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{{distinguish|Altaic languages}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Altai
|altname=Алтай тили
|nativename=''Altay tili''
|states=[[Russia]]
|region=[[Altai Republic]] (Southern Altai), [[Altai Krai]] (Northern Altai)
|ethnicity=[[Altai people|Altai]], [[Tubalar]], etc.
|speakers={{sigfig|57,400|2}}<!--don't add: each Ethn. article gives the total-->
|date=2010 census
|ref=e18
|speakers2=(may not all be fluent)
|familycolor=Altaic
|fam1=[[Turkic languages|Turkic]]
|fam2=[[Common Turkic languages|Common Turkic]]
|fam3=[[Siberian Turkic]]
|nation=[[Altai Republic]] ([[Russia]])
|iso2=alt
|lc1=atv|ld1=Northern Altai
|lc2=alt|ld2=Southern Altai
|glotto=alta1276
|glottorefname=Altay Turkic
|script=[[Cyrillic]]
|notice=IPA
}}

'''Gorno-Altai''' (also '''Gorno-Altay''') is a [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] language, spoken officially in the [[Altai Republic]], [[Russia]]. The language was called '''Oyrot''' prior to 1948.

==Classification==
Due to its isolated position in the [[Altai Mountains]] and contact with surrounding languages, the classification of Altai within the Turkic languages has often been disputed. Because of its geographic proximity to the [[Shor language|Shor]] and [[Khakas language]]s, some classifications place it in a Northern Turkic subgroup.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=92721
|title = Ethnologue report for Northern Turkic
|accessdate = 2007-09-14
|editor = Gordon, Raymond G. Jr.
|year = 2005
|publisher = SIL International
}}</ref>
Due to certain similarities with [[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]], it has been grouped with the [[Kypchak languages]]. A more recent classification by Talat Tekin places Southern Altai in its own subgroup within Turkic and groups the Northern Altai dialects with Lower [[Chulym language|Chulym]] and the Kondoma dialect of [[Shor language|Shor]].<ref>{{cite journal
 | last = Tekin
 | first = Tâlat
 |date=January 1989
 | title = A New Classification of the Chuvash-Turkic Languages
 | journal = Erdem
 | volume = 5
 | issue = 13
 | pages = 129–139
 | issn = 1010-867X}}</ref>

==Geographical distribution==
Altai is spoken primarily in the [[Altai Republic]] (Southern Altai) and [[Altai Krai]] (Northern Altai).

===Official status===
Alongside [[Russian language|Russian]], Altai is an official language of the Altai Republic. The official language is based on the Southern dialect spoken by the group called the Altay-Kiži, however in the few years it has also spread to the Northern Altai Republic.

===Varieties===
Though traditionally considered one language, Southern Altai is not fully mutually intelligible with the Northern varieties. Written Altai is based on Southern Altai, and according to ''Ethnologue'' is rejected by Northern Altai children.<ref>Raymond G. Gordon, Jr, ed. 2005. ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World''. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.</ref> In 2006, a Cyrillic alphabet was created for the Kumandy variety of Northern Altai for use in [[Altai Krai]].<ref>[http://www.indigenous.ru/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=215 В Алтайском крае издана азбука кумандинского языка. 2006]</ref>

Dialects are as follows:<ref>{{cite journal
 | last = Baskakov
 | first = N. A.
 | year = 1958
 | title = La Classification des Dialectes de la Langue Turque d'Altaï
 | journal = Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
 | volume = 8
 | pages = 9–15
 | issn = 0001-6446
 | language = French
 }}</ref>

*'''Southern Altai'''
**Altai proper
***Mayma
**[[Telengits|Telengit]]
***Tölös
***Chuy
**[[Teleuts|Teleut]]
*'''Northern Altai'''
**[[Tubalar|Tuba]]
**[[Kumandins|Kumandy]]
***Turachak
***Solton
***Starobardinian
**[[Chelkans|Chalkan]] (also called Kuu, Lebedin)

Closely related to the northern varieties are [[Shor language|Kondom Shor]] and [[Chulym language|Lower Chulym]], which have -j- for [[proto-Turkic]] inter-vocalic *d, unlike Mras Shor and Middle Chulym, which have -z- and are closer to [[Khakas language|Khakas]].

== Linguistic features ==
The following features refer to the outcome of commonly used Turkic [[isoglosses]] in Northern Altai.<ref>{{Cite book
  | last = Баскаков
  | first = Николай Александрович
  | title = Диалект Черневых Татар (Туба-Кижи): грамматический очерк и словарь.
  | publisher = Наука
  | year = 1966
  | location = Москва }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book
  | last = Баскаков
  | first = Николай Александрович
  | title = Диалект Кумандинцев (Куманды-Кижи): грамматический очерк, тексты, переводы и словарь.
  | publisher = Наука
  | year = 1972
  | location = Москва }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book
  | last = Баскаков
  | first = Николай Александрович
  | title = Диалект Лебединских Татар-Чалканцев (Куу-Кижи)
  | publisher = Наука
  | year = 1985
  | location = Москва }}</ref>
* */ag/ — Proto-Turkic */ag/ is found in three variations throughout Northern Altai: /u/, /aw/, /aʁ/.
* */eb/ — Proto-Turkic */eb/ is found as either /yj/ or /yg/, depending on the variety.
* */VdV/ — With a few lexical exceptions (likely borrowings), proto-Turkic intervocalic */d/ results in /j/.

==Sounds==
The sounds of the Altai language vary from dialect to dialect.

===Consonants===
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|+caption|Consonant phonemes of Altai
!
!colspan=2|[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
!colspan=2|[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
!colspan=2|[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
!colspan=2|[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|m}}
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|n}}
|colspan=2|
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|ŋ}}
|-
![[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA|p}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|b}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA|t}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|d}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA|c}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|ɟ}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA|k}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|ɡ}}
|-
![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|colspan=2|
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA|s}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|z}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA|ʃ}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|ʒ}}
|style=border-right:0|{{IPA|x}}||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|ɣ}}
|-
![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|colspan=2|
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|l}}
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|j}}
|colspan=2|
|-
![[Tap consonant|Tap]]
|colspan=2|
|style=border-right:0| ||style=border-left:0|{{IPA|ɾ}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|}

The [[voiced palatal plosive]] {{IPA|/ɟ/}} varies greatly from dialect to dialect, especially in the initial position. Forms of the word ''јок'' "no" include {{IPA|[coq]}} (Kuu dialect) and {{IPA|[joq]}} (Kumandy). Even within dialects, this phoneme varies greatly.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Baskakov
 | first = N.A.
 | script-title=ru:Диалект Лебединских Татар-Чалканцев (Куу-Кижи)
 | series = Северные Диалекты Алтайского (Ойротского) Языка
 | year = 1985
 | publisher = Издательство «Наука»
 | location = [[Moscow]]
 | language = Russian
 | oclc = 21048607
 | isbn = 0-8285-3393-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 | last = Baskakov
 | first = N.A.
 | script-title=ru:Диалект Кумандынцев (Куманды-Кижи)
 | series = Северные Диалекты Алтайского (Ойротского) Языка
 | year = 1972
 | publisher = Издательство «Наука»
 | location = [[Moscow]]
 | language = Russian
 | oclc = 38772803
 | isbn = 0-8285-3393-8}}</ref>

===Vowels===
There are eight vowels in Altai. These vowels may be long or short.

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|+caption|Vowel phonemes of Altai
!rowspan=2 colspan=2|
!colspan=2|[[Close vowel|Close]]
!colspan=2|[[Open vowel|Open]]
|-
!<small>[[vowel length|short]]!!<small>[[vowel length|long]]
!<small>[[vowel length|short]]!!<small>[[vowel length|long]]
|-
!rowspan=2|[[Front vowel|Front]]
!<small>[[vowel roundedness|unrounded]]
|{{IPA|i}}||{{IPA|iː}}
|{{IPA|e}}||{{IPA|eː}}
|-
!<small>[[vowel roundedness|rounded]]
|{{IPA|y}}||{{IPA|yː}}
|{{IPA|ø}}||{{IPA|øː}}
|-
!rowspan=2|[[Back vowel|Back]]
!<small>[[vowel roundedness|unrounded]]
|{{IPA|ɯ}}||{{IPA|ɯː}}
|{{IPA|a}}||{{IPA|aː}}
|-
!<small>[[vowel roundedness|rounded]]
|{{IPA|u}}||{{IPA|uː}}
|{{IPA|o}}||{{IPA|oː}}
|}

==Writing system==
The language was written with the [[Latin script]] from 1928–1938, but has used [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] (with the addition of 9 extra letters: Јј [d͡z~ɟ], Ҥҥ [ŋ], Ӧӧ [ø~œ], Ӱӱ [y~ʏ], Ғғ [ʁ], Ққ [q], Һһ [h], Ҹҹ [d͡ʑ], Ii [ɨ̹]) since 1938.

The letter Ÿ is sometimes used instead of Ӱ.

==Morphology and syntax==

=== Pronouns ===

Altai has six personal pronouns:

{|class="wikitable"
|+Personal pronouns in Standard/Southern dialect
!colspan="2"|Singular
!colspan="2"|Plural
|-
!Altai (transliteration)||English||Altai (transliteration)||English
|-
|мен (men)||I||бис (bis)||we
|-
|сен (sen)||you ''(singular)''||слер (sler)||you ''(plural, formal)''
|-
|ол (ol)||he/she/it||олор (olor)||they
|}
The declension of the pronouns is outlined in the following chart. 
{| class="wikitable"
|+Declension of pronouns in Standard/Southern dialect
!Nom
|мен
|сен
|ол
|бис
|слер
|олор
|-
!Acc
|мени
|сени
|оны
|бисти
|слерди
|олорды
|-
!Gen
|мениҥ
|сениҥ
|оныҥ
|бистиҥ
|слердиҥ
|олордыҥ
|-
!Dat
|меге
|сеге
|ого
|биске
|слерге
|олорго
|-
!Loc
|менде
|сенде
|анда
|бисте
|слерде
|олордо
|-
!Abl
|менеҥ
|сенеҥ
|оноҥ
|бистеҥ
|слердеҥ
|олордоҥ
|-
!Inst
|мениле
|сениле
|оныла
|бисле
|слерле
|олорло
|}
Pronouns in the various dialects vary considerably. For example, the pronouns in the Qumandin dialect follow.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Сатлаев
 | first = Ф.А.
 | script-title=ru:Учитесь говорить по-кумандински, русско-кумандинский разговорник
 | year = n.d.
 | publisher = Горно-Алтайская типография
 | location = ?
 | language = Russian}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
|+Personal pronouns in Qumandin
!colspan="2"|Singular
!colspan="2"|Plural
|-
!Altai (transliteration)||English||Altai (transliteration)||English
|-
|мен (men)||I||пис (pis)||we
|-
|сен (sen)||you ''(singular)''||снер (sner)||you ''(plural, formal)''
|-
|ол (ol)||he/she/it||анар (anar)||they
|}

==See also==
* [[Telengits]], [[Teleuts]] (names of related [[ethnic group]]s)
* [[Turkic peoples]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Incubator|code = alt|language=South Altai language}}
{{Incubator|code = atv|language=North Altai language}}
*[http://www.tarbagan.net/fotj/AltaiLang.htm Altai Alphabet]
*[http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9479/altai.html Altai phrases] ([http://www.webcitation.org/5kmXWRuI6 Archived] 2009-10-25)
*[http://epaltay.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2313:2010-12-15-06-25-51&catid=48:2009-11-26-04-23-57&Itemid=83 Russian–Altai Online Dictionary]
{{Languages of Russia}}
{{Turkic languages}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altay Language}}
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Siberian Turkic languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Russia]]
[[Category:Languages of China]]
[[Category:Altai Mountains]]
[[Category:Altai Republic]]