Tatar language

Not to be confused with Crimean Tatar language.

"Tatarca" redirects here. For the Romanian village of Tătarca, see Tuluceşti.

Tatar, Kazan Tatar
татар теле / tatar tele / تاتار تيلی
Native to	Russia, other post-Soviet states
Ethnicity	Tatars
Native speakers	6.5 million  (2002)
Language family	Turkic Kipchak Kipchak–Bolgar Tatar, Kazan Tatar
Writing system	Cyrillic, Latin, Arabic
Official status
Official language in	Tatarstan (Russia)
Regulated by	Institute of Language, Literature and Arts of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan
Language codes
ISO 639-1	tt
ISO 639-2	tat
ISO 639-3	tat

Tatar or Kazan Tatar (татар теле, татарча, tatar tele, tatarça, تاتار تيلی) is a Turkic language spoken by the Tatars of the historical Kazan Khanate, including modern Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. It should not be confused with the Crimean Tatar language, to which it is remotely related and not mutually intelligible with.

Geographic distribution

Tatar is spoken in Russia (about 5.3 million people), Central Asia, the Ukraine, Poland, China, Finland, Turkey and other countries.

Kazan Tatar is also native for some thousands of Maris. Mordva's Qaratay group also speak a variant of Kazan Tatar. 94% of ethnic Tatar claimed knowledge of Tatar language during the 2002 census.

Official status

The word Qazan – قازان is written in Yaña imlâ in the semblance of a Zilant

Tatar Latin Janalif Arabic script 1927

Cover page of Tatar Yana imla book, printed with Separated Tatar language in Arabic script in 1924

A Ğabdulla Tuqay's gravestone in 2011 with name iscription in Tatar language in Arabic script

Pamphlet in Tatar language in Arabic script in 1778

Bilingual guide in Kazan Metro.

A subway sign in Tatar (top) and Russian

Tatar, along with Russian, is the official language of the Republic of Tatarstan. The official script of Tatar language is based on the Cyrillic script with some additional letters. Sometimes other scripts are used, mostly Latin and Arabic. All official sources in Tatarstan use Cyrillic at their web-sites and publishing. In other cases, where Tatar has no official status, the use of a specific alphabet depends on the preference of the author. Guides in Tatarstan are published in two alphabets.

The Tatar language was made a de facto official language in Russia in 1917, but only in the Tatar Soviet Socialist Republic. Tatar is also considered the official language in short-lived Idel-Ural State, briefly formed during the Russian Civil War. One should note, however, that Bolshevist Russia did not recognize official languages as such; however, there were a number of languages that could be used in trial in some republics. In the Soviet era, Tatar was such a language^{[citation needed]} in Bashkortostan, Mari El and other regions of the Russian SFSR.

The usage of Tatar declined from the 1930s onwards. In the 1980s, the study and teaching of Tatar in the public education system was limited to rural schools, however Tatar-speaking pupils had little chance of entering university because all higher education was available in Russian almost exclusively.

Kazan Tatar is no longer classified as an endangered language, although it is still a low prestige language. Higher education in Tatar can only be found in Tatarstan, and is restricted to the humanities. In other regions Tatar is primarily a spoken language and the number of speakers as well as their proficiency tends to decrease. Tatar is popular as a written language only in Tatar-speaking areas where schools with Tatar language lessons are situated. On the other hand, Tatar is the only language in use in rural districts of Tatarstan.

Dialects of Tatar

There are 3 main dialects of Tatar: Western (Mişär or Mishar), Middle (Kazan), and Eastern (Siberian). All of these dialects also have subdivisions. Significant contribution to the study of the Tatar language and its dialects, made famous scientist, a professor of philology Gabdulkhay Akhatov, who is considered the founder of modern Tatar dialectological school.

Mişär

In the Western (Mişär) dialect Ç is pronounced [tʃ] (southern or Lambir Mişärs) and as [ts] (northern Mişärs or Nizhgars). C is pronounced [dʒ]. There are no differences between v and w, q and k, g and ğ in the Mişär dialect. (The Cyrillic alphabet doesn't have special letters for q, ğ and w, so Mişär speakers have no difficulty reading Tatar written in Cyrillic.)

This is the dialect spoken by the Tatar minority of Finland.

Middle

Minzälä

In the Minzälä subdialect of the Middle Dialect z is pronounced [ð], as opposed to other dialects where it is silent.

Slang

Main article: Tatar-Russian code-switching

In bilingual cities people often pronounce h as [x], q as [k], ğ as [ɡ], w as [v]. This could be due to Russian influence. Another possibility is that these cities were places where both the western and middle dialects were used.

The influence of Russian is significant. Russian words and phrases are used with Tatar grammar or Russian grammar in Tatar texts. Some Russian verbs are taken entirely, un-nativized, and followed with itärgä. Some English words and phrases are also used.

Gäp

The Yaña Bistä slang, Yaña Bistä gäbe or simply Gäp was a distinct cryptolect of the Tatar language, spoken in Yaña Bistä (The New Quarter) of Kazan. It has been extinct or near extinct since the 1920s. The vocabulary and grammar of this sociolect differ from those of standard Tatar. The vocabulary includes some words from Central Asian languages. Modern Tatar slang is also sometimes known as gäp. Gäp spells one-to-one as English word gap and is Standard Tatar for a talk.

Siberian Tatar

Siberian Tatars pronounce ç as [ts], c as [j] and sometimes b as [p], d as [t], f as p, j as ch, t as d, z as s and h as k. There are also grammatical differences within the dialect, scattered across Siberia.

Many linguists claim the origins of Siberian Tatar dialects are actually independent of Volga–Ural Tatar; these dialects are quite remote both from Standard Tatar and from each other, often preventing mutual comprehension. The claim that this language is part of the modern Tatar language is typically supported by linguists in Kazan and denounced by Siberian Tatars.

Over time, some of these dialects were given distinct names and recognized as separate languages (e.g. the Chulym language) after detailed linguistic study. A brief linguistic analysis shows that many of these dialects exhibit features which are quite different from the Volga–Ural Tatar varieties, and should be classified as Turkic varieties belonging to several sub-groups of the Turkic languages, distinct from Kipchak languages to which Volga–Ural Tatar belongs.

By studying the phonetic peculiarities of dialect of the local population of Siberia, professor Gabdulkhay Akhatov first among the scientists discovered in the Speech of Siberian Tatars is such a thing as the pronounce, which in his opinion, was obtained for the Siberian Tatars of Kipchaks. In his classic fundamental research work "Dialect West Siberian Tatars" (1963) professor Gabdulkhay Akhatov wrote about a territorial resettlement of the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars Tyumen and Omsk areas. Subjecting a comprehensive integrated analysis of the phonetic system, the lexical composition and grammatical structure, the scientist concluded that the language of the Siberian Tatars is a separate language, it is divided into three dialects and it is one of the most ancient Turkic languages.

Phonology

Vowels

Phonemically, Tatar may be argued to have two vowel heights, high and low. The low vowels are two, front and back, whereas the high vowels are eight: front and back, round and unround, long and short. However, phonetically, the short high vowels are reduced: they are mid-centralized. They are therefore generally transcribed with mid vowel letters such as e and o: high front i ü, high back ï u, reduced (mid) front e ö, reduced (mid) back ë o, and low ä, a. The high back unrounded vowel ï is only found in Russian loans, though the native diphthong ëy, which only occurs word-finally, has been argued to be phonemically ï.. Loaned vowels are considered to be back vowels.

Phonetically, the native vowels are approximately high и/i [i], ү/ü [ʉ], у/u [u], reduced е (э)/e [ɘ̆], ө/ө [ɵ̆], ы/ı [ɤ̆~ʌ̆] о/o [ŏ] (ë may be mid-low), and low ә/ə [a~æ], а/а [ɑ]. In polysyllabic words, the front-back distinction is lost in reduced vowels: all become mid-central. Reduced vowels in unstressed position are frequently elided. Low back /ɑ/ is rounded [ɒ] word-initially and after [ɒ], as in bala 'child'. In Russian loans there are also [ɨ], [ɛ], and [ɔ]

Historically, the Turkic high vowels have become the Tatar reduced series, whereas the Turkic mid vowels have replaced them. Thus Kazakh til 'language' and kün 'day' correspond to Tatar tel and kön, while Kazakh men 'I', qol 'hand', and kök 'sky' are in Tatar min, qul, kük.

Consonants

The consonants of Tatar

		Labial	Labio- velar	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasals		m /m/		n /n/			ñ /ŋ/	ñ [ɴ]
Plosives	Voiceless	p /p/		t /t/			k /k/	q [q]	' /ʔ/
	Voiced	b /b/		d /d/			g /ɡ/
Fricatives	Voiceless	f /f/		s /s/	ş /ʃ/	ç /tɕ~ɕ/		x /χ/	h /h/
	Voiced	v /v/		z /z/	j /ʒ/	c /dʑ~ʑ/		ğ [ʁ~ɢ]
Trill				r /r/
Approximants			w /w/	l /l/		y /j/ ([j~ɪ])

Uvular consonants are allophones of velars before back vowels.

Most of these phonemes are common to or have equivalents in all Turkic languages, but the phonemes /v/, /ts/, /h/ and /ʒ/ are only found in loanwords in Literary Tatar. /f/ is also of foreign origin, but is also found in native words, e.g. yafraq "leaf".

Pronunciation of loanwords

While the consonants [ʒ], [f] and [v] are not native to Tatar, they are well established. However, Tatars usually substitute fricatives for affricates, for example [ɕ] for [tʃ], [ʒ] or [ʑ] for [dʒ], and [s] for [ts]. Nevertheless, literary traditions recommend the pronunciation of affricates in loanwords.

[ʔ] (hamza) is a sound found in Arabic loanwords and Islamic prayers. It is usually pronounced [e] in loanwords.

Palatalisation

Palatalisation is not common in Tatar. As a result, speakers have no problem using the Arabic and Jaꞑalif scripts, neither of which has an accepted method for indicating palatalisation.

In general, Russian words with palatalisation have entered into the speech of bilingual Tatars since the 1930s. When writing in the Cyrillic alphabet, Russian words are spelled as they are in Russian. In today's Latin orthography, palatalisation is sometimes represented by an acute diacritic under the vowel.

Some Tatars speak Russian without palatalisation, which is known as a Tatar accent.

Syllable types

• V (ı-lıs, u-ra, ö-rä)
• VC (at-law, el-geç, ir-kä)
• CV (qa-la, ki-ä, su-la)
• CVC (bar-sa, sız-law, köç-le, qoş-çıq)
• VCC (ant-lar, äyt-te, ilt-kän)
• CVCC (tört-te, qart-lar, 'qayt-qan)

Stress is on the final syllable.

Phonetic replacement

Tatar sign on a madrasah in Nizhny Novgorod, written in both Arabic and Cyrilic Tatar scripts

Tatar phonotactics dictate many pronunciation changes.

Unrounded vowels may be pronounced as rounded after o or ö:

qorı /qoro/
borın /boron/
közge /közgö/
sorı /soro/)

Nasals are assimilated to following stops:

unber /umber/
mengeç /meñgeç/

Voicing may also undergo assimilation:

küzsez /küssez/

Unstressed vowels may be syncopated or reduced:

urını /urnı/
kilene /kilne/
bezne /bĕzne/
kerdem /kĕrdem/
qırğıç /qĭrğıç/

Vowels may also be elided:

qara urman /qar'urman/
kilä ide /kilä'yde/
turı uram /tur'uram/
bula almím /bul'almím/

In consonant clusters longer than two phones, ı or e (whichever is dictated by vowel harmony) is inserted into speech as an epenthetic vowel.

tekst → /tekest/
bank → /banık/ (not /bañk/)

Final devoicing is also frequent:

tabíb (doctor) → [tabíp]

Grammar

Like other Turkic languages, Tatar is an agglutinative language.

Plural

• After vowels, consonants, hard: -lar (bala-lar, abí-lar, kitap-lar, qaz-lar, malay-lar, qar-lar, ağaç-lar)
• After vowels, consonants, soft: -lär (äni-lär, sölge-lär, däftär-lär, kibet-lär, süz-lär, bäbkä-lär, mäktäp-lär, xäref-lär)
• After nasals, hard: -nar (uram-nar, urman-nar, tolım-nar, moñ-nar, tañ-nar, şalqan-nar)
• After nasals, soft: -när (ülän-när, keläm-när, çräm-när, iñ-när, ciñ-när, isem-när)

Declension of Pronouns

Personal Pronouns
Case	Singular			Plural
Nominative	мин	син	ул	без	сез	алар
Genitive	минем	синең	аның	безнең	сезнең	аларның
Dative	миңа	сиңа	аңа	безгә	сезгә	аларга
Accusative	мине	сине	аны	безне	сезне	аларны
Locative	миндә	синдә	анда	бездә	сездә	аларда
Ablative	миннән	синнән	аннан	бездән	сездән	алардан

Demonstrative Pronouns
Case	Singular		Plural
Case	"This"	"That"	"These"	"Those"
Nominative	бу	шул	болар	шулар
Genitive	моның	шуның	боларның	шуларның
Dative	моңа	шуңа	боларга	шуларга
Accusative	моны	шуны	боларны	шуларны
Locative	монда	шунда	боларда	шуларда
Ablative	моннан	шуннан	болардан	шулардан

Interrogative Pronouns
Case	Who?	What?
Nominative	кем	нәрсә
Genitive	кемнең	нәрсәнең
Dative	кемгә	нәрсәгә
Accusative	кемне	нәрсәне
Locative	кемдә	нәрсәдә
Ablative	кемнән	нәрсәдән

Writing system

Main articles: Tatar alphabet and Jaꞑalif

Some guides in Kazan are in Latin script, especially in fashion boutiques

Tatar has been written in a number of different alphabets.

Writing was adopted from the Bolgar language, which used the Orkhon script, before the 920s. Later, the Arabic script was also used, as well as Latin and Cyrillic.

Before 1928 Tatar was written with an Arabic alphabet (Iske imla to 1920; Yanga imla 1920–1928).

In the Soviet Union after 1928, Tatar was written with a Latin alphabet called Jaꞑalif.

In 1939, in Tatarstan (a republic of Russia where Tatar is most commonly used) and all other parts of the Soviet Union a Cyrillic script was developed and is still used to write Tatar. It is also used in Kazakhstan.

In 2004, an attempt to introduce a Latin-based alphabet for Tatar was aborted when the Constitutional Court ruled that the 15 November 2002 federal law mandating the use of Cyrillic for the state languages of the republics of the Russian Federation does not contradict the Russian constitution. In accordance with this Constitutional Court ruling, on 28 December 2004, the Tatar Supreme Court overturned the Tatarstani law that made the Latin alphabet official.

In China, Tatars still use the Arabic script.

• Tatar Cyrillic alphabet (letter order adopted in 1997):

А а	Ә ә	Б б	В в	Г г	Д д	Е е	Ё ё
Ж ж	Җ җ	З з	И и	Й й	К к	Л л	М м
Н н	Ң ң	О о	Ө ө	П п	Р р	С с	Т т
У у	Ү ү	Ф ф	Х х	Һ һ	Ц ц	Ч ч	Ш ш
Щ щ	Ъ ъ	Ы ы	Ь ь	Э э	Ю ю	Я я

• 1999 Tatar Latin alphabet, made official by a law adopted by Tatarstani authorities but annulled by the Tatar Supreme Court in 2004:

A a	Ə ə	B b	C c	Ç ç	D d	E e	F f
G g	Ğ ğ	H h	I ı	İ i	J j	K k	Q q
L l	M m	N n	Ꞑ ꞑ	O o	Ɵ ɵ	P p	R r
S s	Ş ş	T t	U u	Ü ü	V v	W w	X x
Y y	Z z	’

History

Main article: Turkic languages#Vocabulary comparison

Tatar's ancestors are the extinct Bolgar and Kipchak languages. Crimean Tatar is not closely related, being more akin to standard Turkish.

The literary Tatar language is based on Tatar's Middle dialect and the Old Tatar language (İske Tatar Tele). Both are members of the Kipchak group of Turkic languages, although they are also partly derived from the ancient Volga Bolgar language.

The Tatar language has been strongly influenced by most of the Uralic languages in the Volga River area, as well as Arabic, Persian and Russian languages.

Examples

• äye – yes
• yuq – no
• isänme(sez)/sawmı(sız) – hello
• sälâm – hi
• sau bul(ığız)/xuş(ığız) – bye bye
• zínhar öçen – please
• räxmät – thank you
• ğafu it(egez) – excuse me
• min – I
• sin – you (sg.)
• ul – he / she / it
• bez – we
• sez – you (pl.)
• alar – they
• millät – nation
• İngliz(çä) – English

Further reading

• Akhatov G. (1982). "Phraseological Dictionary of the Tatar Language" (monograph). Kazan. (Russian) (Tatar language)
• Akhatov G. (1984). "Tatar Dialectology" (Textbook for university students). Kazan. (Russian) (Tatar language)
• Bukharaev, R., & Matthews, D. J. (2000). Historical anthology of Kazan Tatar verse: voices of eternity. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. ISBN 0-7007-1077-9
• PEN (Organization). (1998). Tatar literature today. Kazan: Magarif Publishers.
• Poppe, N. N. (1963). Tatar manual: descriptive grammar and texts with a Tatar-English glossary. Bloomington: Indiana University.

See also

• Tatar alphabet
• Tatar name
• Tatars

Notes

8. Čaušević, Ekrem: Kazantatarisch. (= Wieser Enzyklopaedie des Europaeischen Ostens / Okuka, Miloš & Krenn, Gerald (ur.). Klagenfurt-Wien-Ljubljana : Wieser Verlag, 2002.. Str. 793–797.]; http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/eeo/Kasantatarisch.pdf

External links

• Tatar language on Ethnologue
• Tatar language at the Open Directory Project (English)
• Tatar language at the Open Directory Project (Tatar), (Russian)
• Tatar dictionaries at the Open Directory Project (English)
• Web directory at the Open Directory Project (Tatar)
• website of the National Library of the Republic of Tatarstan

Language studies

• Information about Tatar writing
• Textbook on morphology of Tatar language (Russian)
• Course of Tatar language (Russian)
• tatar.org.ru
• Tatar.com.ru: Tatar language course (Russian)

Forums

• Tatar mailing list (English)
• IRC channel #tatar on the freenode network

History and literature

• Tatar poetry (Tatar)
• Tatar myths, including the story of Şüräle (Russian)
• Tatar library
• Tatar Electronic Library (Russian) (Tatar)
• Links to other Tatar language resources

Dictionaries

• Russian-Tatar On-Line Dictionary (a)
• Russian-Tatar On-Line Dictionary (b)
• Turkish-Tatar On-Line Dictionary
• Concise English-Tatar On-Line Dictionary