Tatar language

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Tatar
татар теле
tatar tele
تاتار تئلئ‎ • تاتار تلی
Tatar in Cyrillic, Latin, and Perso-Arabic scripts
RegionVolga region
EthnicityVolga Tatars
Native speakers
5.2 million (2010 census)[1]
(may include some L2 speakers)
Turkic
Early form
Dialects
Tatar alphabet (Cyrillic, Latin, formerly Arabic)
Official status
Official language in
Tatarstan (Russia)
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated byInstitute of Language, Literature and Arts of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan
Language codes
ISO 639-1tt
ISO 639-2tat
ISO 639-3tat
Glottologtata1255
Linguasphere44-AAB-be
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
Tatar book written in the Arabic script entitled Ancient Bulgars.

Tatar (/ˈtɑːtər/ TAH-tər;[4] татар теле, tatar tele or татарча, tatarça) is a Turkic language spoken by the Volga Tatars mainly located in modern Tatarstan (European Russia), as well as Siberia. It should not be confused with Crimean Tatar or Siberian Tatar, which are closely related but belong to different subgroups of the Kipchak languages.

Geographic distribution[edit]

The Tatar language is spoken in Russia by about 5.3 million people, Azerbaijan, China, Finland, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, the US, Uzbekistan, and several other countries. Globally, there are more than 7 million speakers of Tatar.

Tatar is also the mother tongue for several thousand Mari, a Finnic people; Mordva's Qaratay group also speak a variant of Kazan Tatar.

In the 2010 census, 69% of Russian Tatars claimed at least some knowledge of the Tatar language.[5] In Tatarstan, 93% of Tatars and 3.6% of Russians claimed to have at least some knowledge of the Tatar language. In neighbouring Bashkortostan, 67% of Tatars, 27% of Bashkirs, and 1.3% of Russians claimed to understand basic Tatar language.[6]

Official status[edit]

The word Qazan – قازان is written in Arabic script in the semblance of a Zilant.
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. The Republic of Tatarstan passed a law in 1999, which came into force in 2001, establishing an official Tatar Latin alphabet. A Russian federal law overrode it in 2002, making Cyrillic the sole official script in Tatarstan since. Unofficially, other scripts are used as well, mostly Latin and Arabic. All official sources in Tatarstan must use Cyrillic on their websites and in publishing. In other cases, where Tatar has no official status, the use of a specific alphabet depends on the preference of the author.

The Tatar language was made a de facto official language in Russia in 1917, but only within the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Tatar is also considered to have been the official language in the short-lived Idel-Ural State, briefly formed during the Russian Civil War.

The usage of Tatar declined from during the 20th century. By 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 higher education was available in Russian almost exclusively.

As of 2001 Tatar was considered a potentially endangered language while Siberian Tatar received "endangered" and "seriously endangered" statuses, respectively.[7] 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.

Since 2017, Tatar language classes are no longer mandatory in the schools of Tatarstan.[8] According to the opponents of this change, it will further endanger the Tatar language and is a violation of the Tatarstan Constitution which stipulates the equality of Russian and Tatar languages in the republic.[9][10]

Dialects[edit]

There are two main dialects of Tatar:

  • Central or Middle (Kazan)
  • Western (Mişär or Mishar)

All of these dialects also have subdivisions. Significant contributions to the study of the Tatar language and its dialects, were made by a scientist Gabdulkhay Akhatov, who is considered to be the founder of the modern Tatar dialectological school.

Spoken idioms of Siberian Tatars, which differ significantly from the above two, are often considered as the third dialect group of Tatar by some, but as an independent language on its own by others.

Central or Middle[edit]

The Central or Middle dialectal group is spoken in Kazan and most of Tatarstan and is the basis of the standard literary Tatar language. Middle Tatar includes the Nagaibak dialect.

Mishar[edit]

The Western (Mişär) dialect is distinguished from the Central dialect especially by the absence of the uvular q and ğ and the rounded å of the first syllable. Letters ç and c are pronounced as affricates.[11] Regional differences exist also.[12]

Mishar is the dialect spoken by the Tatar minority of Finland.[13]

Siberian Tatar[edit]

Two main isoglosses that characterize Siberian Tatar are ç as [ts] and c as [j], corresponding to standard [ɕ] and [ʑ]. There are also grammatical differences within the dialect, scattered across Siberia.[14]

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, Moscow[15] and by Siberian Tatar linguists[16][17][18] and denounced by some Russian and Tatar[19] ethnographs.

Over time, some of these dialects were given distinct names and recognized as separate languages (e.g. the Chulym language) after detailed linguistic study. However, the Chulym language was never classified as a dialect of Tatar language. Confusion arose because of the endoethnonym "Tatars" used by the Chulyms. The question of classifying the Chulym language as a dialect of the Khakass language was debatable. 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.[citation needed]

Phonology[edit]

Vowels[edit]

Tatar vowel formants F1 and F2

There exist several interpretations of the Tatar vowel phonemic inventory. In total Tatar has nine or ten native vowels, and three or four loaned vowels (mainly in Russian loanwords).[20][21]

According to Baskakov (1988) Tatar has only two vowel heights, high and low. There are two low vowels, front and back, while there are eight high vowels: front and back, round (R+) and unround (R−), normal and short (or reduced).[20]

Front Back
R− R+ R− R+
High Normal i ü ï u
Short e ö ë o
Low ä a

Poppe (1963) proposed a similar yet slightly different scheme with a third, higher mid, height, and with nine vowels.[20]

Front Back
R− R+ R− R+
High i ü u
Higher Mid e ö ï o
Low ä a

According to Makhmutova (1969) Tatar has three vowel heights: high, mid and low, and four tongue positions: front, front-central, back-central and back (as they are named when cited).[20]

Front Central Back
Front Back
R− R+ R− R+ R− R+ R− R+
High i ü ï u
Mid e ö ë o
Low ä a

The mid back unrounded vowel ''ë is usually transcribed as ı, though it differs from the corresponding Turkish vowel.

The tenth vowel ï is realized as the diphthong ëy (IPA: [ɯɪ]), which only occurs word-finally, but it has been argued to be an independent phoneme.[20][21]

Phonetically, the native vowels are approximately thus (with the Cyrillic letters and the usual Latin romanization in angle brackets):

Front Back
R− R+ R− R+
High и i
[i]
ү ü
[y~ʉ]
ый ıy
[ɯɪ]
у u
[u]
Mid э, е e
[ĕ~ɘ̆]
ө ö
[ø̆~ɵ̆]
ы ı
[ɤ̆~ʌ̆]
о o
[ŏ]
Low ә ä
[æ~a]
а a
[ɑ]

In polysyllabic words, the front-back distinction is lost in reduced vowels: all become mid-central.[20] The mid reduced vowels in an unstressed position are frequently elided, as in кеше keşe [kĕˈʃĕ] > [kʃĕ] 'person', or кышы qışı [qɤ̆ˈʃɤ̆] > [qʃɤ̆] '(his) winter'.[21] Low back /ɑ/ is rounded [ɒ] in the first syllable and after [ɒ], but not in the last, as in бала bala [bɒˈlɑ] 'child', балаларга balalarğa [bɒlɒlɒrˈʁɑ] 'to children'.[21] In Russian loans there are also [ɨ], [ɛ], [ɔ], and [ä], written the same as the native vowels: ы, е/э, о, а respectively.[21]

Historical shifts[edit]

Historically, the Old Turkic mid vowels have raised from mid to high, whereas the Old Turkic high vowels have become the Tatar reduced mid series. (The same shifts have also happened in Bashkir.)[22]

Vowel Old Turkic Kazakh Tatar Bashkir Gloss
*e *et et it it 'meat'
*söz söz süz hüź [hyθ] 'word'
*o *sol sol sul hul 'left'
*i *it it et et 'dog'
*qïz qız qëz [qɤ̆z] qëź [qɤ̆θ] 'girl'
*u *qum qum qom qom 'sand'
*kül kül köl köl 'ash'

Consonants[edit]

The consonants of Tatar[21]
Labial Dental Post-
alveolar
Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasals м ⟨m⟩
/m/
н ⟨n⟩
/n/
ң ⟨ñ⟩
/ŋ/
Plosives Voiceless п ⟨p⟩
/p/
т ⟨t⟩
/t/
к ⟨k⟩
/k/
къ ⟨q⟩
/q/
э/ь ⟨ʼ⟩
/ʔ/*
Voiced б ⟨b⟩
/b/
д ⟨d⟩
/d/
г ⟨g⟩
/ɡ/
Affricates Voiceless ц ⟨ts⟩
/ts/*
ч ⟨ç⟩
//*
Voiced җ ⟨c⟩
//
Fricatives Voiceless ф ⟨f⟩
/f/*
с ⟨s⟩
/s/
ш ⟨ş⟩
/ʃ/
ч ⟨ś⟩
/ɕ/
х ⟨x⟩
/χ/
һ ⟨h⟩
/h/*
Voiced в ⟨v⟩
/v/*
з ⟨z⟩
/z/
ж ⟨j⟩
/ʒ/*
җ ⟨ź⟩
/ʑ/
гъ ⟨ğ⟩
/ʁ/
Trill р ⟨r⟩
/r/
Approximants л ⟨l⟩
/l/
й ⟨y⟩
/j/
у/ү/в ⟨w⟩
/w/
Notes
^* The phonemes /v/, /ts/, //, /ʒ/, /h/, /ʔ/ are only found in loanwords. /f/ occurs more commonly in loanwords, but is also found in native words, e.g. yafraq 'leaf'.[21] /v/, /ts/, //, /ʒ/ may be substituted with the corresponding native consonants /w/, /s/, /ɕ/, /ʑ/ by some Tatars.
^† // and // are the dialectal Western (Mişär) pronunciations of җ c /ʑ/ and ч ç /ɕ/, the latter are in the literary standard and in the Central (Kazan) dialect. /ts/ is the variant of ч ç /ɕ/ as pronounced in the Eastern (Siberian) dialects and some Western (Mişär) dialects. Both // and /ts/ are also used in Russian loanwords (the latter written ц).
^‡ /q/ and /ʁ/ are usually considered allophones of /k/ and /ɡ/ in the environment of back vowels, so they are never written in the Tatar Cyrillic orthography in native words, and only rarely in loanwords with къ and гъ. However, /q/ and /ʁ/ also appear before front /æ/ in Perso-Arabic loanwords which may indicate the phonemic status of these uvular consonants.

Palatalization[edit]

Tatar consonants usually undergo slight palatalization before front vowels. However, this allophony is not significant and does not constitute a phonemic status. This differs from Russian where palatalized consonants are not allophones but phonemes on their own. There are a number of Russian loanwords which have palatalized consonants in Russian and are thus written the same in Tatar (often with the "soft sign" ь). The Tatar standard pronunciation also requires palatalization in such loanwords; however, some Tatar may pronounce them non-palatalized.

Syllables[edit]

In native words there are six types of syllables (Consonant, Vowel, Sonorant):

  • 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)
  • VSC (ant-lar, äyt-te, ilt-kän)
  • CVSC (tört-te, qart-lar, qayt-qan)

Loanwords allow other types: CSV (gra-mota), CSVC (käs-trül), etc.

Prosody[edit]

Stress is usually on the final syllable. However, some suffixes cannot be stressed, so the stress shifts to the syllable before that suffix, even if the stressed syllable is the third or fourth from the end. A number of Tatar words and grammatical forms have the natural stress on the first syllable. Loanwords, mainly from Russian, usually preserve their original stress (unless the original stress is on the last syllable, in such a case the stress in Tatar shifts to suffixes as usual, e.g. sovét > sovetlár > sovetlarğá).

Phonetic alterations[edit]

Tatar phonotactics dictate many pronunciation changes which are not reflected in the orthography.

  • Unrounded vowels ı and e become rounded after o or ö:
коры/qorı > [qoro]
борын/borın > [boron]
көзге/közge > [közgö]
соры/sorı > [soro]
унбер/unber > [umber]
менгеч/mengeç > [meñgeç]
урманнар/urmannar ( < urman + lar)
комнар/komnar ( < kom + lar)
күзсез/küzsez > [küssez]
урыны/urını> [urnı]
килене/kilene > [kilne]
кара урман/qara urman > [qarurman]
килә иде/kilä ide > [kiläyde]
туры урам/turı uram > [tururam]
була алмыйм/bula almıym > [bulalmıym]
банк/bank > [bañqı]
артист/artist > [artis]
табиб/tabib > [tabip]

Grammar[edit]

Like other Turkic languages, Tatar is an agglutinative language.[23]

Nouns[edit]

Tatar nouns are inflected for cases and numbers. Case suffixes change depending on last consonants of the noun, while nouns ending in п/к are voiced to б/г (китабым) when a possessive suffix was added. Suffixes below are in back vowel, with front variant can be seen at #Phonology section.

Case After voiced consonants After nasals After unvoiced consonants Special endings
Nominative (баш килеш)
Accusative (төшем килеше) -ны -nı -n
Genitive (иялек килеше) -ның -nıñ
Dative (юнәлеш килеше) -га -ğa -ка -qa -а, -на -a, -na
Locative (урын-вакыт килеше) -да -da -та -ta -нда -nda
Ablative (чыгыш килеше) -дан -dan -нан -nan -тан -tan -ннан -nnan
Plural
Nominative -лар -lar -нар -nar -лар -lar
Accusative -ларны -larnı -нарны -narnı -ларны -larnı
Genitive -ларның -larnıñ -нарның -narnıñ -ларның -larnıñ
Dative -ларга -larğa -нарга -narğa -ларга -larğa
Locative -ларда -larda -нарда -narda -ларда -larda
Ablative -лардан -lardan -нардан -nardan -лардан -lardan

The declension of possessive suffixes is even more irregular, with the dative suffix -а used in 1st singular and 2nd singular suffixes, and the accusative, dative, locative, and ablative endings -н, -на, -нда, -ннан is used after 3rd person possessive suffix. Nouns ending in -и, -у, or -ү, although phonologically vowels, take consonantic endings.[24]

Person After consonants After vowels
1st singular -ым -ım -m
2nd singular -ың -ıñ
3rd -сы -sı
1st plural -ыбыз -ıbız -быз -bız
2nd plural -ыгыз -ığız -гыз -ğız

Declension of pronouns[edit]

Declension of personal and demonstrative pronouns tends to be irregular. Irregular forms are in bold.

Personal pronouns
Case Singular Plural
I you (sg.), thou he, she, it we you (pl.) they
Nominative мин min син sin ул ul без bez сез sez алар alar
Accusative мине mine сине sine аны anı безне bezne сезне sezne аларны alarnı
Genitive минем minem синең sineñ аның anıñ безнең bezneñ сезнең sezneñ аларның alarnıñ
Dative миңа miña сиңа siña аңа aña безгә bezgä сезгә sezgä аларга alarğa
Locative миндә mindä синдә sindä анда anda бездә bezdä сездә sezdä аларда alarda
Ablative миннән minnän синнән sinnän аннан annan бездән bezdän сездән sezdän алардан alardan
Demonstrative pronouns
Case Singular Plural
"This" "That" "These" "Those"
Nominative бу bu шул şul болар bolar шулар şular
Accusative моны monı шуны şunı боларны bolarnı шуларны şularnı
Genitive моның monıñ шуның şunıñ боларның bolarnıñ шуларның şularnıñ
Dative моңа moña шуңа şuña боларга bolarğa шуларга şularğa
Locative монда monda шунда şunda боларда bolarda шуларда şularda
Ablative моннан monnan шуннан şunnan болардан bolardan шулардан şulardan
Interrogative pronouns
Case Who? What?
Nominative кем kem нәрсә närsä
Accusative кемне kemne нәрсәне närsäne
Genitive кемнең kemneñ нәрсәнең närsäneñ
Dative кемгә kemgä нәрсәгә närsägä
Locative кемдә kemdä нәрсәдә närsädä
Ablative кемнән kemnän нәрсәдән närsädän

Verbs[edit]

Tense After voiced consonants After unvoiced consonants After vowels
Present -a -ый -ıy
Definite past -ды -dı -ты -tı -ды -dı
Indefinite past -ган -ğan -кан -qan -ган -ğan
Definite future -ачак -açaq -ячак -yaçaq
Indefinite future -ар/ыр -ar/-ır -r
Conditional -са -sa
Non-finite tenses
Present participle -учы -uçı
Past participle -ган -ğan -кан -qan -ган -ğan
Future participle -асы -ası -ыйсы -ıysı
Definite future participle -ачак -açaq
Indefinite future participle -ар/-ыр -ar/ır -r
Verbal participle -ып -ıp -п -p
Pre-action gerund -ганчы -ğançı -канчы -qançı -ганчы -ğançı
Post-action gerund -гач -ğaç -кач -qaç -гач -ğaç
Verbal noun
Infinitive -мак -maq
-арга/-ырга -arğa/ırğa -рга -rğa

The distribution of present tense suffix is complicated, with the former (also with vowel harmony) is used with verb stems ending in consonants, and latter is used with verb stem ending in vowels (with the last vowel being deleted, эшләү — эшли, compare Turkish işlemek — continuous işliyor). The distribution of indefinite future tense is more complicated in consonant-ending stems, it is resolved by -арга/-ырга infinitives (язарга — язар). However, because some have verb citation forms in verbal noun (-у), this rule becomes somewhat unpredictable.

Tenses are negated with -ма, however in the indefinite future tense and the verbal participle they become -мас and -мыйча instead, respectively. Alongside with vowel-ending stems, the suffix also becomes -мый when negates the present tense. To form interrogatives, the suffix -мы is used.

Personal inflections
Type 1st singular 2nd singular 3rd singular 1st plural 2nd plural 3rd plural
I -мын/-м -mın/-m -сың -sıñ -∅ -быз -bız -сыз -sız -лар/-нар -lar/-nar
II -m -∅ -q, -k -гыз -ğız -лар/-нар -lar/-nar
Imperative -ыйм -ıym -∅ -сын -sın -ыйк -ıyq -(ы)гыз -ığız -сыннар -sınnar

Definite past and conditional tenses use type II personal inflections instead. When in the case of present tense, short ending (-м) is used. After vowels, the first person imperative forms deletes the last vowel, similar to the present tense does (эшләү — эшлим). Like plurals of nouns, the suffix -лар change depending the preceding consonants (-алар, but -ганнар).

Some verbs, however, are anomalous. Dozens of them have irregular stems with a final mid vowel, but obscured on the infinitive (уку — укы, укый, төзү — төзе, төзи). The verbs кору "to build", тану "to disclaim", ташу "to spill" have contrastive meanings with verbs with their final vowelled counterparts, meaning "to dry", "to know", "to carry".[25]

Predicatives[edit]

After voiced consonants After unvoiced consonants
1st singular -мын -mın
2nd singular -сың -sıñ
3rd -дыр -dır -тыр -tır
1st plural -быз -bız
2nd plural -сыз -sız

These predicative suffixes now fallen into disuse, or rarely used.[26]

Writing system[edit]

Tatar Latin (Jaꞑalif) and Arabic scripts, 1927
Some guides in Kazan are in Latin script, especially in fashion boutiques
Tatar sign on a madrasah in Nizhny Novgorod, written in both Arabic and Cyrillic Tatar scripts

During its history, Tatar has been written in Arabic, Latin and Cyrillic scripts.

Before 1928, Tatar was mostly written with in Arabic script (Иске имля/İske imlâ, "Old orthography", to 1920; Яңа имла/Yaña imlâ, "New orthography", 1920–1928).

During the 19th century Russian Christian missionary Nikolay Ilminsky devised the first Cyrillic alphabet for Tatar. This alphabet is still used by Christian Tatars (Kryashens).

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

In 1939, in Tatarstan and all other parts of the Soviet Union, a Cyrillic script was adopted and is still used to write Tatar. It is also used in Kazakhstan.

The Republic of Tatarstan passed a law in 1999 that came into force in 2001 establishing an official Tatar Latin alphabet. A Russian federal law overrode it in 2002, making Cyrillic the sole official script in Tatarstan since. In 2004, an attempt to introduce a Latin-based alphabet for Tatar was further abandoned when the Constitutional Court ruled that the federal law of 15 November 2002 mandating the use of Cyrillic for the state languages of the republics of the Russian Federation[27] does not contradict the Russian constitution.[28] 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.[29]

In 2012 the Tatarstan government adopted a new Latin alphabet but with limited usage (mostly for Romanization).

آ ا ب پ ت ث ج چ
ح خ د ذ ر ز ژ س
ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف
ق ك گ نك ل م ن ه
و ۇ ڤ ی ئ
  • Tatar Old Latin (Jaꞑalif) alphabet (1928 to 1940), including a digraph in the last position:
A a B ʙ C c Ç ç D d E e Ə ə F f
G g Ƣ ƣ H h I i J j K k L l M m
N n Ꞑ ꞑ O o Ɵ ɵ P p Q q R r S s
Ş ş T t U u V v X x У y Z z Ƶ ƶ
Ь ь Ьj ьj
  • Tatar Old Cyrillic alphabet (by Nikolay Ilminsky, 1861; the letters in parentheses are not used in modern publications):
А а Ӓ ӓ Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё
Ж ж З з И и (Іі) Й й К к Л л М м
Н н Ҥ ҥ О о Ӧ ӧ П п Р р С с Т т
У у Ӱ ӱ Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ
Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь (Ѣѣ) Э э Ю ю Я я (Ѳѳ)
  • Tatar Cyrillic alphabet (1939; the 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:[29]
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 ʼ
  • 2012 Tatar Latin alphabet[30]
A a Ä ä 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 Ñ ñ O o Ö ö P p R r
S s Ş ş T t U u Ü ü V v W w X x
Y y Z z ʼ

History[edit]

Kazan Tatar and Crimean Tatar compare their native languages (2022).

Tatar's ancestors are the extinct Bulgar and Kipchak languages.

The literary Tatar language is based on the Middle Tatar dialect and on the Old Tatar language (İske Tatar Tele). Both are members of the Volga-Ural subgroup of the Kipchak group of Turkic languages, although they also partly derive from the ancient Volga Bulgar language.

Most of the Uralic languages in the Volga River area have strongly influenced the Tatar language,[31] as have the Arabic, Persian and Russian languages.[32]

Crimean Tatar, although similar by name, belongs to another subgroup of the Kipchak languages. Unlike Kazan Tatar, Crimean Tatar is heavily influenced by Turkish (mostly its Ottoman variety with Arabic and Persian influences) and Nogai languages.

Examples[edit]

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1:

Барлык

Barlıq

кешеләр

keşelär

дә

азат

azat

һәм

häm

үз

üz

абруйлары

abruyları

һәм

häm

хокуклары

xoquqları

ягыннан

yağınnan

тиң

tiñ

булып

bulıp

туалар.

tualar.

Аларга

Alarğa

акыл

aqıl

һәм

häm

вөҗдан

wöcdan

бирелгән

birelgän

һәм

häm

бер-берсенә

ber-bersenä

карата

qarata

туганнарча

tuğannarça

мөнасәбәттә

mönasäbättä

булырга

bulırğa

тиешләр.

tiyeşlär

Барлык кешеләр дә азат һәм үз абруйлары һәм хокуклары ягыннан тиң булып туалар. Аларга акыл һәм вөҗдан бирелгән һәм бер-берсенә карата туганнарча мөнасәбәттә булырга тиешләр.

Barlıq keşelär dä azat häm üz abruyları häm xoquqları yağınnan tiñ bulıp tualar. Alarğa aqıl häm wöcdan birelgän häm ber-bersenä qarata tuğannarça mönasäbättä bulırğa tiyeşlär

Tatar online learning[edit]

A common complaint among those curious about Tatar language outside of Russia has been its lack of non-Russian Latin alphabet sources. For this, a young Germany-based Tatar architect Aygul Ahmetcan (Aygöl Əxmətcan), with the help of her partner, a linguistics student Bulat Shaymi[33] (Bulat Şəymi), has created a Telegram channel Learn Tatar, which offers Tatar language teaching in English. It has gained thousands of viewers in few months after its creation in August 2023.[34] Shaymi himself has a Youtube channel dedicated to Tatar content.[35]

Among other helpful sources is the website Aybagar ("Sunflower"), which "publishes scientific works and original materials about Tatars, the Tatar language and Tatar culture, focusing especially on the Tatar diaspora worldwide".[36] Tatar pronunciations can be found in Forvo[37] and "Corpus of Written Tatar".[38]

Modern Tatar Identity is a podcast that has "conversations with people who have dedicated a part of their life to Tatar and Tatar language research".[39]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Tatar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Ethnic Groups and Religious department, Fujian Provincial Government (13 September 2022). "少数民族的语言文字有哪些?". fujian.gov.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  3. ^ "ACT of 6 January 2005 on national and ethnic minorities and on the regional languages" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Tatar". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.
  5. ^ Russian Census 2010. Владение языками населением (in Russian)
  6. ^ Russian Census 2010. Владение языками населением наиболее многочисленных национальностей по субъектам Российской Федерации (in Russian)
  7. ^ Wurm, S; Unesco (2001). Atlas of the world's languages in danger of disappearing. Paris: Unesco Pub. ISBN 978-92-3-103798-6.
  8. ^ "Без языка: Казань отказалась от обязательных уроков татарского" (in Russian). BBC Russia. 1 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Татарский язык становится «ящиком Пандоры»" (in Russian). БИЗНЕС Online. 22 September 2017.
  10. ^ "Исмагил Хуснутдинов: «Под лозунгом добровольности татарский язык пытаются изгнать из школ»" (in Russian). БИЗНЕС Online. 12 November 2017.
  11. ^ Jazyki Rossijskoi Federatsii i sosednih gosudarstv. Vol. 3. Moscow: Nauka. 2005. pp. 67–68. ISBN 5-02-011237-2.
  12. ^ Zakiev, M. Z. (1997). "Tatar". In Tenišev, Ėdchjam R. (ed.). Tjurkskije jazyki. Jazyki mira. Moscow: Indrik. p. 371. ISBN 5-85759-061-2.
  13. ^ Leitzinger, Antero (1996). Mishäärit – Suomen vanha islamilainen yhteisö. Helsinki: Kirja-Leitzinger. ISBN 952-9752-08-3.
  14. ^ Information about Siberian Tatar
  15. ^ Nikolai Baskakov Тюркские языки / Отв. ред. Г. Д. Санжеев; Институт языкознания АН СССР. — М.: Издательство восточной литературы, 1960. — 248 с.
  16. ^ Утяшева, Гузель Чахваровна (2006). Русские заимствования в тоболо-иртышском диалекте сибирских татар. Тобольск. OCLC 1042797537.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  17. ^ Рахимова, Роза Нуретдиновна (2007). Тюменский говор в системе диалектов сибирских татар: фонетико-морфологическая характеристика. Тюмень. OCLC 1042799247.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  18. ^ Рамазанова, Д. Б. (2006). "Сибирско-татарские диалекты и говоры татарского языка" (PDF). Материалы IX Всероссийской научно-практической конференции «Сулеймановские чтения — 2006». Тюмень. pp. 89–90.
  19. ^ Валеев, Фоат Тач-Ахметович (1980). Западносибирские татары во второй половине XIX — начале XX в. (Историко-этнографические очерки). Казань. OCLC 63230819.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  20. ^ a b c d e f Harrison, K. David; Kaun, Abigail R. (2003). "Vowels and Vowel Harmony in Namangan Tatar". In Holisky, Dee Ann; Tuite, Kevin (eds.). Current Trends in Caucasian, East European and Inner Asian Linguistics. John Benjamins. pp. 194–198. ISBN 9789027275257.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g Berta, Árpád (1998). "Tatar and Bashkir". In Johanson, Lars; Csató, Éva Á. (eds.). The Turkic languages. Routledge. pp. 283–300.
  22. ^ Johanson, Lars (1998). "The History of Turkic". In Johanson, Lars; Csató, Éva Á. (eds.). The Turkic languages. Routledge. p. 92.
  23. ^ "Грамматика татарского языка". Archived from the original on 3 May 2020.
  24. ^ Burbiel, Gustav (2018). Tatar Grammar: А Grammar of the Contemporary Tatar Literary Language (PDF). Institute for Bible Translation. ISBN 978-5-93943-259-7.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barbiel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Зәкиев, М.З. (2016). Татар грамматикасы (PDF). Vol. 2 (2 ed.). Казан: ТӘһСИ. pp. 56–57.
  27. ^ Spolsky, Bernard (2004). Language Policy. Cambridge University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-521-01175-4.
  28. ^ "Russia court sticks to letter law". BBC News. 16 November 2004. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  29. ^ a b "The Tatar language will continue to be written through the Cyrillic alphabet". U.S. English Foundation. February 2005. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  30. ^ "Law of the Republic of Tatarstan "On the use of the Tatar language as the state language of the Republic of Tatarstan" with an appendix (correspondence table)" (PDF).
  31. ^ Tatar language – Princeton University Archived 13 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  32. ^ (in Russian) Татарский язык в Интернете: информация о методах и средствах обучения
  33. ^ "Булат Шаймиев: «Они пронесли эти знания сквозь века — неужели на мне все это и закончится?»". realnoyevremya. 2021.
  34. ^ ""Learn Tatar" каналы авторы: "Татар телен төрле милләтләргә танытасым килә"". Azatliq. February 2024.
  35. ^ "Bulat Shaymi". Youtube.
  36. ^ "About - Aybagar". Aybagar.
  37. ^ "Tatar pronunciation dictionary". Forvo.
  38. ^ "Corpus of Written Tatar".
  39. ^ "Modern Tatar Identity". Spotify.

Further reading[edit]

  • Bukharaev, Ravilʹ; Matthews, D. J.; Matthews, David John (29 November 2023). Historical anthology of Kazan Tatar verse: voices of eternity. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-7007-1077-5.
  • Gilmetdinova, Alsu; Malova, Irina (2018). "Language education for glocal interaction: English and Tatar". World Englishes. 37 (4): 624–634. doi:10.1111/weng.12324. S2CID 149975557.
  • 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.
  • (in Russian) Ахатов Г. Х. Татарская диалектология (учебник для студентов вузов). — Казань, 1984.
  • (in Russian) Татарская грамматика. В 3-х т. / Гл. ред. М. З. Закиев. — Казань, 1993.

External links[edit]