Tuvan language: a brief history and current state

Russia has always been and remains a multiethnic country, in which currently more than two hundred different peoples live. And although the official language throughout the state is Russian, each ethnos has the right to preserve and develop its native speech. The Tuva language, which is prevalent in the territory of the Republic of Tuva, is considered one of the most complex and at the same time colorful languages of our homeland.

general characteristics

Tuvan language belongs to the Turkic group, that is, genealogically it is related to Kazakh, Tatar, Azerbaijani and some other.

Historically, the Turkic ethnos spread across vast territories from China to Europe, conquering the local population and assimilating it. Turkic languages are rich and diverse, but they are all united by a large number of vowels of the anterior and middle rows (a, e, y, o), including doubled ones, as well as the predominance of the suffixal way of word formation.

In the lexical composition of Tuvan there is a significant body of borrowings from the Mongolian, Russian and Tibetan.

The Tuva alphabet appeared only in the first half of the 20th century. The first writing was created on the basis of the Latin alphabet. In 1941, the alphabet was translated into Cyrillic, which corresponded to the program of the government of the USSR to create a single charter for all the republics.

Tuvan language has the official status in the Republic of Tuva, but it is also spoken in the northern regions of Mongolia. At present, there are more than 200 thousand carriers.

Is it possible to study Tuvan language independently?

For a Russian person, learning such a language is quite a difficult task. Perhaps, precisely because the number of Russians living in Tuva and knowing Tuvan, barely exceeds one percent. It is believed that this language is better studied by those who have already become acquainted with other Turkic languages, for example, with Kazakh.

For the development of Tuvan, it is not necessary to go to distant Tuva, basic knowledge can be obtained independently by special allowances and textbooks.

It should be said that despite the fact that the alphabet for Tuvans appeared less than a century ago, Russian linguists began to describe the grammar of this language half a century before the appearance of the Tuva letter.

At present, one of the most authoritative publications is the monograph of FG Iskhakov and AA Palmbakh, published in 1961. According to this textbook one can get acquainted with the Tuvan phonetics and morphology.

Recently, K.A. Bicheldey's manual "Let's Talk in Tuvan" was published. This textbook is aimed at those who are just beginning to get acquainted with the language. It contains exercises, brief information on grammar and phonetics, and vocabulary is selected in accordance with the needs of the student-debutant.

Some words and phrases in Tuvan language

Linguists distinguish four dialects of the language in question: south-east, west, central and so-called Todzin. The basis of the literary language is the central dialect. It is on it that books, periodicals are published and television programs are produced.

Below are some Tuvan words that can be used in everyday communication.

Dictionaries of Tyva language

Currently there are quite a lot of dictionaries of Tuvan language. There are even a few online translators on the Internet. However, as before, printed literature remains classics.

As a guide for learning the language, you can advise the Tuvan-Russian dictionary edited by E. R. Tenishev. This work was released in 1968, but is still authoritative both in terms of the amount of material collected (more than 20 thousand words) and in the way of interpretation of meanings.

Those who are interested in the history of the language can benefit from the multivolume etymological dictionary compiled by the linguist BI Tatarintsev.

Tuvinian literature

Poetry and prose in this interesting language appears infrequently, but nevertheless it is worth mentioning some Tuvan writers: Sagan-ool VS, Mongush DB, Olchey-ool MK, Khovenmey BD. Literature Tuvinians began to develop after the creation of the alphabet, that is, from the 30-ies of the last century.

If you are interested in how Tuvan verses sound in Tuvan language, you can find such poetry on the Internet. In particular, on the site "poetry.ru" or "Vkontakte". In free access there are works of Lama-Rome Ooðredi and many other contemporary writers who are in love with their homeland and who want to support the national culture.

The government of Tuva tries to support the development of the native language in every possible way, because the number of Tuvan speakers decreases every year, and Russians rarely undertake to study this language because of its complexity.

Music of Tyva

Tuvan songs are notable for melodiousness, national coloring and often resemble ancient shamanic chants. Connoisseurs of folklore motives can be advised to listen to Hun Hurt and Chilchigin .. Those who prefer pop-style and chanson will like Nachyn, Ayan Sedip and Andriyan Kuna-Siirin.

Other modern musicians include Shyngyraa, Buyana Setkil, Ertine Mongush, Chinchi Sambu and Igor Ondar and Herela Mekper-oola. Find the music of these artists can be in social networks and on special sites. However, be prepared for the fact that Tuvan songs, even performed in the style of pop or chanson, differ in melody and rhythm from Western music.