Yakut

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A language of Russian Federation

ISO 639-3
sah
Alternate Names
Sakha, Yakut-Sakha
Autonym
саха тыла‎ (Saxa tıla), сахалыы‎ (saȟalyy)
User Population

450,000 (2010 census). Ethnic population: 478,000 (2010 census).

Location

Irkutsk province, Magadan province, and Sakha (Yakutia) republic; Khabarovsk krai and Krasnoyarsk krai; near Arctic Sea, middle Lena river, Aldan and Kolyma rivers, 3,220 km.

Language Maps
Language Status

2 (Provincial). Statutory provincial language in Sakha Republic (1992, Constitution of the Republic of Sakha, Article 46).

Classification
Turkic, Northern
Dialects

Middlekolymskyi, Olemkinskyi, Vilyiskyi, Dolgan.

Typology

SOV; postpositions; noun head final; no articles; case-marking (7 cases); verb affixes mark person, number; passives; tense and aspect; 21 consonants, 16 vowels, 4 diphthongs; non-tonal; stress on final syllable; vowel harmony.

Language Use

Used by all. Positive attitudes. Also use Russian [rus]. Used as L2 by Chukchi [ckt], Even [eve], Evenki [evn], Northern Yukaghir [ykg], Southern Yukaghir [yux].

Language Development

Russian used in higher education. Grammar. NT: 2004–2017.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Yakut
Writing

Cyrillic script [Cyrl]. Cyrillic script, Old Church Slavonic variant [Cyrs], in the 19th century, experimental usage.

Other Comments

Christian, traditional religion.