The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.
SIL code: ALT
ISO 639-2: tut
| Population | 71,600 mother tongue speakers (86%) out of the ethnic population, including Northern Altai (1993 UBS). |
| Region | Gorno-Altai AO mountains, bordering on Mongolia and China. |
| Alternate names | OIROT, OYROT, ALTAI |
| Dialects | ALTAI PROPER (ALTAI-KIZHI, ALTAJ KIZI, MAINA-KIZHI, SOUTHERN ALTAI), TALANGIT (TALANGIT-TOLOS, CHUY). |
| Classification | Altaic, Turkic, Northern. |
| Comments | Northern Altai and Southern Altai are not inherently intelligible, although there is a dialect continuum between them. Russian is used as the second language by all except older people as a contact language, for literature, and urban professional and cultural life. Altai is used in the familiar sphere and with speakers of other Turkic varieties. Written Altai is based on Southern Altai, but is rejected by Northern Altai children. Teleut is considered a separate language outside the AO. Different from Oirat (Kalmyk-Oirat), a Mongolian language. Cyrillic script. Mountain slope. Cattle raisers, agriculturalists, hunters. Traditional religion, secularist. Bible portions 1910-1996. |
