Kipchak languages
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(Redirected from Kypchak languages)
| Kypchak | |
|---|---|
| Northwestern Turkic | |
| Ethnicity: | Kypchaks |
| Geographic distribution: |
— |
| Linguistic classification: | Turkic
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| Subdivisions: |
Kypchak–Bolgar
Kypchak–Cuman
Kazakh–Nogay
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 Kypchak–Bolgar Kypchak–Cuman Kazakh–Nogay |
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The Kypchak languages (also known as the Kipchak, Qypchaq, or Northwestern Turkic languages), are a major branch of the Turkic language family spoken by more than twelve 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]
- 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")[citation needed]
- Frequent fortition (in the form of assibilation) of initial */j/ (e.g. *jetti > ʒetti "seven")
- Diphthongs from syllable-final */ɡ/ and */b/ (e.g. *taɡ > taw "mountain", *sub > suw "water")
[edit] Classification
The Kipchak languages may be broken down into three groups, based on geography and shared features:
- Kipchak–Bolgar (Uralian, Uralo-Caspian), including Bashkir and Tatar (including Siberian Tatar, Mishar Tatar, Astrakhan Tatar, Baraba Tatar, etc.)
- Kipchak–Cuman (Ponto-Caspian), including Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Karaim, Krymchak, and the extinct Cuman and Kipchak[dubious ][not if it's ancestral] languages. Urum and Crimean Tatar appear to have a Kipchak–Cuman base, but have been heavily influenced by Oghuz languages.
- Kazakh–Nogay (Aralo-Caspian), including Kazakh, Karakalpak, Kyrgyz, and Nogay (also Nogai or Nogay Tatar)
The language of the Mamluks in Egypt appears to have been a Kipchak language, probably one belonging to the Kazakh–Nogay 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.
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