Chukchi

Also known as Chukot, Ləɣ'orawetl'at, ckt, Chukchi language

Palaeosiberian language

AI overview

Chukchi is a language spoken by the Chukchi people in the far northeastern region of Russia, near the Arctic Ocean. It is one of the Paleosiberian languages, a group of indigenous languages with unclear relationships to other major language families, making it linguistically significant for understanding human migration and language diversity in remote Arctic regions.

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Wikidata facts

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number of speakers, writers, or signers: 5100
Wikimedia language code: ckt
short name: чукотский
native label: Ԓыгъоравэтԓьэн йиԓыйиԓ
exact match: data.linguistik.de/bll/bll-ontology#bll-133088480
Wikimedia Incubator URL: incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wt/ckt
Commons category: Chukchi language

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A Chukchi speaker, recorded in Romania Chukchi (/ˈtʃʊktʃi/ CHUUK-chee), also known as Chukot, is a Chukotko–Kamchatkan language spoken by the Chukchi people in the easternmost extremity of Siberia, mainly in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The language is closely related to Koryak, and is distantly related to Kerek, Alutor, and Itelmen. There are many cultural similarities between the Chukchis and Koryaks, including economies based on reindeer herding. Both peoples refer to themselves by the endonym Luorawetlat (ԓыгъоравэтԓьат [ɬəɣˀoraˈwetɬˀat]), meaning 'the real people'. All of these peoples and other unrelated minorities in and around Kamchatka are known collectively as Kamchadals.

Chukchi and Chukchee are anglicised spellings of the Russian exonym Chukchi (singular: Chukcha). This came into Russian from Čävča, the term used by the Chukchis' Tungusic-speaking neighbours, which is itself a rendering of the Chukchi word чавчыв [ˈtʃawtʃəw], meaning '[a man who is] rich in reindeer [herding]'.