Consonants

The following is an outline of the consonant system of Kalmyk. Note that since virtually all speakers of Kalmyk are bilingual,^[8] recent borrowings from Russian do not undergo phonological adaptation and are pronounced according to the rules of Russian phonology, including those of vowel reduction and stress.

• The voiceless labiodental fricative /f/ occurs only in loanwords and onomatopoeic terms;
• The voiced velar fricative /ɣ/ may also be released as a uvular plosive [ɢ] in the word-initial position as well as uvular fricative [ʁ] in any position, including initial;
• The voiceless velar fricative /x/ may also be pronounced as uvular [χ];
• The voiced labial approximant /w/ may be released as the voiced bilabial fricative [β];^[9]
• The velar nasal /ŋ/ is often pronounced with a velar plosive [g] or [k] at the end, e.g. дөң [døŋk] "help", саң [saŋk] "treasury", маңна [maŋgna] "forehead".

Vowels

• Note that the mid central vowel /ə/ is not orthographically written;
• The open back vowel is also phonetically central [ä];
• The (historically reduced) vowel /ə/ is phonetically released as [ə̟] in harmonically front-vowel words, as [ə̠] in back-vowel words, and as [ɪ] after palatal and post-alveolar consonants /nʲ tʲ dʲ t͡ɕ d͡ʑ ʃ lʲ j/;^[13]
• Although not always manifested orthographically, [ɨ] is a back vowel word allophone of /i/ that is only present in hortative, genitive and accusative suffixes;^[14]
• In native words, vowels /o oː/ and /ø øː/ can only appear in word-initial syllables.^[15]

Devoicing and assimilation

Orthographic voiced stops d, g are devoiced: келәд /kelæt/ "to speak-CV.ANT", бөлг /bølək/ "chapter". Devoicing also occurs whenever there is a two-consonant cluster with one consonant being voiceless: /bolʃko/ "may not", таңһч /taŋxt͡ɕə/ "republic". Consonant clusters exhibit other types of assimilation:

1. /kx/, /gx/, /xx/ > /kk/, /kk/, /xk/: закх /zakxə~zakkə/ "to order"; өргх /ørkxə~ørkkə/ "to raise" хатхх /xatxxə~xatxkə/ "to poke";
2. /n/ + /b/ > /mb/: кен /ken/ "who" + б /bə/ "Q" > кемб /kembə/ "who-Q";
3. /w/ + /n/ > /mn/: тәв- /tæv-/ "to put" + /-næ/ "PRS" > тәмнә /tæmnæ/ "to put-PRS";
4. /w/ + voiceless consonant > /p/: ав- /awə/ "to take" + чк /t͡ɕkə/ "COMPL> апчк /apt͡ɕkə/ "to put-COMPL";
5. /t͡ɕ/ + /l/ or /t/ > /ʃl/, /ʃt/: көвүчлх /køvyt͡ɕəlxə/ > көвүшлх /køvyʃəlxə/ "to adopt", ачтн /at͡ɕtən/ > аштн /aʃtən/ "to load-IMP.PL" ;
6. /n/ > /ŋ/ before consonants /ɣ, g, x, k, s/: Written Oirat sonosxu "to listen" > соңсх /soŋksxə/, түрүн /tyryn/ "first" + к /kə/ "ADJ" > түрүңк /tyryŋkə/ "first-ADJ";
7. /l/ is palatalised to /lʲ/ before palatal affricates /t͡ɕ d͡ʑ/: болҗ /bolʲd͡ʑə/ "to become-CV.IPEF".

The voiced bilabial stop /b/, being only restricted to word-initial position, may be pronounced as [β] in a phrase: келҗ бәәнә /kelʲd͡ʑə bæːnæ/ > [kelʲd͡ʑ βæːnæ] "to speak-CV.IPEF to be-prs".

The labial approximant or fricative /w/ can be pronounced as:

1. Close rounded vowel [y] or [u] in past tense inflection: кел- /kelʲ-/ "to say" + -в /w/ "PST" + -в /w/ "1SG" > келүв /kelyw/ "I said" or in consonant clusters: тарвс /tarvəs/ > тарус /tarus/ "watermelon"
2. Voiced bilabial stop [b] in past tense inflection, if the verb stem ends in /-w/: ав- /aw-/ "to take" + -в /-w/ "PST" > /awbə/ "took".^[16]

Vowel reduction and phonotactics

Word-initial syllable structure is (C)V(C), meaning that in native words no word-initial clusters can occur. For non-initial syllables, however, a syllable-initial cluster of up to four consonants is allowed, meaning the maximal syllable is CCCCVC. In some consonant clusters such as /tl tn dn dl/ a sonorant becomes syllabic. These clusters are also nasally released.

The reduced vowel /ə/ is regularly preserved and can be a syllable nucleus in the following cases:

1. In a word-final position: ик /i.kə/ "big", арат /a.ra.tə/ "fox", чон /t͡ɕo.nə/ "wolf";
2. If, word-finally, there is either a closed syllable or a final open syllable with a consonant cluster: эцкнр /et͡s.kə.nər/ "father-PL" келчксн /kelʲ.t͡sək.sən/ "to say-COMPL-PC.PST" соңсгдна /soŋk.sə.gdna/ "to hear-PASS-PRS";
3. In closed non-final syllables of a multisyllabic word: шорһлҗн /ʃor.ɣəlʲ.d͡ʑən/ "ant", әәмшгтә /æ:m.ʃək.tæ/ "dangerous";^[17]
4. Word-finally in the following affixes:
   1. Ablative -ас /-asə/;
   2. Accusative -иг /-igə/, -г /-gə/;
   3. Adjective suffix -к /-kə/;
   4. Completive -чк /-t͡ɕkə/;
   5. Imperfective converb, admirative and evidential suffix -җ /-dʑə/;
   6. Dative -д /-də/;
   7. Negation particle эс /esə/;
   8. Present tense negation particle (or suffix) биш, -ш /biʃə/ /-ʃə/;
   9. Future tense participle -х /-xə/.^[18]

On the other hand, the vowel /ə/ cannot form syllables on its own if the following is true:

1. If the following syllable is open: бичх /bi.t͡ɕxə/ "to write", өгх /øk.kxə/ "to give";
2. In inflections of two-syllable words, if the second syllable of an inflected word has a non-reduced vowel, e.g. мөрн /mørən/ "horse" > мөрта mørtæ "with a horse", церг /t͡se.rək/ "army" > церглә /t͡serglæ/ "with an army";
3. If the following syllable is open and has non-reduced vowel: тоһрун */to.ɣə.run/ > /to.ɣrun/ "grus"; шамдһа */ʃam.də.ɣa/ > /ʃam.dɣa/ "sneaky". In this case, however, reduced syllables may be released phonetically, although they do not play a role in syllable forming.;^[19]

Two-syllable words with schwa as a nucleus of the second syllable may undergo metathesis, thus creating an open syllable: Written Oirat oros "Russian" > /orəs/ > /orsə/; ulus "country, people" > /uləs/ > /ulsə/; oyirad "Oirat" > /øːrət/ > /øːrdə/.^[20]

Stress

Kalmyk exhibits non-phonemic stress with the last syllable (even if it ends in schwa) being stressed.^[21]

Nouns

Traditionally, Kalmyk cases are said to have three declensions; however, this is mostly due to orthographical peculiarities. Basically, if the word ends in a full vowel and the case ending begins in a vowel, either (1) a prothetic /g/ or /ʁ/ is added or (2) a vowel is deleted from the case ending. This is further demonstrated in the table below.

Kalmyk noun cases ^[23]

Case	Suffix (Cyrillic)	Suffix (IPA)	Clear Script spelling
nominative	-∅	-∅	-
genitive	-ин; -һин; -н; -а; -ә; -i	-in; -ʁin; -n; -a; -æ; -i	ᡅᡕᡅᠨ (-iyin); ᡎᡅᡕᡅᠨ (-giyin); ᠨ (-n); ᠠᡅ (-ai); ᡅ (-i)
dative	-д; -т	-də; -tə	ᡑᡇ (-du) / ᡑᡉ (-dü) (depending on vowel harmony) ᡐᡇ (-tu) / ᡐᡉ (-tü)
accusative	-иг; -г; ∅	-igə; -gə; ∅	ᡕᡅᡎᡅ (-yigi); ᡎᡅ (-gi); -
ablative	-ас; -әс; -һас; -һәс	-asə; -æsə; -ʁasə; -ʁæsə	ᠠᡃᠰᠠ (-āsa), ᡄᡃᠰᡄ (-ēse) (later spelling, written together with the word); ᡄᡃᡔᡄ (-ēce) (earlier spelling, written separately from the word)
instrumental	-ар; -әр; -һар; -һәр	-ar; -ær; ʁar; ʁær	ᠠᡃᠷ (-ār), ᡄᡃᠷ (-ēr); ᡅᡕᠠᠷ (-iyar) (earlier spelling)
comitative	-та; -тә	-ta; -tæ	ᡐᠠᡅ (-tai); ᡐᡄᡅ (-tei)
directive	-ур; -үр; -һур; -һүр	-ur; -yr; -ʁur; -ʁyr	ᡇᡇᠷ (-uur); ᡇᡇᠷᡇ (-uuru) (earlier spelling; written separately from the word)

• Genitive takes the suffix -ин (-in) in case it is preceded by a consonant; -һин (-ğin) or -н (-n) if it is preceded by a vowel; -ә (-ä), -a or -и (-i) if it is preceded by the /n/ consonant.
• Dative suffix is -т (-t) if preceded by voiced stops /b/ (/β/) /d/ /g/, voiceless sibilants /s/ /ʃ/, and /r/
• Accusative is marked (with a suffix) if the object is definite, unmarked if the object is indefinite
• Nouns ending in -n declense differently. -n is subtracted in the accusative, instrumental, and comitative cases. In all other cases, it is left untouched. For example: kelʲən "language-NOM" kelʲnæ "language-GEN" kelʲəndə "language-DAT" kelʲə/kelʲigə "language-ACC" kelʲnæsə "language-ABL" kelʲær "language-INS" kelʲtæ "language-COM" kelʲnyr "language-DIR"
• Dative also bears the function of lative and locative cases. Its difference with the directive case is not clear, and in some dialects, dative is the prevailing case for lative usage.

Early Cyrillic alphabets

At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, the Orthodox Missionary Society published a number of school books in the Kalmyk language, using Cyrillic script. The first edition of this kind was the "Primer for Kalmyk ulus schools" (1892). The alphabet used in this primer has the following composition: А а, Б б, В в, Г г, Д д, Е е, З з, И и, К к, Л л, М м, Н н, О о, П п, Р р, С с, Т т, У у, Х х, Ц ц, Ч ч, Ш ш, ь, Э э, Ю ю, Я я, Ӓ ӓ, Ā ā, Ǟ ǟ, Ӧ ӧ, Ō ō, Ȫ ȫ, Ӱ ӱ, Ӯ ӯ, Ӱ̄ ӱ̄, Дж дж, Нг нг, Ій, ій, Йе йе, Йӧ йӧ, Ӓй ӓй, Ӣ ӣ, Э̄ э̄, Ю̄ ю̄, Я̄ я̄.^[27] In 1902, the “Primer for Kalmyks” was released, where a different version of the alphabet was used: А а, Б б, Г г, Д д, З з, И и, Й й, К к, Л л, М м, Н н, О о, Р р, С с, Т т, У у, Х х, Ц ц, Ч ч, Ш ш, ь, Э э, Ӓ ӓ, Ā ā, Ǟ ǟ, Ӧ ӧ, Ō ō, Ȫ ȫ, Ӱ ӱ, Ӯ ӯ, Ӱ̄ ӱ̄, Дж дж, Ҥ ҥ, Ӣ ӣ, Э̄ э̄.^[28] At the same time, the letter of the clear script continued to be used.^[29]

On January 6, 1924, a meeting of the Kalmyk public was held in Astrakhan. At this meeting, the majority of the votes had declared obsolete writing - it was noted that it was difficult for writing and learning, lack of fonts, the inability to use on the telegraph, and so on. In this regard, it was decided to translate Kalmyk language into Cyrillic script. On January 12, the alphabet was adopted, consisting of the following letters: А а, Б б, В в, Г г, Д д, Е е, Ж ж, З з, И и, К к, Л л, М м, Н н, О о, П п, Р р, С с, Т т, У у, Ф ф, Х х, Ц ц, Ч ч, Ш ш, Щ щ, Ы ы, Э э, Ю ю, Я я, Ь ь, Й й, ä, ö, ӱ, ң, ӝ. Above the long vowels was supposed to put a line (macron), but in practice this was not done. Also, despite the absence of an approved project, the letter ъ was used to designate unclear vowels. From January 1926, the newspaper «Ulan Halmg» (ru) began to be printed on this alphabet.^[30] The basis of the emerging Kalmyk literary language was the Torgut dialect, but later the norm began to focus not only on the Torgut, but also on the Derbet dialect.^[31] Sometimes in the editions of that time, the letter ң was replaced by ҥ or н̈, and the letters Е е, Ж ж, Ф Ф, Щ щ were not officially included in the alphabet.^[32]

September 7, 1926 at a meeting at the Kalmyk pedagogical school in Astrakhan, it was decided to make changes to the alphabet. So, all additional letters were canceled, and instead of them entered D d, V v, H h. In June 1927, this alphabet was introduced into official use, but much of the literature and press was still published in the alphabet of 1924.^[33]

On February 5–8, 1928, a regular meeting on Kalmyk writing was held, at which the alphabet was reformed again. The letters D d, V v, H h were canceled, and the letter Ә ә was entered to indicate unclear vowels. It was decided to denote the long vowels by doubling the corresponding letters. This alphabet was used until 1930.^[34]

Latin alphabet

In the late 1920s, the process of romanization of writing began in the USSR. In the course of this process in January 1930, the IX Kalmyk Regional Congress of Soviets legalized the new Latinized alphabet of the Kalmyk language. Its actual use began in newspapers from the end of September of the same year.^[35] In this alphabet, the letters were arranged in the following order:^[36] A a, B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, Ә ә, G g, H h, I i, j, K k, L l, M m, N n, ꞑ, O o, Ө ө, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, F f, Y y, Z z, Ƶ ƶ, U u, T t, V v, X x, ь.

On January 10–17, 1931, at a conference held in Moscow, scientists of the Mongolian group of peoples decided to change the phonetic meaning of the two letters of the Kalmyk script, as well as change the alphabetical order of the letters. In May of the same year, the III Kalmyk Regional Conference on Language and Writing, which was held in Elista, confirmed this decision. The alphabet took the following form:^[37]

The letter Ь ь, unlike most other Soviet Latinized alphabets, denoted palatalization.^[38] In this form, the alphabet existed until 1938.

Modern Cyrillic alphabet

In the second half of the 1930s, the USSR began the process of translating scripts into Cyrillic. The Latin script was in turn replaced by another Cyrillic script in 1938. Initially, the Kalmyk Cyrillic alphabet included all the letters of the Russian alphabet, as well as Ä ä, Гъ гъ, Дж дж, Нъ нъ, Ö ö, Ӱ ӱ. In 1941, the alphabet was reformed again - the outline of additional letters was changed.^[39] However, due to the deportation of the Kalmyks that followed soon, the transition to a new version of the alphabet was carried out only after their rehabilitation - in the late 1950s.^[40] These script reforms effectively disrupted the Oirat literary tradition.^[41]

The modern Cyrillic alphabet used for the Kalmyk language is as follows:

Since the Tatar alphabet is identical to the Kalmyk alphabet (both featuring the same additional letters to the Russian one), Kalmyks using Windows use Tatar keyboard layouts to type Kalmyk. Kalmyk-specific keyboard layouts, however, are available on Android and Linux systems.

Works cited

• Номинханов, Ц. Д. (1976). Очерк истории калмыцкой письменности [Essay on the history of Kalmyk writing]. Мoscow: Наука.