕ (виçĕ), wiş (виç)
• 4 – tăwattă (тӑваттӑ) tvată (тватӑ), tăwat (тӑват), tvat (тват)
• 5 – pillĕk (пиллӗк), pilĕk (пиллĕк), pil (пил)
• 6 – ulttă (улттӑ), IPA: [ˈultːə], ultă (ултă), IPA: [ˈult̬ə], ult (улт), IPA: [ult]/IPA: [ult̬]
• 7 – şiççĕ (çиччĕ), IPA: [ˈɕitɕːɘ], şiçĕ (çичĕ), IPA: [ˈɕitɕ̬ɘ], şiç (сич), IPA: [ˈɕitɕ̬]
• 8 – sakkăr (саккăр), IPA: [ˈsakːər], sakăr (сакăр), IPA: [ˈsak̬ər]
• 9 – tăhhăr (тăххăр), tăhăr (тăхăр)
• 10 – wunnă (вуннă), wun (вун)

The teens are formed by juxtaposing the word 'ten' and the corresponding single digit:

• 11 – wun pĕr (вун пĕр)
• 12 – wun ikkĕ (вун иккĕ), wun ikĕ (вун икĕ), wun ik (вун ик)
• 13 – wun vişşĕ (вун виççĕ), wun vişĕ (вун виçĕ), wun viş (вун виç)
• 14 – wun tăwattă (вун тăваттă), wun tvată (вун тватă), wun tvat (вун тват)
• 15 – wun pillĕk (вун пиллĕк), wun pilĕk (вун пилĕк), wun pil (вун пил)
• 16 – wun ulttă (вун улттă), wun ultă (вун ултă), wun ult (вун улт)
• 17 – wun şiççĕ (вун çиччĕ), wun şiçĕ (вун çичĕ), wun şiç (вун çич)
• 18 – wun sakkăr (вун саккăр), wun sakăr (вун сакăр)
• 19 – wun tăhhăr (вун тăххăр), wun tăhăr (вун тăхăр)

The tens are formed in somewhat different ways: from 20 to 50, they exhibit suppletion; 60 and 70 have a suffix -мӑл together with stem changes; while 80 and 90 juxtapose the corresponding single digit and the word 'ten'.

• 20 – şirĕm (çирĕм)
• 30 – wătăr (вăтăр)
• 40 – hĕrĕh (хĕрĕх)
• 50 – allă (аллă), ală (алă), al (ал)
• 60 – utmăl (утмăл)
• 70 – şitmĕl (çитмĕл)
• 80 – sakăr wunnă (сакăр вуннă), sakăr wun (сакăр вун)
• 90 – tăhăr wunnă (тăхăр вуннă), tăhăr wun (тăхăр вун)

Further multiples of ten are:

• 100 – şĕr (çĕр)
• 1000 – pin (пин)
• Example: 834236 - sakăr şĕr wătăr tvată pin te ik şĕr wătăr ulttă (сакӑр ҫӗр вӑтӑр тӑватӑ пин те ик ҫӗр вӑтӑр улттӑ), IPA: [ˌsakərɕɘrʋət̬ərt̬əʋat̬ə↗p̬inʲt̬eǀikɕɘrʋət̬ər↘ultːəǁ]

Ordinal numerals are formed with the suffix -mĕš (-мӗш), e.g. pĕrremĕš (пӗррӗмӗш) 'first', ikkĕmĕš (иккӗмӗш) 'second'. There are also alternate ordinal numerals formed with the suffix -ӑм/-ĕм, which are used only for days, nights and years and only for the numbers from three to seven, e.g. wişĕm (виҫӗм) 'third', tvatăm (тватăм), pilĕm (пилĕм), ultăm (ултăм), şiçĕm (çичĕм), wunăm (вунăм).^[76]

Word formation

Some notable suffixes are: -ҫӑ for agent nouns, -лӑх for abstract and instrumental nouns, -ӑш, less commonly, for abstract nouns from certain adjectives, -у (after consonants) or -v (after vowels) for action nouns, -ла, -ал, -ар, and -н for denominal verbs.^[77] The valency changing suffixes and the gerunds were mentioned in the verbal morphology section above. Diminutives may be formed with multiple suffixes such as -ашка, -(к)ка, -лчӑ, -ак/ӑк, -ача.^[78]

Sample text

1. Хĕвелĕн икĕ арăм: Ирхи Шуçăмпа Каçхи Шуçăм.^[79]
1. The Sun has two wives: Dawn and Afterglow (lit. "the Morning Glow" and "the Evening Glow").

2. Ир пулсан Хĕвел Ирхи Шуçăмран уйрăлса каять
2. When it is morning, the Sun leaves Dawn

3. те яра кун тăршшĕпе Каçхи Шуçăм патнелле сулăнать.
3. and during the whole day (he) moves towards Afterglow.

4. Çак икĕ мăшăрĕнчен унăн ачасем:
4. From these two spouses of his, he has children:

5. Этем ятлă ывăл тата Сывлăм ятлă хĕр пур.
5. a son named Etem (Human) and a daughter named Syvlăm (Dew).

6. Этемпе Сывлăм пĕррехинче Çĕр чăмăрĕ çинче тĕл пулнă та,
6. Etem and Syvlăm once met on the globe of the Earth,

7. пĕр-пĕрне юратса çемье чăмăртанă.
7. fell in love with each other and started a family.

8. Халь пурăнакан этемсем çав мăшăрăн тăхăмĕсем.
8. The humans who live today are the descendants of this couple.

See also

• Chuvash literature
• Bulgar language
• Cyrillic script
• Oghur languages
• Turkic Avar language
• Turkic languages
• Ivan Yakovlev

Notes

References

Specific

General

Further reading

• Krueger, John R. "Remarks on the Chuvash Language: Past, Present and Future". In: Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Soviet National Languages: Their Past, Present and Future. Edited by Isabelle T. Kreindler. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 1985. pp. 265–274. doi:10.1515/9783110864380-013
• Zheltov, Pavel V. (2006). "Comparative Analysis of Some Tatar and Chuvash Affixes". Turcica. 38: 325–331. doi:10.2143/TURC.38.0.2021278.

External links

Resources

Chuvash edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Chuvash–Russian On-Line Dictionary
• Chuvash English On-Line Dictionary
• Chuvash People's Website (in English), also available in Chuvash, Esperanto and Russian (contains Chuvash literature)
• Nutshell Chuvash, by András Róna-Tas
• Chuvash people and language by Éva Kincses Nagy, Istanbul Erasmus IP 1- 13. 2. 2007
• Chuvash manual online
• The Chuvash-Russian bilingual corpus
• Translations of works by Alexander Pushkin into Chuvash
• Chuvash literature blog