View source for Altai languages

{{Short description|Grouping of two Turkic languages}}
{{Distinguish|Altaic languages}}
{{Infobox language family
| name          = Altai
| altname       = Gorno–Altai
| nativename    = {{lang|alt|алтай тил}}, {{lang|alt|altay til}}
| states        = [[Russia]]
| region        = [[Altai Republic]], [[Altai Krai]], [[Kemerovo Oblast]]
| ethnicity     = [[Altai people|Altai]], including [[Chelkans]], [[Telengits]], [[Tubalars]]
| speakers      = 125,700 (Total of Southern and Northern Altai speakers)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/alt/|title=Southern Altai|work=Ethnologue (Free All) }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/atv/|title=Northern Altai|work=Ethnologue (Free All) }}</ref>
| date          = 
| ref           = 
| speakers2     = 
| familycolor   = Altaic
| fam1          = [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]
| fam2          = [[Common Turkic languages|Common Turkic]]
| fam3          = [[Siberian Turkic]]/[[Kipchak languages|Kipchak]]
| fam4          = Southern Siberian/Kyrgyz–Kipchak<ref name="Baskakov" /><ref name="Kormushin" />
| nation        = {{flag|Russia}}<ul><li>{{flag|Altai Republic}}</li></ul>
| iso2          = alt
| lc1           = atv
| ld1           = [[Northern Altai language|Northern Altai]]
| lc2           = alt
| ld2           = [[Southern Altai language|Southern Altai]]
| glotto        = none
| glottorefname = Altay Turkic
| glotto2       = alta1276
| glottoname2   = code retired
| script        = [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]]
| notice        = IPA
| map           = File:Altay.svg
| mapcaption    = Map of Altai varieties
| acceptance    = ethnically defined
| child1        = [[Northern Altai language|Northern Altai]]
| child2        = [[Southern Altai language|Southern Altai]]
}}

'''Altai''' or '''Altay'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Altay language, alphabet and pronunciation |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/altay.htm |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=www.omniglot.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Uzel |first=Bilge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKRD0AEACAAJ |title=The Phonology of Altay Language: As Reflected in the Spelling: Phonological Facts and Phonetic Explanations, with a Focus on Segmental Reduction in Connected Speech |date=2018 |publisher=Hiperlink |language=en}}</ref> ({{langx|alt|Алтай тил|Altay til}}, {{IPA|alt|ɐɫtʰɐ́ɪ̯ tʰɪ̆l|IPA}}) is a set of [[Turkic languages]] spoken officially in the [[Altai Republic]], [[Russia]]. The standard vocabulary is based on the [[Southern Altai language]], though it is also taught to and used by speakers of the [[Northern Altai language]] as well. '''Gorno–Altai''' refers to a subgroup of languages in the [[Altai Mountains]]. The languages were called '''Oyrot''' (ойрот) prior to 1948.<ref>{{Cite book |first1=Lars|last1=Johanson|first2=Éva Ágnes|last2=Csató|title=The Turkic Languages|year=2022 |publisher=Routledge|edition=2nd|page=9}}{{missing ISBN}}</ref>

Altai is spoken primarily in the [[Altai Republic]]. There is a small community of speakers in the neighbouring [[Altai Krai]] as well.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02093-9 |quote=The Altaic languages include Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic, and sometimes also Korean and Japanese. Common typological features are an agglutinative suffixing word structure, sound harmony, verb-final word order, and the use of numerous nonfinite verb constructions. |chapter=Altaic Languages |title=Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics |date=2006 |last1=Johanson |first1=L. |pages=170–172 |isbn=978-0-08-044854-1 }}</ref>

==Classification==
Due to its isolated position in the Altai Mountains and contact with surrounding languages, the exact classification of Altai within the Turkic languages has often been disputed. Because of its geographic proximity to the [[Shor language|Shor]] and [[Khakas language|Khakas]] languages, some classifications place it in a Northern Turkic subgroup.<ref>[https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroups/northern-1 Northern Turkic] in {{e25}}</ref>
Due to certain similarities with [[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]], it has been grouped as the Kyrgyz–Kipchak subgroup with the [[Kypchak languages]] which is within the Turkic language family.<ref name="Baskakov">{{cite journal |last1=Baskakov |first1=N. A. |title=La Classification Des Dialectes De La Langue Turque D'altaï |trans-title=Classification of dialects of the Altai Turkic language |language=fr |journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |date=1958 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=9–15 |jstor=23682215 }}</ref><ref name="Kormushin">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Алтайский язык |trans-title=Altai language |last=Kormushin |first=I. V. |lang=ru |date=2018 |encyclopedia=Большая российская энциклопедия/[[Great Russian Encyclopedia]] Online |url=https://bigenc.ru/linguistics/text/5199785 |access-date=2021-07-28 |archive-date=2021-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727181345/https://bigenc.ru/linguistics/text/5199785 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A classification by [[Talât Tekin|Talat Tekin]] places Southern Altai in its own subgroup within Turkic and groups the Northern Altai dialects with [[Lower Chulym dialect|Lower Chulym]] and the Kondoma dialect of [[Shor language|Shor]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Teki̇n |first1=Talat |title=A new Classifıcation of the Chuvash-Turkic Languages |journal=Erdem |date=January 1989 |issue=13 |pages=129–140 |doi=10.32704/erdem.1989.13.129 }}</ref>

=== Varieties ===
Though they are traditionally considered one language, [[Southern Altai language|Southern Altai]] is not fully mutually intelligible with the [[Northern Altai language|Northern]] varieties. According to modern classifications—at least since the middle of the 20th century—they are considered to be two separate languages.<ref>{{cite book |surname=Baskakov |given=Nikolay |author-link=Nikolai Baskakov (linguist)  |title= Алтайский язык|trans-title=The Altai language |publisher=Nauka |year=1958 |location=Moscow |language=ru}}</ref>

{{cn span |text=Written Altai is based on Southern Altai, and according to ''[[Ethnologue]]'' is rejected by Northern Altai children. |date=January 2024}} In 2006, a [[Cyrillic]] alphabet was created for the [[Kumandin language|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>

[[File:WIKITONGUES- Dmitry speaking Altai.webm|thumb|100 px|Dmitry speaking Southern Altai.]]
Dialects are as follows:<ref name="Baskakov" />

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

Closely related to the northern varieties are [[Kondoma Shor]] and [[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]].

==Official status==
Altai is an official language of the [[Altai Republic]], alongside [[Russian language|Russian]]. The official Altai language is based on the [[Southern Altai language]] spoken by the group called the Altay-Kiži, however in the few years it has also spread to the Northern Altai Republic.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-11-16 |title=Notes from the Altai Republic |url=https://creeca.wisc.edu/notes-from-the-altai-republic/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=CREECA |language=en-US}}</ref>

== 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/.

==Phonology==
The sounds of the Altai language vary among different dialects.

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ caption |Consonant phonemes of Altai
!
! colspan="2" |[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" |[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan="2" |[[Palato-alveolar consonant|Palato-<br>alveolar]]
! colspan="2" |[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| style="border-right:0" | || style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|m}}
| style="border-right:0" | || style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|n}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right:0" | || style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|ŋ}}
|-
![[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
| style="border-right:0" |{{IPAlink|p}}|| style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|b}}
| style="border-right:0" |{{IPAlink|t}}|| style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|d}}
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right:0" |{{IPAlink|c}}|| style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|ɟ}}
| style="border-right:0" |{{IPAlink|k}}|| style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|ɡ}}
|-
![[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right:0" |{{IPAlink|tʃ}}|| style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|dʒ}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
|-
![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right:0" |{{IPAlink|s}}|| style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|z}}
| style="border-right:0" |{{IPAlink|ʃ}}|| style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|ʒ}}
| style="border-right:0" | || style="border-left:0" |
| style="border-right:0" |{{IPAlink|x}}|| style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|ɣ}}
|-
![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right:0" | || style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|l}}
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right:0" | || style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|j}}
| colspan="2" |
|-
![[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right:0" | || style="border-left:0" |{{IPAlink|ɾ}}~{{IPAlink|r}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
|}

The [[voiced palatal plosive]] {{IPA|/ɟ/}} varies greatly from dialect to dialect, especially in the initial position, and may be recognized as a voiced affricate {{IPA|/d͡z/}}. 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.
 | title = A History of Afghanistan
 | script-title=ru:Диалект Лебединских Татар-Чалканцев (Куу-Кижи)
 | series = Северные Диалекты Алтайского (Ойротского) Языка
 | year = 1985
 | publisher = Издательство «Наука»
 | location = [[Moscow]]
 | language = ru
 | oclc = 21048607
 | isbn = 0-8285-3393-8}}{{pn|date=March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 | last = Baskakov
 | first = N.A.
 | title = A History of Afghanistan
 | script-title=ru:Диалект Кумандынцев (Куманды-Кижи)
 | series = Северные Диалекты Алтайского (Ойротского) Языка
 | year = 1972
 | publisher = Издательство «Наука»
 | location = [[Moscow]]
 | language = ru
 | oclc = 38772803
 | isbn = 0-8285-3393-8}}{{pn|date=March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Алтайский язык.|last=Баскаков|first=Николай Александрович|year=1997|location=Москва}}</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
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |[[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" |[[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!<small>[[vowel length|short]]</small>!!<small>[[vowel length|long]]</small>
!<small>[[vowel length|short]]</small>!!<small>[[vowel length|long]]</small>
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Close vowel|Close]]
!<small>[[vowel roundedness|unrounded]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|i}}||{{IPAlink|iː}}
|{{IPAlink|ɯ}}||{{IPAlink|ɯː}}
|-
!<small>[[vowel roundedness|rounded]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|y}}||{{IPAlink|yː}}
|{{IPAlink|u}}||{{IPAlink|uː}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Open vowel|Open]]
!<small>[[vowel roundedness|unrounded]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|e}}||{{IPAlink|eː}}
|{{IPAlink|a}}||{{IPAlink|aː}}
|-
!<small>[[vowel roundedness|rounded]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|ø}}||{{IPAlink|øː}}
|{{IPAlink|o}}||{{IPAlink|oː}}
|}

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

The letter [[Ÿ]] is sometimes used instead of Ӱ.

=== Missionary's Cyrillic alphabet ===
The first writing system for Altai was invented by missionaries from the Altai Spiritual Mission in the 1840s; it was based on the Cyrillic alphabet and invented for the [[Teleut language|Teleut dialect]] and was used mostly for Church publications.<ref>V. N. Tadikin. Orthography of the Altai language (in Russian) || Orthography of the Turkic literary languages of the USSR. – Moscow: Nauka, 1973</ref> The first books were printed in Altai not long thereafter and in 1868, the first Altai alphabet was published. There was no stable form of this alphabet, and it changed from edition-to-edition.

With this in mind, this is an inventory of some of these letters:
{| style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS; font-size:1.4em; border-color:#000000; border-width:1px; border-style:solid; border-collapse:collapse; text-align:right; background-color:#F8F8EF"
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Аа
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Бб
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Гг
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Дд
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Jj
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ее
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Жж
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Зз
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ii
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Йй
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Кк
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |{{nowrap|[[Ka with macron|К̄к̄]]}}
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Лл
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Мм
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Нн
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ҥҥ
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |{{nowrap|[[En with macron|Н̄н̄]]}}
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Oo
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ӧӧ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Пп
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Рр
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Сс
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Тт
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Уу
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ӱӱ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Чч
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Шш
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ыы
| colspan="4" |
|}

=== First Cyrillic alphabet (1922–1928) ===
After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, publishing books into Altai was resumed in 1921,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160319130358/http://www.nbra.ru/index.php/osnovnie-dati-istorii-knigi-altaya Basic Dates of Altai Book History].</ref> using a script similar to the Missionary's Alphabet. About this time, many post-revolution letters were adopted to better compose Russian words adopted into the language. As such, it took on this form (non-Russian letters bolded):
{| style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS; font-size:1.4em; border-color:#000000; border-width:1px; border-style:solid; border-collapse:collapse; text-align:right; background-color:#F8F8EF"
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Аа
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Бб
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Вв
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Гг
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Дд
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |'''Јј'''
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ее
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Жж
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Зз
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ии
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Йй
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Кк
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Лл
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Мм
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Нн
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |'''Ҥҥ'''
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Оо
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |'''Ӧӧ'''
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Пп
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Рр
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Сс
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Тт
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Уу
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |'''Ӱӱ'''
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Фф
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Хх
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Цц
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Чч
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Шш
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Щщ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ъъ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ыы
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ьь
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ээ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Юю
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Яя
| colspan="4" |
|}
Interestingly, in the same space, many considered adapting the old [[Mongolian script]] for use in writing Altai.<ref>М.S. Katashev. National-language construction in the Mountainous Altai in the 1920s–1930s: Experience, History, Problems.

Altai language and culture: modern trends in development. – Gorno-Altaisk, 2016. – pg. 109–116, 260, and 350 – {{ISBN|978-5-903693-32-0}}.{{vs|Google Books has the title for this ISBN as Язык и культура алтайцев: современные тенденции развития: материалы региональной научно-практической конференции, which Google Translate lists as Language and culture of the Altaians: modern development trends: materials of the regional scientific and practical conference. Is this a different book? Is the ISBN wrong? Is the text a translation of a chapter?|date=March 2025}}</ref>

=== Latin alphabet (1928–1938) ===
The Latin alphabet was eventually adopted and was used from 1922 to 1928. The final version of this alphabet was published in 1931, taking this form:<ref>А. Тыбыкова. Об усовершенствовании и унификация алфавита алтайского языка (рус.) // Вопросы совершенствования алфавитов тюркских языков СССР. — М.: Наука, 1972. — С. 41–48.</ref> 
{| style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS; font-size:1.4em; border-color:#000000; border-width:1px; border-style:solid; border-collapse:collapse; text-align:right; background-color:#F8F8EF"
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Aa
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Bʙ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Cc
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Çç
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Dd
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ee
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ff
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Gg
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ii
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Jj
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Kk
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ll
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Mm
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Nn
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ŋŋ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Oo
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ɵɵ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Pp
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Rr
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ss
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Şş
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Tt
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Uu
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Vv
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Xx
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Yy
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Zz
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ƶƶ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ьь
| colspan="3" |
|}
The Latin letters correspond as follows to the modern Cyrillic letters:<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Баскаков |first1=Н.А. |title=Ойротско-русский словарь |last2=Тощакова |first2=Т.М. |publisher=ОГИЗ |year=1947 |location=Москва |pages=224–225}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Latin (1922–1938)
!Modern Cyrillic (after 1944)
|-
|Cc
|Чч
|-
|Çç
|Јj
|-
|Jj
|Йй
|-
|Ŋŋ
|Ҥҥ
|-
|Ɵө
|Ӧö
|-
|Şş
|Шш
|-
|Yy
|Ӱÿ
|-
|Ƶƶ
|Жж
|-
|Ьь
|Ыы
|}

=== Second Cyrillic alphabet (1938–1944) ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2022}}

In 1938, the ''Central Research Institute of Language and Writing of the Peoples of the USSR'' began the project of designing a new alphabet for Altai, based on the Cyrillic script. Their new alphabet consisted of all 33 Russian letters, as well as the letter {{angbr|'''Іі'''}}, digraph {{angbr|'''Дь дь'''}} and the letter {{angbr|'''Ҥҥ'''}}, for the phonemes [ɪ], [d͡ʒ] and [ŋ] respectively. However, this was later rejected, because it could not accurately represent all of Altai's phonological inventory.

To amend for this, the Institute's first revised alphabet saw the graphemes {{angbr|'''Ёё'''}} and {{angbr|'''Юю'''}} for Altai's vowels {{IPA|[ø~œ]}} and {{IPA|[y]}} fall out of use, and the addition of two digraphs and two letters: {{angbr|'''Дь дь'''}} for [d͡ʒ], {{angbr|'''Нъ нъ'''}} for [ŋ], {{angbr|'''Ӧӧ'''}} for [ø~œ], and {{angbr|'''Ӱӱ'''}} for [y]. In the second revision, however, {{angbr|'''Нъ нъ'''}} was replaced with {{angbr|'''Ҥҥ'''}}. Thus was created:
{| style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS; font-size:1.4em; border-color:#000000; border-width:1px; border-style:solid; border-collapse:collapse; text-align:right; background-color:#F8F8EF"
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Аа
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Бб
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Вв
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Гг
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Дд
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |'''Дь дь'''
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ее
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ёё
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Жж
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Зз
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ии
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |'''Іі'''
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Йй
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Кк
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Лл
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Мм
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Нн
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |'''Ҥҥ'''
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Оо
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |'''Ӧӧ'''
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Пп
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Рр
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Сс
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Тт
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Уу
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |'''Ӱӱ'''
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Фф
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Хх
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Цц
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Чч
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Шш
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Щщ
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ъъ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ыы
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ьь
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ээ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Юю
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Яя
| colspan="2" |
|}
Altai speakers accepted the first variant, but generally preferred {{angbr|'''Н' н''''}} over {{angbr|Ҥҥ}}.

=== Modern Standard Altai alphabet ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2022}}

Their second Cyrillic alphabet had many shortcomings, thus begging for a reform, which was carried out in 1944. The usage of {{angbr|Ёё}} and {{angbr|Юю}} {{IPA|[ø~œ]}} and {{IPA|[y]}} was dropped entirely, being replaced by the adoption of the Institute's second revision's usages of '''{{angbr|Ӧӧ}}''', and '''{{angbr|Ӱӱ}}''', for native words. {{angbr|Дь дь}} was dropped in favour of '''{{angbr|Јј}}'''; for {{angbr|Н' н'}}, they finally accepted '''{{angbr|Ҥҥ}}'''.

The letters {{angbr|Ёё}}, {{angbr|Юю}}, and {{angbr|Яя}} are still used, though they are reserved for only non-native, Russian loan-words. So, in modern Standard Altai, the equivalent sounds are written as '''{{angbr|йа}}''', '''{{angbr|йо}}''' and '''{{angbr|йу}}''', for native words. So, words that were written as {{lang|alt|кая}} 'cliff, rock' and {{lang|alt|коён}} 'hare' are now written as '''{{lang|alt|кайа}}''' and '''{{lang|alt|койон}}''' respectively''.''

{| style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS; font-size:1.4em; border-color:#000000; border-width:1px; border-style:solid; border-collapse:collapse; text-align:right; background-color:#F8F8EF"
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Аа
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Бб
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Вв
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Гг
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Дд
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | '''Јј'''
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Ее
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Ёё
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Жж
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Зз
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Ии
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Йй
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Кк
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Лл
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Мм
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Нн
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | '''Ҥҥ'''
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Оо
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | '''Ӧӧ'''
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Пп
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Рр
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Сс
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Тт
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Уу
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | '''Ӱӱ'''
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Фф
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Хх
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Цц
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Чч
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Шш
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Щщ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Ъъ
|-
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Ыы
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Ьь
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Ээ
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Юю
| style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | Яя
| colspan="3" |
|}

== Morphology and syntax ==

=== Pronouns ===

Altai has six personal pronouns:

{| class="wikitable"
|+Personal pronouns in Standard/Southern dialect
!
!Singular
!Plural
|-
!1st person
|{{fs interlinear|мен|men|I}}
|{{fs interlinear|бис|bis|we}}
|-
!2nd person
|{{fs interlinear|сен|sen|you ''(singular)''}}
|{{fs interlinear|слер|sler|you ''(plural, formal)''}}
|-
!3rd person
|{{fs interlinear|ол|ol||he/she/it}}
|{{fs interlinear|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
|ондо
|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
 | date = n.d.
 | publisher = Горно-Алтайская типография
 | location = ?
 | language = ru}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Personal pronouns in Qumandin
!
!Singular
!Plural
|-
!1st person
|{{fs interlinear|мен|men|I}}
|{{fs interlinear|пис|pis|we}}
|-
!2nd person
|{{fs interlinear|сен|sen|you ''(singular)''}}
|{{fs interlinear|снер|sner|you ''(plural, formal)''}}
|-
!3rd person
|{{fs interlinear|ол|ol|he/she/it}}
|{{fs interlinear|анар|anar|they}}
|}

== Sample text ==

=== The Bible in Altai ===
{|class="wikitable"
!Cyrillic script<ref>{{Cite web |title=Иисус Христостыҥ ада-ӧбӧкӧлӧри |url=https://ibt.org.ru/ru/text?m=ALT&l=Matt&g=0 |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=[[Institute for Bible Translation]]}}</ref>
!Latin script
|-
|<poem>1. Иисус Христостыҥ ада-ӧбӧкӧлӧри. Ол Давид ле Авраамныҥ калдыгы.
2. Авраамнаҥ Исаак туулган, Исаактаҥ Иаков туулган, Иаковтоҥ Иуда ла оныҥ карындаштары туулган;
3. Иуданыҥ ӱйи болгон Фамарьдаҥ Фарес ле Зара туулган, Фарестеҥ Есром туулган, Есромноҥ Арам туулган;
4. Арамнаҥ Аминадав туулган, Аминадавтаҥ Наассон туулган, Наассонноҥ Салмон туулган;
5. Салмонныҥ ӱйинеҥ, Рахавтаҥ, Вооз туулган, Воозтыҥ эмеени Руфьтаҥ Овид туулган, Овидтеҥ Иессей туулган;
6. Иессейдеҥ Давид-каан туулган, Давид-кааннаҥ Соломон туулган, Соломонныҥ энези дезе Урияныҥ башкыдагы ӱйи болгон;
7. Соломонноҥ Ровоам туулган, Ровоамнаҥ Авия туулган, Авиядаҥ Асаф туулган;
8. Асафтаҥ Иосафат туулган, Иосафаттаҥ Иорам туулган, Иорамнаҥ Озия туулган;
9. Озиядаҥ Иоафам туулган, Иоафамнаҥ Ахаз туулган, Ахазтаҥ Езекия туулган;
10. Езекиядаҥ Манассия туулган, Манассиядаҥ Амон туулган, Амонноҥ Иосия туулган;
11. Иосиядаҥ Иоаким туулган, Вавилон јерине кӧчӱрердеҥ озо Иоакимнеҥ Иехония ла оныҥ карындаштары туулган;
12. Вавилонго кӧчӱрген соҥында Иехониядаҥ Салафиил туулган, Салафиилдеҥ Зоровавел туулган;
13. Зоровавелдеҥ Авиуд туулган, Авиудтаҥ Елиаким туулган, Елиакимнеҥ Азор туулган;
14. Азордоҥ Садок туулган, Садоктоҥ Ахим туулган, Ахимнеҥ Елиуд туулган;
15. Елиудтаҥ Елеазар туулган, Елеазардаҥ Матфан туулган, Матфаннаҥ Иаков туулган;
16. Иаковтоҥ Марияныҥ эш-нӧкӧри Иосиф туулган, Мариядаҥ Христос дейтен Иисус туулган.
17. Анайдарда, Авраамнаҥ ала Давидке јетире бастыразы он тӧрт ӱйе; Давидтеҥ ала Вавилонго кӧчӱргенине јетире база он тӧрт ӱйе; Вавилонго кӧчӱргенинеҥ ала Христоско јетире база он тӧрт ӱйе.</poem>
|<poem>1. Yisus Hristosıñ ada öbökölöri, ol David le Avraamnıñ kaldıgı
2. Avraamnañ İsaak tuulgan, İsaaktañ Yakov tuulgan, Yakovtoñ Yuda la onıñ karındaştarımı tuulgan
3. Yudanıñ üyi bolgon Famardañ Fares le Zara tuulgan, Faresteñ Yesrom Aram tuulgan
4. Aramnañ Aminadav tuulgan, Aminadavtañ Naasson tuulgan, Nassonnoñ Salmon tuulgan,
5. Salmonnıñ üyineñ, Rahavtañ, Vooz tuulgan, Vooztıñ emeeni Ruftañ Ovid tuulgan, Ovidteñ İyessey tuulgan,
6. İyesseydeñ David-kaan tuulgan, David-kaannañ Solomon tuulgan, Solomonnıñ enezi deze Uriyanıñ başkıdagı üyi bolgon
7. Solomonnıñ Rovoam tuulgan, Rovoamnañ Aviya tuulgan, Aviyadañ Asaf tuulgan
8. Asaftañ Yosafat tuulgan, Yosafattan Yoram tuulgan, Yoramnañ Oziya tuulgan
9. Oziyadañ Yoafam tuulgan, Yoafamnañ Ahaz tuulgan, Ahaztañ Yezekiya tuulgan
10. Yezekiyadan Manassiya tuulgan, Manassiyadañ Amon tuulgan, Amonnoñ Yosiya tuulgan
11. Yosiyadañ Yoakim tuulgan, Vavilon cerine köçürerdeñ ozo Yoakimneñ İyehoniya la onıñ karındaştarı tuulgan;
12. Vavilongo köçürgen soñında İyehoniyadañ Salafiil tuulgan, Salafiildeñ Zorovavel tuulgan;
13. Zorovaveldeñ Aviud tuulgan, Aviudtañ Yeliakim tuulgan, Yeliakimneñ Azor tuulgan;
14. Azordoñ Sadok tuulgan, Sadoktoñ Ahim tuulgan, Ahimneñ Yeliud tuulgan;
15. Yeliudtañ Yeleazar tuulgan, Yeleazardañ Matfan tuulgan, Matfannañ Yakov tuulgan;
16. Yakovtoñ Mariyanıñ eş-nököri Yosif tuulgan, Mariyadañ Hristos deyten Yisus tuulgan.
17. Anaydarga, Avraamnañ ala Davidke cetire bastırazı on tört üye; Davidteñ ana Vavilongo köçürgenine cetire baza on tört üye; Vavilongo köçürgenineñ ala Hristosko cetire baza on tört üye.</poem>
|}

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

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{InterWiki|code = alt|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] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20091027141157/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9479/altai.html Archived] 2009-10-25)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160313235240/http://epaltay.ru/index.php?catid=48:2009-11-26-04-23-57&id=2313:2010-12-15-06-25-51&itemid=83&option=com_content&view=article Russian–Altai Online Dictionary]

{{Turkic languages}}
{{Turkic topics}}
{{Languages of Russia}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altay Language}}
[[Category:Siberian Turkic languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Russia]]
[[Category:Altai Mountains]]
[[Category:Altai culture]]
[[Category:Languages written in Cyrillic script]]