Tuvan language

Tuvan (Tuvan: тыва дыл, tıwa dıl; /tʰɯʋa tɯl/), also known as Tuvinian, Tyvan or Tuvin, is a Turkic language spoken in the Republic of Tuva in south-central Siberia in Russia. The language has borrowed a great number of roots from the Mongolian language, Tibetan and more recently from the Russian language. There are small diaspora groups of Tuvan people that speak distinct dialects of Tuvan in the People's Republic of China and in Mongolia.

While this history focuses on mostly the people of Tuva, many linguistics argue that language is inevitably intertwined with the socio-historical situation of a language itself. The earliest record of Tuvan is from the early 19th century by Wū lǐ yǎ sū tái zhì è (烏里雅蘇台志略), Klaproth 1823, Castrén 1857, Katanov and Radlov etc . The name Tuva goes back as early as the publication of the Secret History of the Mongols. The Tuva (as they refer to themselves) have also been referred to as Soyons, Soyots or Uriankhais historically. The Tuvan people have been ruled by China, Russia, and Mongolia for thousands of years. Their most recent time of independence was from 1921-1944, when they were considered the Tuvan’s Peoples Republic. Many sources say there has been extreme tension between the Soviet Union/Russian Federation government and leaders in the Tuvan nation since 1944, when Tuva lost its independence to the USSR. In 1990, violence broke out between Tuvans and the USSR government. According to a study completed by social scientists Louk Hagendoorn, Edwin Poppe, and Anca Minescu in 2008, the Tuvan people wanted to be as independent as possible from the Russian federation, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. They especially emphasized their want for independence in terms of their language and culture. The study demonstrates that the reason behind this was partially based on prejudice. The many minority ethnic and linguistic groups in Russia compete for economic resources and hold closely on to their individual identities, by emphasizing the importance of language and culture. Since 2000, the Russian federation has been trying to reduce separatist tendencies of ethnic minorities in Russia, but the tendencies persist.