Soyot language: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Siberian Turkic language}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Soyot

| nativename = сойыт тыл

| pronunciation =

| states = [[Russia]], [[Mongolia]]

| region = [[Buryatia]], [[Khövsgöl Province]]

| ethnicity = [[Soyot]]s

| speakers =

| ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger |url=http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/index.php?hl=en&page=atlasmap&lid=1449 |website=www.unesco.org |access-date=2 January 2021}}</ref>

| extinct = Second half of 20th century (partly revitalized)<ref name="Rassadin" />

| familycolor = Altaic

| fam1 = [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]

| fam2 = [[Common Turkic languages|Common Turkic]]

| fam3 = [[Siberian Turkic languages|Siberian Turkic]]

| fam4 = South Siberian

| fam5 = Sayan Turkic

| fam6 = Taiga Sayan Turkic<ref name="refRagagnin">Elisabetta Ragagnin (2011), [http://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/dzo/artikel/201/004/4043_201.pdf?t=1322214979 Dukhan, a Turkic Variety of Northern Mongolia, Description and Analysis], Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden</ref>

| iso3 = none

| glotto = soyo1234

| glottoname = Soyot

| ELP = 10480

| revived = 2000s<ref name="Rassadin">{{cite web |url=https://lingsib.iea.ras.ru/en/languages/soiot.shtml |author=Rassadin, V.I. |title=The Soyot Language |work=Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |access-date=2021-07-18}}</ref>

| isoexception = dialect

'''Soyot''' (or '''Soyot–Tsaatan''') is an extinct and revitalizing [[Turkic languages|Turkic language]] of the [[Siberian Turkic languages|Siberian]] Sayan branch similar to the [[Dukhan language]] and closely related to the [[Tofa language]].<ref name="Rassadin" /> Two dialects/languages are spoken in [[Russia]] and [[Mongolia]]: Soyot in the [[Okinsky District]] of the Republic of [[Buryatia]] (Russia) and Tsaatan ([[Uriankhai]] Uyghur) in the [[Darkhad Valley|Darkhad valley]] of Mongolia.

The language is revitalizing in primary schools.<ref name="Rassadin" /> In 2002, [[Valentin Ivanovich Rassadin|V. I. Rassadin]] published a Soyot–Buryat–Russian dictionary.<ref name="Rassadin" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Rassadin |first=V.I. |url=http://altaica.ru/LIBRARY/turks/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BD_%D0%A1%D0%BE%D0%B9%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE-%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D1%8F%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE-%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8C%202002.doc |title=Soyotsko-Buryatsko-Russky Slovar |date=2002 |location=Ulan-Ude |language=ru |script-title=ru:Сойотско-Бурятско-Русский Словарь |trans-title=Soyot-Buryat-Russian Dictionary |access-date=10 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312032309/https://altaica.ru/LIBRARY/turks/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BD_%D0%A1%D0%BE%D0%B9%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE-%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D1%8F%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE-%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8C%202002.doc |archive-date=12 March 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, he published a children's book in the Soyot language, along with Russian, Mongolian, and English translations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rassadin |first=V.I. |url=https://altaica.ru/LIBRARY/rassadin/soyot_picture_dictionary.pdf |title=Kartinsky Slovar Soyotskogo Yazyka |date=2020 |publisher=Respublikanskaya Tipografiya |location=Ulan-Ude |script-title=ru:Картинский Словарь Сойотского Языка |trans-title=Picture Dictionary of the Soyot Language |author-link=Valentin Rassadin |access-date=10 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725070505/https://altaica.ru/LIBRARY/rassadin/soyot_picture_dictionary.pdf |archive-date=25 July 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Soyot belongs to the Turkic family of languages. Within this family, it is placed in the Sayan Turkic branch. According to some researchers, the Sayan Turkic branch has five languages:<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ragagnin |first=Elisabetta |date=2012 |title=Duhalari 'Kayip Olmayan' Türkofon Bi̇r Halk |trans-title=The Dukhas of Mongolia a 'Not Lost' Turcophone People |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/305300 |journal=Tehlikedeki Diller Dergisi / Journal of Endangered Languages |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=85–101 |access-date=2 January 2021 |quote=...Dukhan language, it belongs to the taiga subgroup of Sayan Turkic, which itself is a member of the Siberian branch of the Turkic languages. The other Taiga Sayan Turkic languages are Tofan, which is spoken in the Irkutsk Oblast’, with varieties spoken in the Toja and Tere-Khöl regions of the Tuvan republic, and the Soyot language spoken in the Oka region of the Buryat republic.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=de Mol-van Valen |first=Tessa |title=A Comparative StudyonThe Sayan Languages (Turkic; Russia and Mongolia) |date=2017 |degree=Research Master |publisher=Leiden University |hdl=1887/52611 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>

{{Tree list}}

*Sayan Turkic

**[[Tuvan language|Tuvan]] (ISO 639:tyv)

**[[Tofa language|Tofa]] (ISO 639:kim)

**'''Soyot'''

**[[Dukhan language|Dukhan]] (<s>ISO 639:dkh</s>, rejected)

**Tuba (extinct, not to be confused with the [[Tubalar language|Tubalar]] dialect of [[Northern Altai language]])

{{Tree list/end}}

According to Glottolog, the Soyot is a dialect of the Taiga Sayan Turkic language:<ref>{{cite web |title=Sayan |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/saya1244 |website=glottolog.org |access-date=2 January 2021}}</ref>

{{Tree list}}

*Sayan

**Taiga Sayan Turkic

***[[Dukhan language|Dukha]]

***'''Soyot'''

***Todja

***[[Tofa language|Tofa]]

***Tuha

**[[Tuvan language|Tuvinian]]

{{Tree list/end}}

Ragagnin similarly divides the Sayan languages into two branches: Steppe and Taiga, but makes certain distinctions not made by Glottlog:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ragagnin |first=Elisabetta |title=Dukhan, a Turkic Variety of Northern Mongolia: Description and Analysis |date=2011 |isbn=978-3-447-19067-1 |location=Wiesbaden, Germany |oclc=900888155}}</ref>

{{Tree list}}

*Sayan Turkic

**Taiga Sayan Turkic

***Dukha

***Tofa

***Toju

***Tuvan dialects of [[Tere-Kholsky District|Tere-Khöl]]

***'''Soyot'''

**Steppe Sayan Turkic

***Standard Tuvan

***Altay-Sayan varieties of China and Mongolia

***Tuha

{{Tree list/end}}

Soyot has no official recognition in any of the countries where it is spoken. Until 1993, they were counted as part of the [[Buryats|Buryat]] nationality in Russia. At this point, they were acknowledged as a separate nationality by the [[People's Khural of the Republic of Buryatia]]. After applying to the [[State Duma|Russian Duma]] for official recognition, they were acknowledged as an ethnic minority in 2001. Most Soyots in Russia live in [[Buryatia]]'s [[Okinsky District]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Rassadin |first1=V. I. |title=Soyotica |last2=Рассадин |first2=В. И. |date=2010 |publisher=University of Szeged, Dept. of Altaic Studies |others=Béla Kempf |isbn=978-963-306-027-8 |location=Szeged |oclc=760289448}}</ref>

Rassadin reports that the Soyot and [[Dukhan language|Tsaatan]] dialects, have very similar phonological systems.<ref name=":0" /> Information here is from Soyot.

![[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br>[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]

![[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br>alveolar]]

|{{IPA link|m}}

|{{IPA link|n}}

| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ŋ}}

! rowspan="2" |[[Plosive]]

|{{IPA link|p}}

|{{IPA link|t}}

|{{IPA link|ʧ}}

|{{IPA link|k}}

|{{IPA link|q}}

|{{IPA link|b}}

|{{IPA link|d}}

|{{IPA link|ʤ}}

! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative]]

|{{IPA link|f}}

|{{IPA link|s}}

|{{IPA link|ʃ}}

| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|x}}

|{{IPA link|h}}

|{{IPA link|v}}

|{{IPA link|z}}

|{{IPA link|ʒ}}

| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɣ}}

! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]

|{{IPA link|l}}

|{{IPA link|j}}

|{{IPA link|r}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!{{small|[[Roundedness|unrounded]]}} !! {{small|rounded}}

!{{small|unrounded}} !! {{small|rounded}}

|{{IPA link|i}}

|{{IPA link|y}}

|{{IPA link|ɯ}}

|{{IPA link|u}}

|{{IPA link|e}}

|{{IPA link|ø}}

|{{IPA link|o}}

|{{IPA link|æ}}

|{{IPA link|a}}

Soyot exhibits [[vowel harmony]], that is, words containing front vowels take only suffixes containing front vowels, whereas words with back vowels take only suffixes with back vowels.

Soyot is not commonly written. Rassadin employs a [[Cyrillic alphabets|Cyrillic]]-based writing system to represent Soyot in his dictionaries and grammars. Certain letters are only found in Russian loanwords.{{Which|date=April 2024}}

== Grammar ==

=== Nouns ===

Nouns have singular and [[plural]] forms. The plural is formed with the suffix /-LAr/, which has six possible surface variations depending on vowel harmony and the preceding sound.

{| class="wikitable"

|+Soyot plural forms

!

!Front vowel

!Back vowel

|-

!Nasal consonant

|''-nær: hem-nær'' "rivers"

|''-nar: oyɯn-nar'' "games"

|-

!Voiceless consonant

|''-tær: eʃ-tær'' "friends"

|''-tar: baˁʃ-tar'' "heads"

|-

!Vowel or voiced consonant

|''-lær: øɣ-lær'' "houses"

|''-lar: barva-lar'' "saddle bags"

|}

[[Possession (linguistics)|Possession]] is indicated by adding a suffix to the possessed noun, e.g. ''ava-m'' "my mother", ''ava-ŋ'' "your mother". The possessive suffixes vary based on vowel harmony and whether the word they are attached to ends in a vowel or a consonant:

{| class="wikitable"

|+Soyot possessive markers

!

!Singular

!Plural

|-

!1st person

|''-(I)m''

|''-(I)vIs''

|-

!2nd person

|''-(I)ŋ''

|''-(I)ŋAr''

|-

!3rd person

|''-(s)I''

|''-(s)I''

|}

[[Grammatical case|Case]] is indicated by adding suffixes after the plural and possessive markers, if they are present. There are seven cases in Soyot . The [[nominative case]] is not marked. The six cases that are indicated by suffixes are shown below. These vary based on vowel harmony and the final sound of the word they are attached to.

{| class="wikitable"

|+Soyot case markers

![[Accusative case|Accusative]]

|''-nɯ, -ni, -tɯ, -ti''

|-

![[Genitive case|Genitive]]

|''-nɯŋ, -niŋ, -tɯŋ, -tiŋ''

|-

![[Dative case|Dative]]

|''-ɣa, -gæ, -qa, -kæ''

|-

![[Locative case|Locative]]

|''-da, -dæ, -ta, -tæ''

|-

![[Ablative case|Ablative]]

|''-dan, -dæn, -tan, -tæn''

|-

!Directive

|''-ɣɯdɯ, -gidi, -qɯdɯ, -kidi''

|}

=== Adjectives ===

Certain adjectives may be intensified via [[reduplication]]. The involves taking the first syllable plus /p/ and adding it to the front of the word, e.g. ''qap-qara'' "very black", ''sap-sarɯɣ'' "very yellow". Other adjectives are intensified using the adverb ''tuŋ'' "very", e.g. ''tuŋ ulɯɣ'' "very big".

=== Numerals ===

Soyot employs a [[Decimal|base-10]] counting system.

{| class="wikitable"

|+Soyot numerals

|'''1'''

|''biræː''

|'''10'''

|''on''

|-

|'''2'''

|''iˁhi''

|'''20'''

|''t͡ʃeːrbi, t͡ʃeːrvi''

|-

|'''3'''

|''yʃ''

|'''30'''

|''yd͡ʒøn''

|-

|'''4'''

|''dørt''

|'''40'''

|''dørtøn''

|-

|'''5'''

|''beʃ''

|'''50'''

|''bed͡ʒøn''

|-

|'''6'''

|''aˁltɯ''

|'''60'''

|''aˁlton''

|-

|'''7'''

|''t͡ʃedi''

|'''70'''

|''t͡ʃedon''

|-

|'''8'''

|''ses''

|'''80'''

|''ses on''

|-

|'''9'''

|''tos''

|'''90'''

|''tos on''

|-

|'''100'''

|''t͡ʃys''

|'''1000'''

|''mɯŋ''

|}

Complex numerals are created much as in English, e.g. ''yʃ mɯŋ tos t͡ʃys tos on tos'' "three thousand nine hundred ninety-nine".

[[Ordinal numeral]]s are formed by adding the word ''duɣaːr'' to the cardinal numeral, e.g. ''iˁhi duɣaːr'' "second".

* [[Dukhan language]]