Tuvan is a Turkic language spoken in the Republic of Tuva (Tannu Tuva) in south-central Siberia in the far east of the Russian Federation. There are also small groups of Tuvan speakers in China and Mongolia. In 2010 there were 280,000 speakers of Tuvan, which is also known as Tuvinian, Tyvan or Tuvin.
Tuvan is classified as a Northeastern or Siberian Turkic language and is closely related to the Khakas and Altai languages. It has also been quite heavily influenced by Mongolian and Russian.
There are four main dialects of Tuvan: Western, Central, Northeastern and Southeastern. Written Tuvan is based on the Central dialect. It was first written in 1930 using the Latin alphabet with a spelling system invented by Mongush Lopsan-Chimit, a Tuvan Buddhist llama. The traditional Mongolian script was also used to some extent. A few books and newspapers were printed using his system. Since September 1943 Tuvan has been written with the Cyrillic alphabet using a spelling system devised by the Russian linguist Evgeniy Polivanov (Евгений Поливанов).
Download an alphabet chart for Tuvan (Excel)
Бүгү кижилер хостуг база мөзүзү болгаш эргелери дең кылдыр төрүттүнер. Оларга угаан- сарыыл болгаш арын-нүүр бердинген болур болгаш олар бот-боттарынга акы-дуңмалышкы хамаарылганы көргүзер ужурлуг.
Bygy kižiler xostug baza mөzyzy bolgaš ergeleri deņ kьldьr tөryttyner. Olarga ugaan-sarььl bolgaš arьn-nyyr berdingen bolur bolgaš olar bot-bottarьnga akь-duņmalьškь xamaarьlganь kөrgyzer užurlug.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Тыва чоннуң эртинези – хөөмей
Делегейниң эң улуг күчулүг, чараш, арыг, байлак хемнерниң бирээзи – алдарлыг Енисейниң – Улуг Хемниң шуурап баткан ораны, делегейде чок дээн делгем чаагай Азия диптиң географтыг төвү, чүрээ, буурул баштыг Саян сыннары хаажылаан Тыва чурту бойдустуң эң ховар чурумалы, тураскаалы болуп турары дег, тываларны өске чоннардан ылгап, алдаржыдып, киискидип турар онзагай демдектер эвээш эвес.
Tƣva čonnuņ ertinezi - xөөmey
Delegejniņ eņ ulug kyčyten, čaraš, arƣg, baylak xemnerniņ bireezi - aldarlƣg Enisejniņ - Ulug Xemniņ šuurap batkan oranƣ, delegejde čok deen delgem čaagaj Azija diptiņ geograftƣg tөvy, čyree, buurul baštƣg Sayan sƣnnarƣ xaažƣlaan Tƣva čurtu bojdustuņ eņ xovar čurumalƣ, turaskaalƣ bolup turarƣ deg, tƣvalarnƣ өske čonnardan ƣlgap, aldaržƣdƣp, kiiskidip turar onzagaj demdekter eveeš eves.
Source: part of a text about Tuvan Throatsinging from http://tyvawiki.org/wiki/Throatsinging_-_Treasure_of_the_Tuvan_People
Information about Tuvan | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel
Information about the Tuvan language and people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvan_language
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Tuvan_pronunciation
http://tyvawiki.org/wiki/Category:Language
http://www.avantart.com/tuva/
Tuvan phrases
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Tuvan_phrasebook
Tuvan language and culture portal, including a Tuvan-English dictionary
http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/tuvan/
Huun-Huur-Tu - a group of Tuvan throat singers
http://www.huunhuurtu.com
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)
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Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 10.06.24
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