Kypchak languages
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| Kypchak | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: | Image:Map-Kypchak Language World.png Kypchak-Bolgar Kypchak-Cuman Kazakh-Nogay |
| Genetic classification: | Turkic Kypchak |
| Subdivisions: |
Kypchak-Bolgar Group
Kypchak-Cuman Group
Kazakh-Nogay Group
|
The Kypchak languages (also known as the Kipchak, Qypchaq, or Northeastern Turkic languages), are a major branch of the Turkic language family spoken by more than 12 million people in an area spanning from Lithuania to China.
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[edit] Linguistic Features
The Kypchak languages share a number of features that have led linguists to classify them together. Some of these features are shared with other Turkic languages; others are unique to the Kypchak language family.
[edit] Shared Features
- Change of Proto-Turkic *d to /j/ (e.g. *hadaq > ajaq "foot")
- Loss of initial *h sound (preserved only in Khalaj. See above example.)
[edit] Unique Features
- Extensive labial vowel harmony (e.g. olor vs. olar "them")
- Frequent affrication of initial /j/ (e.g. *jetti > ʒetti "seven")
[edit] Classification
The Kypchak languages may be broken down into three groups, based on geography and shared features:
- Kypchak-Bolgar (Uralo-Caspian), including Bashkir and Tatar (including Siberian Tatar, Mishar Tatar, Astrakhan Tatar, Baraba Tatar, etc.)
- Kypchak-Cuman (Ponto-Caspian), including Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Karaim, Krymchak, and the extinct Cuman and Kipchak languages. Urum and Crimean Tatar appear to have a Kypchak-Cuman base, but have been heavily influenced by Oghuz languages.
- Kazakh-Nogay, including Kazakh, Karakalpak, and Nogay
Literary Kyrgyz has been heavily influenced by the Kypchak languages, especially Kazakh, but it appears that it belongs in a separate family with Altay.
The Uzbek language's Kypchak dialect contains the remainder of Kypchak languages that were once spoken in Uzbekistan, and there is a dialect continuum between Uzbek and Kazakh.
The language of the Mamluks in Egypt appears to have been a Kypchak language, probably one belonging to the Kypchak-Cuman group.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Johanson, Lars and Csató, Éva Ágnes (1998). The Turkic Languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-08200-5.
- Menges, Karl H. (1995). The Turkic Languages and Peoples. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03533-1.
| Turkic languages | |||
| West Turkic | |||
| Bolgar | Bolgar* | Chuvash | Hunnic* | Khazar* | ||
| Chagatay | Aini2| Chagatay* | Ili Turki | Lop | Uyghur | Uzbek | ||
| Kypchak | Baraba | Bashkir | Crimean Tatar1 | Cuman* | Karachay-Balkar | Karaim | Karakalpak | Kazakh | Kipchak* | Krymchak | Kumyk | Nogay | Tatar | Urum1 | ||
| Oghuz | Afshar | Azerbaijani | Crimean Tatar1 | Gagauz | Khorasani Turkish | Ottoman Turkish* | Pecheneg* | Qashqai | Salar | Turkish | Turkmen | Urum1 | ||
| East Turkic | |||
| Khalaj | Khalaj | ||
| Kyrgyz-Kypchak | Altay | Kyrgyz | ||
| Uyghur | Chulym | Dolgan | Fuyü Gïrgïs | Khakas | Northern Altay | Shor | Tofa | Tuvan | Western Yugur | Sakha / Yakut | ||
| Old Turkic* | |||
| Notes: 1 Listed in more than one group, 2 Mixed language, * Extinct | |||
