Turkic languages | Geography, History, & Comparison | Britannica (original) (raw)

Turkic languages, group of closely related languages that form a family within the Altaic language group. The Turkic languages show close similarities to each other in phonology, morphology, and syntax, though Chuvash, Khalaj, and Sakha differ considerably from the rest. The earliest linguistic records are Old Turkic inscriptions, found near the Orhon River in Mongolia and the Yenisey River valley in south-central Russia, which date from the 8th century ce.

Turkic languages are distributed over a vast area in eastern Europe and Central and North Asia, ranging, with some interruptions, from the Balkans to the Great Wall of China and from central Iran (Persia) to the Arctic Ocean. The core area, between the 35th and 55th parallels, includes a western section comprising Asia Minor, northern Iran, and Transcaucasia, a central West Turkistan (Russian) section to the east of the Caspian Sea, and an East Turkistan (Chinese) section beyond the Tien Shan. The northern area extends from western Russia to northern Siberia. States in which Turkic languages are spoken include Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan, northern Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Romania, Lithuania, and, because of recent industrial migration, several western European countries.

Classification

The Turkic languages may be classified, using linguistic, historical, and geographic criteria, into a southwestern (SW), a northwestern (NW), a southeastern (SE), and a northeastern (NE) branch. Chuvash and Khalaj form separate branches.

The southwestern, or Oghuz, branch comprises three groups. The West Oghuz group (SWw) consists of Turkish (spoken in Turkey, Cyprus, the Balkans, western Europe, and so on); Azerbaijani (Azerbaijanian; Azerbaijan, Iran); and Gagauz (Moldova, Bulgaria, and so on). The East Oghuz group (SWe) consists of Turkmen (Turkmenistan and adjacent countries) and Khorāsān Turkic (northeastern Iran). A southern group (SWs) is formed by Afshar and related dialects in Iran and Afghanistan.

The northwestern, or Kipchak, branch comprises three groups. The South Kipchak group (NWs) consists of Kazakh (spoken in Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, and so on), its close relative Karakalpak (mainly Karakalpakstan), Nogay (Circassia, Dagestan), and Kyrgyz (Kyrgyzstan, China). The North Kipchak group (NWn) consists of Tatar (Tatarstan, Russia; China; Romania; Bulgaria; and so on), Bashkir (Bashkortostan, Russia), and West Siberian dialects (Tepter, Tobol, Irtysh, and so on). The West Kipchak group (NWw) today consists of small, partly endangered languages, Kumyk (Dagestan), Karachay and Balkar (North Caucasus), Crimean Tatar, and Karaim. The Karachay and Balkars and Crimean Tatars were deported during World War II; the latter were allowed to resettle in Crimea only after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Karaim is preserved in Lithuania and Ukraine. The languages of the Pechenegs and the Kuman are antecedents of modern West Kipchak.

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The southeastern, or Uyghur-Chagatai, branch comprises two groups. The western group (SEw) consists of Uzbek (spoken in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Xinjiang, Karakalpakstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Afghanistan). An eastern group (SEe) comprises Uyghur and Eastern Turki dialects (Xinjiang, China; Uzbekistan; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan). Eastern Turki oasis dialects are spoken in the Chinese cities of Kashgar, Yarkand, Ho-T’ien (Khotan), A-k’o-su (Aksu), Turfan, and so on; Taranchi in the Ili valley. Yellow Uyghur (spoken in Kansu, China) and Salar (mainly Tsinghai), the latter of Oghuz origin, are small and deviant languages. Old Uyghur and Chagatai are antecedents of the modern SE branch.

The northeastern, or Siberian, branch comprises two groups. The North Siberian group (NEn) consists of Sakha and Dolgan (spoken in Sakha republic [Yakutia]), differing considerably from mainstream Turkic owing to long geographic isolation. The heterogeneous South Siberian group (NEs) comprises three types. One is represented by Khakas and Shor (both written) and dialects such as Sagay, Kacha, Koybal, Kyzyl, Küerik, and Chulym (spoken in the Abakan River area). The second type is represented by Tyvan (Tuvan; spoken in Tyva [Tuva] republic of Russia and in western Mongolia) and Tofa (northern Sayan region), both written languages. The third type includes dialects such as Altay (a written language), Kumanda, Lebed, Tuba, Teleut, Teleng, Tölös, and others (northern Altai, Baraba Steppe), some being rather similar to Kyrgyz.

Two strongly deviant branches exhibit both archaic features and innovations: Chuvash, originating in Volga-Bolgar, is spoken in and around Chuvashia (Russia) along the middle course of the Volga; Khalaj, descended from the Old Turkic Arghu dialect, is spoken in central Iran.

Linguistic history

The Turkic languages are clearly interrelated, showing close similarities in phonology, morphology, and syntax. Historically, they split into two types early on, Common Turkic and Bolgar Turkic. The language of the Proto-Bolgars, reportedly similar to the Khazar language, belonged to the latter type. Its only modern representative is Chuvash, which originated in Volga Bolgarian and exhibits archaic features. Bolgar Turkic and Common Turkic differ in regular phonetic representations such as r versus z and l versus _š_—e.g., Chuvash śer versus Turkish yüz ‘hundred’; Chuvash śul versus Turkish yaš ‘age.’ Chuvash and Common Turkic are not mutually intelligible. Of the Common Turkic languages, Khalaj displays a greater number of archaic features than any other language.

The linguistic history of the Turkic languages can be followed in written sources from the 8th century on. Attempts at interpreting earlier materials as Turkic (e.g., the identification of Hunnic elements in Chinese sources from the 4th century ce) have failed. The Uyghur, Oghuz, Kipchak, and Bolgar branches were already differentiated in the oldest known period. In subsequent centuries, Turkic underwent further divergence corresponding to its gradual diffusion. From the Eurasian steppes, Turkic-speaking groups penetrated other regions: the Uyghur migrated toward eastern Turkistan, the Kipchak toward the Pontic steppes, and the Oghuz mainly southeastward, toward Iran, Anatolia, and so on. Some varieties proved amazingly expansive. From the 13th century on, Turkistan and Tatarstan were extensively Turkicized. Of the Iranian languages of Central Asia, practically only Tajik survived. The displacements of linguistic groups also led to mixture and leveling of Turkic varieties. Several areas, notably the Oxus region and Crimea, developed into major contact areas.

Language contacts

Turkic has been influenced by a number of different contact languages. Old Turkic exhibits Indo-Iranian and Chinese borrowings, and all subsequent varieties have liberally adopted loanwords. Arabic and Persian elements are numerous in all Islamic languages, especially in those of the early sedentary groups. Mongolian loanwords occur from the 13th century on, notably in varieties of nomadic groups. Interaction with the Mongolian language has been especially strong in such areas as southern Siberia. Turkic and Iranian have interacted closely for many centuries, particularly in Central Asia, leading to a profound Iranian impact on Uzbek and an even stronger Uzbek impact on Tajik dialects. Persian influence on the Turkic dialects of Iran and Afghanistan is still considerable. Several languages deviating from the normal type—Chuvash, Khalaj, and Sakha—have both preserved archaic features and acquired new ones through contact. Part of the divergence is due to Iranian, Slavic, and Uralic influence. Although the adoption of French, Italian, and other Western loanwords began in the early years of the Ottoman Empire, European vocabulary has grown more important in modern times. Many Eastern languages, notably the literary languages that developed in the former Soviet Union, did so under Russian dominance and partly under bilingual conditions, and in this process they acquired numerous Russian loanwords and loan translations. The Turkic languages of China are influenced by Chinese vocabulary.