The Ulch language, or Olcha, is a Tungusic language spoken by the Ulch people in the Russian Far East. The language is moribund, with only 150 speakers (2010 census).

Phonology

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Closeiu
Midɪ ~ eəʊ ~ o
Opena
  • Vowel length is also distributed.

Consonants

LabialAlveolarAlveolo- palatalVelarUvular
Nasalmnɲŋ
Plosive/ Affricatevoicelessptt͡ɕk(q)
voicedbdd͡ʑɡ
Fricativevoiceless(f)sx(χ)
voicedβ(ɣ)
Laterall
Rhoticr
Approximant(w)j
  • [f] is a rare sound in native words.
  • /β ɡ/ have allophones of [w ɣ].
  • /k x/ can become uvularized as [q χ] before vowels /a o/.

Alphabet

А а(а̄)Б бВ вГ гД дДʼ дʼЕ е
(е̄)Ё ё(ё̄)Ж жЗ зИ и(ӣ)Й й
К кЛ лМ мН нНʼ нʼӇ ӈО о(о̄)
П пР рС сТ тУ у(ӯ)Ф фХ х
Ц цЧ чШ шЩ щъЫ ыьЭ э
(э̄)Ю ю(ю̄)Я я(я̄)

In brackets are letters that are used in writing, though not officially included in the alphabet.

Bibliography

  • Bitkeeva, A.N.; V.Y. Gusev; O.A. Povoroznyuk; D.A. Funk; N.V. Khokhlov; K.G. Shakhovtsov (2005). . UNESCO Moscow Office. Archived from on 28 July 2009.
  • Sunik, O. P. (1985). Ul'chskij jazyk: issledovanija i materially. Leningrad: Nauka, Leningradskoe Otdelenie. 262pp.

External links

  • ELAR archive of