Dolgan (Дулҕан / һака тыла)

Dolgan is a northern Turkic language spoken in the Taymyr Peninsula in the far north of the Russian Federation by about a thousand people. It is most closely related to Yakut (Sakha) and Dolgan is regarded by some as a dialect of Yakut. Dolgan differs from Yakut in that it has been strongly influenced by the Evenk language in some areas, and by the Nenets language in others. There is also considerable influence from Russian.

The name Dolgan probably means 'people living on the middle reaches of the river'. They have also used other names, including toa / toalar / toakihi / toakihilär ('people of the wood'), toatagolar ('nomadic people'), and tagal / tägäl ('a tribe, a people').

Dolgan was first written with a version of the Latin alphabet devised in the 1920s. Since the 1940s the language has been written with a version of the Cyrillic alphabet similar to the one used for Yakut.

In the early 1960s some articles in Dolgan appeared in the newspaper Советский Таймыр (Soviet Taymyr), and a collection of poems in Dolgan was published in 1973. The first Dolgan language primer was published in 1984, and since then Dolgan has been taught in some primary schools.

Dolgan alphabet

Dolgan alphabet

Note

The letters in red are used only in Russian loanwords and names.

Download a chart of the Dolgan alphabet and pronunciation (PDF, in German)

Information about Dolgan pronunciation complied by Wolfram Siegel

Sample text

Һобуой һуорганнар
Эһиллэн иһэллэр.
Күһүӈӈү һугуттар
Нэлэйэ һыталлар.
Чыычаактар үөрэннэр
Ирбэнэ һылдьаллар.
Кыракый оголор
Һугунтан топпоттор.
Аньактар, һыӈаактар
Бугдии буоллулар.
Кыһыллар — күөктэр,
Күөктэр — кыһыллар.
Көрүӈ — дьэ, чыычаактар
Биһиллибэтэктэр.
Оголор күлсэллэр,
Тиэрэ каньыһаллар.

Translation

Covers the mossy valley.
Berries lie in a carpet -
Enjoy, my friend, good.
The birds peck happily
Berries juicy grain.
Finding them kids
They devour from the heart.
Children's mouths and cheeks
Everything from the berry ripples -
Blue from blueberries
Fire from lingonberries.
But the bird has its beak
Didn't smudge at all.
Have fun all the guys
They rush into the distance in a crowd.

Source: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Долганский_язык

Sample videos in Dolgan

Information about Dolgan | Numbers

Links

Information about the Dolgan language and people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolgan_language
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolganische_Sprache
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Долганский_язык
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/dlg
http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/dolgans.shtml
http://www.everyculture.com/Russia-Eurasia-China/Dolgan.html

Turkic languages

Altay, Äynu, Azerbaijani, Bashkir, Chagatai, Chelkan, Chulym, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Dolgan, Fuyu Kyrgyz, Gagauz, Ili Turki, Karachay-Balkar, Karaim, Karakalpak, Karamanli Turkish, Kazakh, Khakas, Khalaj, Khorasani Turkic, Krymchak, Kumandy, Kumyk, Kyrgyz, Lop, Nogai, Old Turkic, Qashqai, Romanian Tatar, Salar, Shor, Siberian Tatar, Soyot, Tatar, Teleut, Tofa, Turkish, Turkmen, Tuvan, Urum, Uyghur, Uzbek, Western Yugur, Yakut (Sakha)

Languages written with the Cyrillic alphabet

Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Aghul, Akhvakh, Akkala Sámi, Aleut, Altay, Alyutor, Andi, Archi, Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian, Avar, Azeri, Bagvalal, Balkar, Bashkir, Belarusian, Bezhta, Bosnian, Botlikh, Budukh, Bulgarian, Buryat, Chamalal, Chechen, Chelkan, Chukchi, Chulym, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Dargwa, Daur, Dolgan, Dungan, Enets, Erzya, Even, Evenki, Gagauz, Godoberi, Hinukh, Hunzib, Ingush, Interslavic, Itelmen, Juhuri, Kabardian, Kaitag, Kalderash Romani, Kalmyk, Karaim, Karakalpak, Karata, Karelian, Kazakh, Ket, Khakas, Khanty, Khinalug, Khorasani Turkic, Khwarshi, Kildin Sámi, Kili, Komi, Koryak, Krymchak, Kryts, Kubachi, Kumandy, Kumyk, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lak, Lezgi, Lingua Franca Nova, Lithuanian, Ludic, Macedonian, Mansi, Mari, Moksha, Moldovan, Mongolian, Montenegrin, Nanai, Negidal, Nenets, Nganasan, Nivkh, Nogai, Old Church Slavonic, Oroch, Orok, Ossetian, Pontic Greek, Romanian, Rushani, Russian, Rusyn, Rutul, Selkup, Serbian, Shor, Shughni, Siberian Tatar, Sirenik, Slovio, Soyot, Tabassaran, Tajik, Talysh, Tat, Tatar, Teleut, Ter Sámi, Tindi, Tofa, Tsakhur, Tsez, Turkmen, Tuvan, Ubykh, Udege, Udi, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Ulch, Urum, Uyghur, Uzbek, Veps, Votic, Wakhi, West Polesian, Xibe, Yaghnobi, Yakut, Yazghulami, Yukaghir (Northern / Tundra), Yukaghir (Southern / Kolyma), Yupik (Central Siberian)

Page last modified: 17.06.23

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