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West Itelmen

West Itelmen is a Chukotko-Kamchatkan language spoken in Russia, by about 82 people. Glottolog rates it moribund.

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West Itelmen · 56.0°N 156.3°E

Itelmen (Itelmen: Itənmən) or Western Itelmen, formerly known as Western Kamchadal, is a language of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan family spoken on the western coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Fewer than a hundred native speakers, mostly elderly, in a few settlements in the southwest of Koryak Autonomous Okrug, remained in 1993. The 2021 Census counted 2,596 ethnic Itelmens, virtually all of whom are now monolingual in Russian. However, there are attempts to revive the language, and it is being taught in a number of schools in the region.

(Western) Itelmen is the only surviving Kamchatkan language. It has two dialects, the Southern dialect of Khayryuzovo and the Northern dialect of Sedanka.

From Wikipedia · Itelmen language · CC BY-SA 4.0

Words in West Itelmen

MeaningWordRomanization
bloodмԓимmɬim
waterи’i’
fireхимԓх
mountainӈэйӈэŋejŋe
dogӄосҳ
threeч’оӄč’oq

Most similar languages

Vocabulary

  • KoryakChukotko-Kamchatkan13% alike
  • AlutorChukotko-Kamchatkan11% alike
  • ChukchiChukotko-Kamchatkan10% alike
  • KpelleMande8% alike
  • MuratayakNuclear Trans New Guinea7% alike
  • PaguNorth Halmahera7% alike

Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.

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Glottolog · itel1242 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · itl