Chukchi language

Chukchi ( CHUUK-chee), also known as Chukot (from Russian: Чукотский, romanized: Čukotskij), is a Chukotko–Kamchatkan language spoken by the Chukchi people in the easternmost extremity of Siberia, mainly in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The language is closely related to Koryak, and is distantly related to Kerek, Alutor, and Itelmen. There are many cultural similarities between the Chukchis and Koryaks, including economies based on reindeer herding. Both peoples refer to themselves by the endonym Luorawetlat (ԓыгъоравэтԓьат [ɬəɣˀoraˈwetɬˀat]), meaning 'the real people'. All of these peoples and other unrelated minorities in and around Kamchatka are known collectively as Kamchadals. Chukchi and Chukchee are anglicised spellings of the Russian exonym Чукчи Chukchi (singular: Чукча Chukcha). This came into Russian from Čävča, the term used by the Chukchis' Tungusic-speaking neighbours, which is itself a rendering of the Chukchi word чавчыв [ˈtʃawtʃəw], meaning '[a man who is] rich in reindeer [herding]'. Although Chukchi is taught in 28 elementary schools in the Chukotka Autonomous Region, and there are several hours of daily TV and radio broadcasts in Chukchi, proficiency in and daily usage of the language is declining among native Chukchis. According to the 2020 census, 2,607 of the 16,200 Chukchi people speak Chukchi, and only 1,670 use it in daily life. Most Chukchi now speak Russian (fewer than 100 report not speaking Russian at all). The language is on the list of endangered languages in the UNESCO Red Book.