Northern Altai language


Northern Altai or Northern Altay is one of two Turkic languages spoken in the Altay Krai of Russia on the border of Kazakhstan. Though traditionally considered one language, Southern Altai is not fully mutually intelligible with the Northern varieties. Written Altai is based on Southern Altai, and is rejected by Northern Altai children.
Northern Altay is written in Cyrillic. In 2006, in the Altay kray, an alphabet was created for the Kumandy variety.

Demographics

According to data from the 2002 Russian Census, 65,534 people in Russia stated that they have command of the Altay language. Only around 10% of them speak Northern Altay varieties, while the remaining speak Southern Altay varieties. Furthermore, according to some data, only 2% of Altays fluently speak the Altay language.

Varieties

Northern Altay consists of the following varieties:
, is also often ascribed to belong to the Northern Altai group, but its relation to other languages is dubious and it may belong to Kipchak languages. 408 Tubalars claim to know their national language, and 436 people in all reported knowing Tuba.
Closely related to the northern varieties of Altay are and the of Chulym language.

Linguistic features

The following features refer to the outcome of commonly used Turkic isoglosses in Northern Altay.