Crimean Tatar (qırımtatar tili, къырымтатар тили, قریم تاتار تلی), also called Crimean (qırım tili, къырым тили, قریم تلی),[1] is a Kipchak Turkic language spoken in Crimea and the Crimean Tatar diasporas of Uzbekistan, Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria, as well as small communities in the United States and Canada. It should not be confused with Tatar, spoken in Tatarstan and adjacent regions in Russia; the two languages are related, but belong to different subgroups of the Kipchak languages, while maintaining a significant degree of mutual intelligibility. Crimean Tatar has been extensively influenced by nearby Oghuz dialects.
| Crimean Tatar | |
|---|---|
| Crimean | |
| qırımtatar tili, къырымтатар тили, قریم تاتار تلی qırım tili, къырым тили, قریم تلی | |
 Crimean Tatar in Latin, Cyrillic, and Arabic Nastaliq scripts. | |
| Native to | Ukraine, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Romania, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus |
| Region | Eastern Europe |
| Ethnicity | Crimean Tatars |
Native speakers | 580,000 (2001–2019)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin and Cyrillic; previously Arabic (Crimean Tatar alphabet) | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Republic of Crimea[2][3] (Russia) Autonomous Republic of Crimea[2][4] (Ukraine) |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | crh |
| ISO 639-3 | crh |
| Glottolog | crim1257 |
| ELP | Crimean Tatar |
 Crimean Tatar-speaking world | |
 Crimean Tatar is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger [6] | |
,_2021,_01.jpg)
A long-term ban on the study of the Crimean Tatar language following the deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the Soviet government has led to the fact that at the moment UNESCO ranked the Crimean Tatar language among the languages under serious threat of extinction (severely endangered).[7]
Number of speakers Edit
Today, more than 260,000 Crimean Tatars live in Crimea. Approximately 150,000 reside in Central Asia (mainly in Uzbekistan), where their ancestors had been deported in 1944 during World War II by the Soviet Union. However, of all these people, mostly the older generations are the only ones still speaking Crimean Tatar.[1] In 2013, the language was estimated to be on the brink of extinction, being taught in only around 15 schools in Crimea. Turkey has provided support to Ukraine, to aid in bringing the schools teaching in Crimean Tatar to a modern state.[8] An estimated 5 million people of Crimean origin live in Turkey, descendants of those who emigrated in the 19th and early 20th centuries.[9] Of these an estimated 110,000 still speak the language.[1] Smaller Crimean Tatar communities are also found in Romania (22,000) and Bulgaria (1,400).[1] Crimean Tatar is one of the seriously endangered languages in Europe.[10]
Almost all Crimean Tatars are bilingual or multilingual, using as their first language the dominant languages of their respective home countries, such as Russian, Turkish, Romanian, Uzbek, Bulgarian or Ukrainian.
Classification and dialects Edit
The Crimean Tatar language consists of three dialects. The standard language is written in the middle dialect (Bağçasaray, orta yolaq), which is part of the otherwise largely extinct Kipchak branch of the Turkic family and is the most commonly spoken dialect.[citation needed] There is also the southern dialect, also known as the coastal dialect (yalıboyu, cenübiy), which is in the Oghuz branch spoken in Turkey and Azerbaijan,[11] and the northern dialect, also known as Nogai dialect (noğay, çöl, şimaliy), which is spoken in Kazakhstan.[citation needed]
Crimean Tatar has a unique position among the Turkic languages, because its three "dialects" belong to three different (sub)groups of Turkic. This makes the classification of Crimean Tatar as a whole difficult.[citation needed]
Volga Tatar Edit
Because of its common name, Crimean Tatar is sometimes mistaken to be a dialect of Tatar proper, or both being two dialects of the same language.[citation needed] However, Tatar spoken in Tatarstan and the Volga-Ural region of Russia belongs to the different Bulgaric (Russian: кыпчакско-булгарская) subgroup of the Kipchak languages,[citation needed] and its closest relative is Bashkir. Both Volga Tatar and Bashkir differ notably from Crimean Tatar, particularly because of the specific Volga-Ural Turkic vocalism and historical shifts.[citation needed]
History Edit
The formation period of the Crimean Tatar spoken dialects began with the first Turkic invasions of Crimea by Cumans and Pechenegs and ended during the period of the Crimean Khanate. However, the official written languages of the Crimean Khanate were Chagatai and Ottoman Turkish. After Islamization, Crimean Tatars wrote with an Arabic script.
In 1876, the different Turkic Crimean dialects were made into a uniform written language by Ismail Gasprinski. A preference was given to the Oghuz dialect of the Yalıboylus, in order to not break the link between the Crimeans and the Turks of the Ottoman Empire. In 1928, the language was reoriented to the middle dialect spoken by the majority of the people.
In 1928, the alphabet was replaced with the Uniform Turkic Alphabet based on the Latin script. The Uniform Turkic Alphabet was replaced in 1938 by a Cyrillic alphabet. During the 1990s and 2000s, the government of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea under Ukraine encouraged replacing the script with a Latin version again, but the Cyrillic has still been widely used (mainly in published literature, newspapers and education). The current Latin-based Crimean Tatar alphabet is the same as the Turkish alphabet, with two additional characters: Ñ ñ and Q q. Currently, in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, all official communications and education in Crimean Tatar are conducted exclusively in the Cyrillic alphabet.[12]
In the Russian-annexed Republic of Crimea the Crimean Tatar is declared to be one of state languages (the two others are Russian and Ukrainian).[13]
Phonology Edit
Vowels Edit
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UR | R | UR | R | |
| Close | i | y | ɯ | u |
| Mid/open | e | ø | ɑ | o |
The vowel system of Crimean Tatar is similar to some other Turkic languages.[14] Because high vowels in Crimean Tatar are short and reduced, /i/ and /ɯ/ are realized close to [ɪ], even though they are phonologically distinct.[15]
Consonants Edit
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Post- alveolar |
Velar | Uvular | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||||
| Stop | p | b | t | d | t͡ʃ | d͡ʒ | k | ɡ | q | |
| Fricative | f | v | s | z | ʃ | x | ɣ | |||
| Trill | r | |||||||||
| Approximants | l | j | ||||||||
In addition to these phonemes, Crimean also displays marginal phonemes that occur in borrowed words, especially palatalized consonants.[16]
The southern (coastal) dialect substitutes /x/ for /q/, e.g. standard qara 'black', southern xara.[17] At the same time the southern and some central dialects preserve glottal /h/ which is pronounced /x/ in the standard language.[17] The northern dialect on the contrary lacks /x/ and /f/, substituting /q/ for /x/ and /p/ for /f/.[17] The northern /v/ is usually [w], often in the place of /ɣ/, compare standard dağ and northern taw 'mountain' (also in other Oghuz and Kipchak languages, such as Azerbaijani: dağ and Kazakh: taw).
/k/ and /ɡ/ are usually fronted, close to [c] and [ɟ].
Grammar Edit
The grammar of Crimean Tatar, like all Turkic languages, is agglutinating,[18] with the exclusive use of suffixing to express grammatical categories.[19] Generally, suffixes are attached to the ends of word stems, although derivational morphology makes uses of compounding as well.[20] Overall, the grammatical structure of the language is similar to that of other West Kipchak varieties.[21] Crimean Tatar is a pro-drop language[22] with a generally SOV word order.[23]
Morphophonology Edit
Crimean Tatar, like most Turkic languages, features pervasive vowel harmony, which results in sound changes when suffixes are added to verb or noun stems.[24] Essentially, the vowel in a suffix undergoes assimilation to agree in certain categories with the vowel in the stem.[25] The two main types of assimilation that characterize this agreement in Crimean Tatar morphophonology are backness harmony and rounding harmony.[26]
Using the transliteration system in Kavitskaya (2010), non-high vowels undergoing backness harmony vary between [a] and [e], and are represented as A. High vowels that undergo both backness and rounding harmony alternate between [i], [y], [ɪ] and [u] and are represented as I. High vowels in suffixes that are never rounded and alternate between [i] and [ɪ] are represented as Y, whereas high vowels in suffixes that are always round and alternate between [u] and [y] are represented as U.[27]
Some consonants undergo similar harmonizing changes depending on whether the preceding segment is voiced or voiceless, or whether the segment demonstrates backness harmony. Consonants that alternate between [k], [q], [g] and [ɣ] are represented as K, alternating [k] and [g] as G, alternating [t] and [d] by D, and alternating [tʃ] and [dʒ] as Ç.[28]
Thus, the suffix -şAr could be rendered as "şar" or "şer" depending on the vowel in the morpheme preceding it.[29]
Verbs Edit
Crimean Tatar verbal morphology is fairly complex, inflecting for tense, number, person, aspect, mood and voice.[30] Verbs are conjugated according to the following paradigm:[31]
[STEM] + [reflexive] + [causative] + [passive] + [negation] + [tense/aspect/mood] + [person/number]
It is possible, albeit rare, for a single verb to contain all of these possible components, as in:
Мен
Men
I
йувундырылмадым.
yuvundırılmadım.
wash-REFL-CAUS-PASS-NEG-PAST-1SG
"I was not forced to wash myself."[32]
For the most part, each type of suffix would only appear once in any given word, although it is possible in some circumstances for causative suffixes to double up.[33]
Infinitive verbs take the -mAK suffix and can be negated by the addition of the suffix -mA between the verb stem and the infinitive suffix, creating verb constructions that do not easily mirror English.[34]
яшамакъ
yaşamaq
"to live"
яшамамакъ
yaşamamaq
"not to live"
Verb derivation
Novel verb stems are derived chiefly by applying a verbalizing suffix to a noun or adjective, as demonstrated in the following examples:[35]
тишле
tişle
tooth-VB
"bite"
къарар
qarar
black-VB
"become black"
кечик
keçik
late-VB
"be late"
Bare verb stems can also be compounded with noun stems to create new verbs,[36] as in:
чекеле
çekele
pull-carry-VB
"to overhaul"
Person markers
There are two types of person markers for finite verbs, pronominal and possessive. Depending on tense and mood, verbs will take one or the other set of endings.[37]
Pronominal Singular Plural 1st Person -(I)m -mIz 2nd Person -sIñ -sI(ñI)z 3rd Person Ø -(lAr)
Possessive Singular Plural 1st Person -(I)m -mIz 2nd Person -sIñ -sI(ñI)z 3rd Person Ø -(lAr)
Grammatical person is not marked in third person singular, and the marker is optional in third person plural.[38] As shown above, these markers come as the last element in the broader verb complex.
Tense and aspect markers
Grammatical tense and aspect are expressed in combination by the addition of various markers to the verb stem. Some of these markers match with pronominal person markers, while others take possessive person markers. Each tense/aspect has an associated negation marker; most of these are -mA but there is some variation.[39]
Marker Negation Person Marker Example General Present -A/y -mAy pronominal alam ("I take") Present Progressive -mAKtA -mA pronominal yazmaqtamız ("We are writing.") Future/Present -Ar/Ir -mAz pronominal bağırırım ("I will yell.") Categorical Future -cAK -mAy pronominal alacağım ("I will [probably] take") General Past -DY -mA possessive qırımğa keldik ("We returned to Crimea.") Evidential Past -KAn -mA pronominal bergenler ("they [apparently] gave") Conditional -sA -mA possessive alsam ("if I take")
A separate set of compound tenses are formed by adding the past tense copula edi- to the derived forms listed above.[40]
Formed With Negation Example Habitual Past Future/Present -mAz alır edim ("I often used to take") Compound Past General Present -A/y ala edik ("we were taking") Pluperfect Evidential Past -mA alğan edim ("I had taken") Counterfactual Past Categorical Future -mA yazacaq edim ("I would have written") Progressive Past Progressive -mA Ketmekte edim. ("I kept going.") Past Conditional Conditional -mA alsa edim ("if I had taken")
Mood
The imperative is formed using a specific set of person markers, and negated using -mA. In second person imperatives, only the bare verb stem is used. A first person imperative expresses an "I/we should do X" sentiment, whereas third person expresses "let him/her do X," as shown below with unut ("to forget"):[41]
Singular Plural 1st Person -(A)yIm -(A)yIK 2nd Person Ø -IñIz 3rd Person -sIn -sInlAr
Унутайым.
Unutayım
"I should have to forget."
Унут!
Unut!
"Forget!"
Унутсын.
Unutsın.
"Let him/her forget."
Other moods are constructed similarly to tense/aspect forms.[42]
Marker Negation Person Marker Example Optative -KAy(dI) -mAy pronominal Aytqaydım ("I wish I had spoken.") Obligative -mAlY -mA possessive Aytmalım ("I have to speak.")
Voice
Grammatical voice is expressed by the addition of suffixes which come in sequence before negation, tense, aspect, mood and person markers.[43] There are several causative suffixes which vary depending on the ending of the verb stem.[44]
Voice Marker Example Passive -(I)l aşal ("be eaten") Reflexive -(I)n boğul ("drown oneself") Reciprocal -(I)ş tapış ("find each other")
Causative Marker Added To Example -t polysyllabic stems ending in vowel işlet ("force to work") -It stems ending in -rk, -lk, -k qorqut ("to scare [someone]") -Ir monosyllabic stems ending in -t, -ç, -ş uçur ("allow to fly away") -Ar monosyllabic stems qopar ("break off [something]") -DIrm most remaining stems töktür ("force to spill")
Participles
Past, future and present participles are formed by the addition of suffixes and are negated in the same way as other verbs.[45]
Marker Negation Past -KAn -mA Future -cAK -mAy Present -r -mAz
йазылган
yazılgan
write-PTCP.PAST
мектюп
metküp
letter
"written letter"
сынаджакь
sınacaq
break-PTCP.FUT
араба
araba
cart
"cart that will break"
йанар
yanar
burn-PTCP.PRES
дагь
dağ
forest
"burning forest"
Copula
The copula ol ("to be, become, exist") is generally expressed as a predicate suffix in the present tense, closely resembling the pronominal person endings, as displayed below.[46] The third person endings are frequently deleted in colloquial speech. The copula’s past tense form, edi, is suppletive. Future tense copular forms are constructed by the addition of the categorical future suffix -cAK.[47]
Singular Plural 1st Person -(I)m -mIz 2nd Person -sIñ -sI(ñI)z 3rd Perso (-dır) (-dır)
Мен
Men
I
оджаман.
ocaman.
teacher-COP.1SG
"I am a teacher."
Мен
Men
I
оджа
oca
teacher
едим.
edim.
COP.PAST.1SG
"I was a teacher."
Мен
Men
I
оджа
oca
teacher
oладжагьым.
olacağım.
COP.FUT.1SG
"I will be a teacher."
Converbs
Converbs, a characteristic of many Turkic languages,[48] express sequential or dependent action. Present tense converbs are formed by the addition of the suffixes -A (used after consonants) and -y (used after vowels). In past tense, converbs take the suffix -Ip.[49] Thus:
Acaн
Asan
Asan
eвгe
evge
house-DAT
keлип
kelip
come-CVB.PAST
eвни
evni
house-ACC
темизледи.
temizledi.
clean-VB-PAST
"Asan came home and cleaned the house."
Nouns Edit
Crimean Tatar noun stems take suffixes which express grammatical number, case and possession. As in all other Turkic languages, there is no grammatical gender in Crimean Tatar.[50] Nouns are declined according to the following paradigm:[51]
[STEM] + [number] + [possession] + [case]
Noun derivation
Noun stems are derived in a number of ways. Most commonly, a bare noun stem can take a denominal suffix which alters its basic meaning.[52] Similarly, a bare verb stem can take a deverbal suffix that converts it into a noun.[53] There are many such denominal and deverbal suffixes in Crimean Tatar;[54] some common suffixes are shown below:
| Marker | Meaning | Example | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| -dAş | belonging to group | yaşdaş ("of same age") | age-SUF |
| -kir | association/inclination | işkir ("hard worker") | work-SUF |
| -lIK | abstraction | dostluq ("friendship") | friend-SUF |
| -şınas | performer of act | tilşınas ("linguist") | tongue-SUF |
| -ÇI | performer of act | arabaçu ("driver") | cart-SUF |
| -çYK | diminutive | buzçıq ("piece of ice") | ice-SUF |
Deverbal Marker Meaning Example Gloss -mA result of action aşıqma ("a hurry") hurry-SUF -KI instrument of action bilgi ("knowledge") know-SUF -KIç utility of action tutquç ("holder, handle") hold-SUF -I general noun formation ölü ("dead man") die-SUF -(I)k general noun formation kurek ("shovel") scoop-SUF -(U)v general noun formation quruv ("building") build-SUF
Noun stems can also be reduplicated, which lends a more generalized meaning.[55] The last method of noun derivation is through the compounding of two noun stems.[56] Thus:
къартоп-мaртоп
qartop-martop
potato-REDUP
"potatoes and the like"
aнa-бaбa
ana-baba
mother-father
"parents"
Number
Nouns are pluralized by the addition of the suffix -lAr to the noun stem. The vowel in this plural suffix agrees phonetically with the final vowel in the stem.[57]
aрaбалар
arabalar
car-PL
"cars"
Use of the plural can also express respect,[58] as in:
Oсановлар
Osanovlar
келди.
keldi.
"Osanov came."
Possession
Possession is expressed through person-specific suffixing. As with the plural suffix, possession suffixes harmonize with the preceding vowel in regular ways.[59]
Singular Plural 1st Person -(I)m -(I)mIz 2nd Person -(I)ñ -(I)ñIz 3rd Person -s(I) -(lar)-(s)I
балам
balam
child-1SG.POSS-NOM
"my child"
баланъ
balañ
child-2SG.POSS-NOM
"your child"
баласы
balası
child-3SG.POSS-NOM
"his/her child"
Case
Crimean Tatar has six grammatical cases.[60] The nominative case is unmarked, and the remaining cases are expressed through suffixing. These suffixes come last in a fully declined noun.[61]
Suffix Example with bala ("child") Nominative Ø bala ("the child" [subject]) Accusative -nY balanı ("the child" [direct object]) Genitive -nYñ balanıñ ("of the child") Dative -KA balağa ("to the child") Locative -DA balada ("at the child") Ablative -Dan baladan ("away from the child")
Pronouns Edit
Like nouns, pronouns are inflected for number, person and case but not for gender.[62]
Singular Plural 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd Nominative men sen o biz siz olar Accusative meni seni onı bizni sizni olarnı Genitive menim seniñ onıñ bizim sizniñ olarnıñ Dative maña saña oña bizge sizge olarǧa Locative mende sende onda bizde sizde olarda Ablative menden senden ondan bizden sizden olardan
The second person plural pronoun can be used to denote formality or respect, even if its referent is a single person.[63]
There are two roots, öz- and kendi-, that express reflexivity. Of the two, kendi- is more common in the southern dialect, but both are used throughout the entire area in which Crimean Tatar is spoken.[64]
Possessive pronouns are formed by adding the suffix -ki to the genitive form of a personal pronoun,[65] as in:
Singular Plural 1st Person menimki bizimki 2nd Person seniñki sizniñki 3rd Person onıñki olarnıñki
Adjectives Edit
Adjectives in Crimean Tatar precede the nouns they modify. They do not show agreement, and as such do not take any of the case, person or possession suffixes.[66]
Adjectives can be derived by the addition of certain suffixes to a noun or verb stem.[67]
кескин
keskin
cut-SUF
"sharp"
кюндеки
kündeki
day-SUF
"daily"
Къырымлы
Qırımlı
Crimea-SUF
"Crimean"
The comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are expressed, respectively, by the suffix -ÇA and the particle eñ,[68] as in the following examples:
узунджур
uzuncur
"hotter"
энъ
eñ
балам
balaban
"biggest"
An idiomatic superlative form using episi ("all") in the ablative case is also possible.[69]
О
O
she
эписинден
episinden
all-POSS-ABL
татли
tatlı
sweet
пахлава
pahlava
baklava
пишире.
pişire.
boil-CAUS-PRES
"She cooks the sweetest baklava."
Postpositions Edit
Crimean Tatar uses postpositions. Each postposition governs a specific case, either dative, genitive or ablative.[70] Some common postpositions are shown below:
Postposition English Case' qadar until DAT taba towards DAT zarfında during GEN ile with GEN içün for GEN soñ after ABL sebep due to ABL
This https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Tatar_language#In_Dobruja duplicates the scope of other articles, specifically https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Tatar_language#Dobrujan_Tatar. (September 2023) |
=== In Dobruja ===
In Dobruja Crimean Tatars use Ĭ and W, which is actually not found in Crimea. Ĭ is for [ı] sound (Tĭl "language") and W for [w] sound (Aywa "Quince"). Where in Crimea they use for [ı] and [i] the İ letter (Til "language") for [w] and [v] the V letter (Ayva "Quince"). In dobruja they talk with dialect which has some differences from the standard dialect. The dialect is Kipchak-Nogai which includes also Kazakh, Nogai and Karakalpak. There are very similarities with Nogai, Kazakh and Karakalpak. Sometimes they have letter changes like y → c (yaz - caz "summer"), f → p (fil → pĭl "elephant"), ç → ş (kiçkene → kĭşkene "small").
| Dobruja (also the northern dialect) | Crimea | English |
|---|---|---|
| Üy | Ev | Home |
| bolmaq | olmaq | to be |
| işün/işĭn | içün | for |
| cemek/aşamaq | yemek/aşamaq | to eat |
| şalmaq | çalmaq | to play (instrument) |
| pĭl | fil | elephant |
| caş | yaş | young |
Writing systems Edit
Crimean Tatar is written in either the Cyrillic or Latin alphabets, both modified to the specific needs of Crimean Tatar, and either used respective to where the language is used.
Historically, Arabic script was used from the sixteenth century. In the Soviet Union, it was replaced by a Latin alphabet based on Yañalif in 1928, and by a Cyrillic alphabet in 1938.
Upon Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Cyrillic became the sole allowed official script because according to the Constitutional Court of Russia decision made in 2004, all languages of Russia must use Cyrillic.[12] However there are some contradictions to the decision: virtually all Finnic languages, including distantly-related Skolt Sámi, spoken in Russia, however, currently use the Latin script as their sister languages Finnish and Estonian do, despite the historical existence of Karelian Cyrillic alphabet.
In 1992, a Latin alphabet based on Common Turkic Alphabet was adopted by the decision of the Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar People, which was formally supported by the Supreme Council of Crimea in 1997 but never implemented officially on practical level. However, in 2021, the Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine has announced it begins the implementation of the decision, with vice premier Oleksii Reznikov supporting the transition by stating that Latin corresponds better to Turkic phonetics. The ministry revealed it plans to finish the transition to Latin by 2025, which was supported by the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People. The alphabet is co-developed by A. Yu. Krymskyi Institute of Oriental Studies, Potebnia Institute of Linguistics, Institute of Philology of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and Tavrida National V.I. Vernadsky University.[71][72]
Arabic alphabet Edit
Crimean Tatars used Arabic script from 16th[citation needed] century to 1928.
Latin alphabet Edit
 â is not considered to be a separate letter. Usually it represents the near-open front unrounded vowel, /æ/.
| a | b | c | ç | d | e | f | g | ğ | h | ı | i (ĭ) | j | k | l | m | n | ñ | o | ö | p | q | r | s | ş | t | u | ü | v (w) | y | z |
| [a] | [b] | [dʒ] | [tʃ] | [d] | [e] | [f] | [ɡ] | [ɣ] | [x] | [ɯ] | [i], [ɪ] | [ʒ] | [k] | [l] | [m] | [n] | [ŋ] | [o] | [ø] | [p] | [q] | [r] | [s] | [ʃ] | [t] | [u] | [y] | [v], [w] | [j] | [z] |
Cyrillic alphabet Edit
| а | б | в | г | гъ | д | е | ё | ж | з | и | й | к | къ | л | м | н | нъ | о | п | р | с | т | у | ф | х | ц | ч | дж | ш | щ | ъ | ы | ь | э | ю | я |
| [a] | [b] | [v],[w] | [ɡ] | [ɣ] | [d] | [ɛ],[jɛ] | [ø],[jø],[jo],[ʲo] | [ʒ] | [z] | [i],[ɪ] | [j] | [k] | [q] | [l],[ɫ] | [m] | [n] | [ŋ] | [o],[ø] | [p] | [r] | [s] | [t] | [u],[y] | [f] | [x] | [ts] | [tʃ] | [dʒ] | [ʃ] | [ʃtʃ] | [(.j)] | [ɯ] | [ʲ] | [ɛ] | [y],[jy],[ju],[ʲu] | [ʲa], [ja] |
гъ, къ, нъ and дж are separate letters (digraphs).
Dobrujan Tatar Edit
Dobrujan Tatar or Romanian Tatar (Tatarşa or Tatar tílí; Romanian: limba tătară) is the Tatar language of Romania. It includes Crimean Tatar and Nogai dialects,[73][74][75][76][77] but today there are no more longer sharp distinction between this dialects and it's mostly seen as a one language.[78][79] This language belongs to Kipchak Turkic languages, specifically to Kipchak-Nogai and is influenced by Turkish and Romanian.[78][79]
Dialects Edit
Tatar language in Romania has three dialects:[78][80]
- Dobruja Tatar, the Kîrîm or Bozkîr dialect (Şól tílí) spoken by about 70% of Romanian Tatars. Dobrudja Tatar is spoken mainly in the south and center of Constanța and has been heavily influenced by Oghuz.
- Dobruja Nogai, the Nogay dialect (Nogay tílí) spoken by about 20% of Romanian Tatars. Dobruja Nogai is spoken in Tulcea, near and far north of Constanța, and is the most conservative in preserving Kipchak elements.
- Dobruja Tat, the Yalîbolu dialect (Yalîbolu tílí) spoken by about 10% of Romanian Tatars. Dobruja Tat is spoken around the cities of Hacıoğlu Pazarcık (Dobrich) and is the closest to Oghuz languages.
They differ mainly in pronunciation, and to some extent in vocabulary.[78]
Alphabet Edit
In 1956 is a Latin alphabet developed by the Institute of Linguistics of the Romanian Academy for the Tatar language in Romania, with the letters Á á, Č č/Ç ç, Ğ ğ/C c, Î î/I ı, Í í/Ĭ ĭ, Ñ ñ, Ó ó/Ö ö, Ș ș, Ț ț/Ts ts, Ú ú/Ü ü.[78] The sounds for the letters î, ș and ț are from the Romanian alphabet. The sounds for the letters č, ğ, j, ñ, w and y are from a variety of languages.[78] A new orthography was developed in 2010, which is now used by UDTTMR.[78][81] Other alphabets was used by the writer Taner Murat.[82][83] The Latin alphabet that he did use was from the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures from the University of Bucharest, with the letters Á, Ç, Ğ, Ñ, Î, Í, Ó, Ş, Ú. He did also use the Cyrillic script including the letters Ә, Җ, І, Ң, Ө, Ү, Ў. Also the Old Turkic script and the Perso-Arabic script, with the letter ڭ.
| Latin character | Name | Sound description and pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| A a | A | This letter represents the low unrounded RTR or hard vowel /ɑ/ as in ana [ɑṉɑ] 'mother'. |
| Á á | Hemzelí A | This letter occurring in a limited number of Arabic and Persian loanwords represents the near-low unrounded ATR or soft vowel not belonging to authentic Tatar language /æ/ as in sát [s̶æ̶t̶] 'hour', 'clock'. |
| B b | Be | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiced bilabial stop /ḇ/ as in bal [ḇaḻ] 'honey' and the soft voiced bilabial stop /b̶/ as in bel [b̶el̶] 'waist'. |
| Ç ç | Çe | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless palato-alveolar affricate /ç̱/ as in ça-ça [ṯ͡ʃ̱ɑṯ͡ʃ̱ɑ] 'cha-cha' and the soft voiceless palato-alveolar affricate /ç̶/ as in çeçen [t̶͡ʃ̶et̶͡ʃ̶en̶] 'chechen'.
Common to Turkic languages, these sounds are quasi non-existent in Tatar spoken in Dobruja where they have shifted from «Ç» to «Ş». Therefore, although authentic, these sounds could be equally treated as academic. |
| D d | De | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: hard voiced dental stop /ḏ/ as in dal [ḏaḻ] 'branch' and the soft voiced dental stop/d̶/ as in deren [d̶er̶en̶] 'deep'. |
| E e | E | This letter represents the mid unrounded ATR or soft vowel /e/ as in sen [s̶en̶] 'you'. |
| F f | Fe | This letter occurs only in loanwords for it represents sounds that do not belong to authentic Tatar language. In authentic reading the foreign sound is naturalized and the letter reads as letter «P». In academic reading it represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless labio-dental fricative [f̱] as in fal [f̱aḻ] 'destiny' and the soft voiceless labio-dental fricative [f̶] as in fen [f̶en̶] 'technics'. |
| G g | Ge | This letter represents the soft voiced palatal stop [ɟ̱] as in gene [ɟ̱en̶e] 'again', 'still' with its allophone the soft voiced velar stop /g/ as in gúl [gu̶l̶] 'flower', 'rose'. It also represents the hard voiced uvular fricative /ʁ/ as in gam [ʁɑm] 'grief'. |
| Ğ ğ | Ğe | The letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiced palato-alveolar affricate/ḏ͡ʒ̱/ as in ğar [ḏ͡ʒ̱ɑṟ] 'abyss' and the soft voiced palato-alveolar affricate/d̶͡ʒ̶/ as in ğer [d̶͡ʒ̶er̶] 'place', 'ground'. |
| H h | He | Representing sounds that do not belong to authentic Tatar language this letter occurs only in loanwords. Most often, in authentic reading, when it reproduces the Arabic or Persian ه it is a silent letter or, if it is located at the beginning or end of the word, the sound is usually naturalized and the letter reads as letter «K». When it reproduces ح or خ the sound is usually naturalized as /q/. In academic reading it represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless glottal fricative /h/ as in taht [ṯɑhṯ] 'throne' and the soft voiceless uvular fricative /χ/ as in heşt [χeʃ̶t̶] 'eight'. |
| I i | I | The letter represents the hight unrounded ATR or soft vowel /i/ as in biñ [b̶iŋ] 'thousand'. |
| Í í | Hemzelí I, Kîska I, Zayîf I | This letter represents the hight unrounded half-advanced ATR or soft vowel /ɨ/ as in bír [b̶ɨr̶] 'one' is specific to Tatar.
At the end of the word it is pronounced with half open mouth undergoing dilatation "Keñiytúw" and becoming mid unrounded half-advanced ATR or soft /ə/, also known as schwa, as in tílí [t̶ɨl̶ə] 'his tongue'. |
| Î î | Kalpaklî I, Tartuwlî I | This letter represents the hight unrounded RTR or hard vowel /ɯ/ as in îşan [ɯʃ̱ɑṉ] 'mouse'.
At the end of the word it is pronounced with half open mouth shifting through dilatation "Keñiytúw" to mid unrounded RTR or hard /ɤ/, close to schwa, as in şîlapşî [ʃ̱ɯḻɑp̱ʃ̱ɤ] 'trough'. |
| J j | Je | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiced palato-alveolar affricate /ʒ̱/ as in taj [ṯɑʒ̱] 'crown' and the soft voiced palato-alveolar affricate /ʒ̶/ as in bej [b̶eʒ̶] 'beige'. |
| K k | Ke | This letter represents the soft voiceless palatal stop /c/ as in kel [cel̶] 'come!' and its allophone the soft voiceless velar stop /k/ as in kól [kɵl̶] 'lake'. It also represents the hard voiceless uvular stop /q/ as in kal [qɑḻ] 'stay!'. |
| L l | Le | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard alveolar lateral aproximant /ḻ/ as in bal [ḇɑḻ] 'honey' and the soft alveolar lateral aproximant /l̶/ as in bel [b̶el̶] 'waist'. |
| M m | Me | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard bilabial nasal /m̱/ as in maga [m̱ɑʁɑ] 'to me' and the soft bilabial nasal /m̶/ as in men [m̶en̶] 'I'. |
| N n | Ne | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard dental nasal /ṉ/ as in ana [ɑṉɑ] 'mother' and the soft dental nasal /n̶/ as in ne [n̶e] 'what'. |
| Ñ ñ | Eñ, Dalgalî Ne | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard uvular nasal /ɴ/ as in añ [ɑɴ] 'conscience' and the soft velar nasal /ŋ/ as in eñ [eŋ] 'most'. |
| O o | O | This letter represents the mid rounded RTR or hard vowel /o/ as in bo [ḇo] 'this'. |
| Ó ó | Noktalî O | This letter represents the mid rounded half-advanced ATR or soft vowel /ɵ/ as in tór [t̶ɵr̶] 'background'. |
| P p | Pe | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless bilabial stap /p̱/ as in ğap [ḏ͡ʒ̱ɑp̱] 'close!' and the soft voiceless bilabial stop /p̶/ as in ğep [d̶͡ʒ̶ep̶] 'pocket'. |
| R r | Re | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard alveolar trill /ṟ/ as in tar [ṯɑṟ] 'narrow' and the soft alveolar trill /r̶/ as in ter [t̶er̶] 'sweat'. |
| S s | Se | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless alveolar fricative /s̱/ as in sal [s̱ɑḻ] 'raft' and the soft voiceless alveolar fricative /s̶/ as in sel [s̶el̶] 'flood'. |
| Ş ş | Şe | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ̱/ as in şaş [ʃ̱ɑʃ̱] 'spread!' and the soft voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ̶/ as in şeş [ʃ̶eʃ̶] 'untie'. |
| T t | Te | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless dental stop /ṯ/ as in tar [ṯɑṟ] 'tight', 'narrow' and the soft voiceless dental stop /t̶/ as in ter [t̶er̶] 'sweat'. |
| U u | U | This letter represents the hight rounded RTR or hard vowel /u/ as in un [uṉ] 'flour'. |
| Ú ú | Noktalî U | This letter represents the hight rounded half-advanced ATR or soft vowel /ʉ/ as in sút [s̶ʉt̶] 'milk'.
In the vicinity of semivowel y, which occurs rarely, its articulation shifts to high rounded ATR or soft /y/, close to Turkish pronunciation, as in súymek [s̶ym̶ec] 'to love'. |
| V v | Ve | This letter occurs only in loanwords for it represents sounds that do not belong to authentic Tatar spoken in Romania. In authentic reading the foreign sound is naturalized and the letter reads sometimes as «W», sometimes as «B». In academic it represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiced labio-dental fricative /v̱/ as in vals [v̱ɑḻs̱] 'waltz' and the soft voiced labio-dental fricative /v̶/ as in ve [v̶e] 'and'. |
| W w | We | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard labio-velar semivowel /w̱/ as in taw [ṯɑw̱] 'forest', 'mountain' and the soft labio-velar semivowel /w̶/ as in tew [t̶ew̶] 'central', 'fundamental'. |
| Y y | Ye | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard palatal semivowel /y̱/ as in tay [ṯɑy̱] 'foal' and the soft palatal semivowel /y̶/ as in yer [y̶er̶] 'place', 'ground'. |
| Z z | Ze | This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiced alveolar fricative /ẕ/ as in taz [ṯɑẕ] 'bald' and the soft voiced alveolar fricative /z̶/ as in tez [t̶ez̶] 'quick'. |
Legal status Edit
The Crimean peninsula is internationally recognized as territory of Ukraine, but since the 2014 annexation by the Russian Federation is de facto administered as part of the Russian Federation.
According to Russian law, by the April 2014 constitution of the Republic of Crimea and the 2017 Crimean language law,[12] the Crimean Tatar language is a state language in Crimea alongside Russian and Ukrainian, while Russian is the state language of the Russian Federation, the language of interethnic communication, and required in public postings in the conduct of elections and referendums.[12]
In Ukrainian law, according to the constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as published in Russian by its Verkhovna Rada,[84] Russian and Crimean Tatar languages enjoy a "protected" (Russian: обеспечивается ... защита) status; every citizen is entitled, at his request (ходатайство), to receive government documents, such as "passport, birth certificate and others" in Crimean Tatar; but Russian is the language of interethnic communication and to be used in public life. According to the constitution of Ukraine, Ukrainian is the state language. Recognition of Russian and Crimean Tatar was a matter of political and legal debate.
Before the Sürgünlik, the 18 May 1944 deportation by the Soviet Union of Crimean Tatars to internal exile in Uzbek SSR, Crimean Tatar had an official language status in the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
Media Edit
The first Crimean Tatar newspaper was Terciman published in 1883-1918 by Ismail Gasprinsky. Some other Crimean Tatar media include: ATR, Qırım Aqiqat, Qırım, Meydan, Qırım Alemi, Avdet, Yañı Dünya, Yıldız.
References Edit
- ^ a b c d e Crimean Tatar at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ a b The status of Crimea and of the city of Sevastopol is since March 2014 under dispute between Russia and Ukraine; Ukraine and the majority of the international community consider Crimea to be an autonomous republic of Ukraine and Sevastopol to be one of Ukraine's cities with special status, whereas Russia considers Crimea to be a federal subject of Russia and Sevastopol to be one of Russia's three federal cities like Russians cities Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
- ^ "Глава 1. ОСНОВЫ КОНСТИТУЦИОННОГО СТРОЯ | Конституция Республики Крым 2014". Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ "To which languages does the Charter apply?". European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Council of Europe. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2014-04-03.
- ^ "Reservations and Declarations for Treaty No.148 – European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages". Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved Mar 3, 2021.
- ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved Mar 3, 2021.
- ^ Crimean Tatar language in danger Archived 2017-10-11 at the Wayback Machine, Avrupa Times, 02/19/2013
- ^ "e-Tatars: Virtual Community of the Crimean Tatar Diaspora". iccrimea.org. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ^ "Tapani Salminen, UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages: Europe, September 1999". University of Helsinki, Finland. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ National movements and national identity among the Crimean Tatars: (1905-1916). BRILL. 1996. ISBN 9789004105096.
- ^ a b c d "Закон Республики Крым "О государственных языках Республики Крым и иных языках в Республике Крым"" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved Mar 3, 2021.
- ^ Activist: Ukrainian, Crimean-Tatar Language Learning Being Squeezed In Crimea
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p. 6
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p. 8
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p. 10
- ^ a b c Изидинова 1997.
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.33
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.85
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.33
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.2
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.99
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.84
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.25
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.26
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.25
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.33
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.34
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.34
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.61
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.75
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.75
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.73
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.75
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.78
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.79
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.62
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.63
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.63
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, pp.67-69
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.70
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, pp.70-71
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.74
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.73
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, pp.76-77
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.61
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.61
- ^ Johanson 1995, p.314
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.77
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.35
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.35
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.39
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.41
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, pp.39-43
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.43
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.44
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.35
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.36
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.36
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.37
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.37
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.44
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.45
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.45
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.49
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.52
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.54
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.52
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, p.52
- ^ Kavitskaya 2010, pp.81-84
- ^ "Урядовий комітет підтримав затвердження алфавіту кримськотатарської мови на основі латинської графіки". minre.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). 2021-09-16. Archived from the original on 2021-09-18. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
- ^ "Cabinet approves Crimean Tatar alphabet based on Latin letters". www.ukrinform.net. 2021-09-22. Archived from the original on 2021-10-07. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
- ^ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287996468_Ekstra_Kucuk_Bir_Dil_Olarak_Romanya_Tatar_Turkcesi_As_an_Extra_Small_Language_Romania_Tatar_Turkish
- ^ THE TURKISH LANGUAGE SPOKEN BY THE TURK-TATAR COMMUNITY LIVING IN ROMANIA
- ^ "Общие сведения о татарах Добруджи". Академия наук Республики Татарстан. Archived from the original on 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ "Дунайские или румынские татары. Откуда взялись и как живут в настоящее время" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ "Танер Мурат: Добруджа татарларының ун яшьлек балалары татарча иркен сөйләшә белә" (in Tatar). Tatar-inform. 24 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g Ismail, Nilghiun. "Romanian Tatar language communication in the multicultural space".
- ^ a b The Sounds of Tatar Spoken in Romania: The Golden Khwarezmian Language of the Nine Noble Nations (Academia.edu)
- ^ Eker, Süer (2006). Ekstra küçük bir dil olarak Romanya "Tatar Türkçesi" Archived 2012-04-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ismail H. A. Ziyaeddin; Ali Cafer Ahmet-Naci; Nida Ablez; Risa Iusein (2015). ALFABE. Constanța: Editura Imperium. p. 78. ISBN 978-606-93788-8-5.
- ^ The translation of the book "Luceafărul" (Mihai Eminescu) by Taner Murat with this scripts
- ^ Latin alphabet used by Taner Murat
- ^ "Конституция Автономной Республики Крым". Archived from the original on 2014-05-16. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
Bibliography Edit
- Berta, Árpád (1998). "West Kipchak Languages". In Johanson, Lars; Csató, Éva Ágnes (eds.). The Turkic Languages. Routledge. pp. 301–317. ISBN 978-0-415-08200-6.
- Johanson, Lars (1995). "On Turkic Converb Clauses." Converbs in Cross-Linguistic Perspective edited by Martin Haspelmath and Ekkehard König, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 313-347.
- Kavitskaya, Darya (2010). Crimean Tatar. Munich: Lincom Europa.
- Изидинова, С. Р. (1997). "Крымскотатарский язык". Языки мира. Тюркские языки (in Russian).
External links Edit
