Dukhan language

Dukha or Dukhan is a nearly extinct Turkic language or dialect variety of Tuvan language spoken by the Dukhan (a.k.a. Tsaatan) herder people in the Tsagaan-Nuur county of Khövsgöl Province in northern Mongolia. Dukhan belongs to the Taiga subgroup of Sayan Turkic (which also includes Soyot–Tsaatan and Tofa).^[2] This language is nearly extinct and is only spoken actively by no more than 40 people.^[1] The ISO 639-3 proposal (request) code was dkh,^[4] but this proposal was rejected.^[5]

Dukha
Tsaatan, Tuha
тyъһа тыл Tuha tıl tuʰha sös
Native to	Mongolia
Region	Khövsgöl Province
Ethnicity	Dukha
Native speakers	40 (2022)[1]
Language family	Turkic Common Turkic Siberian Turkic South Siberian Sayan Turkic Taiga Sayan Turkic[2] Dukha
Language codes
ISO 639-3	dkh (rejected)
Linguist List	1hv
Glottolog	dukh1234
ELP	Dukha
Dukhan and   Tuvan distribution in Mongolia and Tuva
Dukha is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger[3]

It is mostly^[quantify] related to the Soyot language of Buryatia.^[6] Also, it is related to the language of Tozhu Tuvans and the Tofa language. Today, it is spoken alongside Mongolian.^[7]

Dukhan morphophonemic units are written with capital letters, similar to its sister languages and standard grammars.^[2]

Classification

Dukhan is classified in the Taiga Sayan Turkic branch of Siberian Turkic. The Dukhan language is mainly related to an amalgam of dialects from the nomadic people of Outer Mongolia, Russia, and surrounding areas. It is most closely related to Tuvinian.

Geographical distribution

The Dukha language is spoken in Tsagaan-Nuur County, Tsagaanuur (Khövsgöl) Mongolia. Цагааннуур сум) is a Sum (district) of Mongolia in the province of Khövsgöl, located in Northern Mongolia.