Re: Caste Languages

Arnt Richard Johansen wrote:

> Unless we have remarkably similar dreams, I believe that there is such > a
> language. It is called Chukchi, and is spoken in Eastern Siberia.
From "The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire":

"A curious peculiarity of the Chukchi language is its different
pronunciation by men and women. The women's language lacks the
r-sound, they pronounce ts instead. The men's pronunciation of the r
is regarded as unsuitable for women."

From the same source but this time on the "Aliutor language":

"As with the Chukchi language, there are regular pronunciation
differences in men's and women's usages. Women say ts where men have
l or s (e.g. plaku versus ptsaku 'footwear'). Men's usage is
considered improper for women and vice versa."

From a webpage quoting Languages of the World, by Kenneth Katzner:

KYRKY is the Chukchi word for "walrus." The word is pronounced
"KYRKY" by men but "TSYTSTSY" by women because of a curious feature
of the Chukchi language: K is pronounced "K" by men but "TS" by
women; "RK" is pronounced "RK" by men but "TSTS" by women.

Cheers,
Eamon