Kipchak languages

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Kipchak
Northwestern Turkic
EthnicityKipchaks
Geographic
distribution		Central Asia, Russia, Northern Caucasus, Ukraine
Linguistic classificationTurkic
Subdivisions
  • Kipchak–Bulgar
  • Kipchak–Cuman
  • Kipchak–Nogai
  • Kyrgyz–Kipchak
Glottologkipc1239
Kipchak Map Labeled.png

The Kipchak languages (also known as the Kypchak, Qypchaq or the Northwestern Turkic languages) are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family spoken by approximately 28 million people in much of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, spanning from Ukraine to China. Some of the most widely spoken languages in this group are Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Tatar.

Kipchak languages by native speakers[]

Further information: Lists of endangered languages, List of endangered languages in Russia, and List of endangered languages in China

The Turkic languages are a language family of at least 35 [1][full citation needed] documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples. The number of speakers derived from statistics or estimates (2019) and were rounded:[2][3]

Number Name Status Native speakers Main country
1 Kazakh language Normal 14,000,000  Kazakhstan
2 Tatar language Normal 5,500,000  Russia
3 Kyrgyz language Normal 5,000,000  Kyrgyzstan
4 Bashkir language Vulnerable 2,000,000  Russia
5 Karakalpak language Normal 650,000  Uzbekistan
6 Crimean Tatar language Severely endangered 600,000  Ukraine
7 Kumyk language Vulnerable 450,000  Russia
8 Karachay-Balkar language Vulnerable 400,000  Russia
9 Siberian Tatar language Definitely endangered 100,000  Russia
10 Nogai language Definitely endangered 100,000  Russia
11 Krymchak language Critically endangered 200  Israel
12 Karaim language Critically endangered 100  Lithuania
Total Kipchak languages Normal 28,800,000  Kazakhstan

Linguistic features[]

The Kipchak languages share a number of features that have led linguists to classify them together. Some of these features are shared with other Common Turkic languages; others are unique to the Kipchak family.

Shared features[]

  • Change of Proto-Turkic *d to /j/ (e.g. *hadaq > ajaq "foot")
  • Loss of initial *h (preserved only in Khalaj), see above example

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")

Classification[]

The Kipchak languages may be broken down into four groups, based on geography and shared features (languages in bold are still spoken today):

Proto-Turkic Common Turkic Kipchak Kipchak–Bulgar (Uralian, Uralo-Caspian)
Kipchak–Cuman (Ponto-Caspian)
Kipchak–Nogai (Aralo-Caspian)
Kyrgyz–Kipchak (Kyrgyz)
South Kipchak

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Except for the Southern "dialect", which is classified among the Western Oghuz languages despite its dialect status.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ Dybo, A. V. (А. В. ДЫБО) (2007). "Khronologiya tyurkskikh yazykov i lingvisticheskiye kontakty rannikh tyurkov" Хронология тюркских языков и лингвистические контакты ранних тюрков [Chronology of Türkic languages and linguistic contacts of early Türks] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow. p. 766. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-03-11. Retrieved 2005-03-11.
  2. ^ https://www.ethnologue.com/
  3. ^ https://glottolog.org/
  4. ^ Yazyki mira Языки мира [Languages of the World]. 2. Indirk: Институт языкознания (Российская академия наук). 1997. pp. 19–20.

Bibliography[]

  • Johanson, Lars; Csató, Éva Ágnes (1998). The Turkic Languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-08200-5.
  • Menges, Karl H. (1995). The Turkic Languages and Peoples (2nd ed.). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03533-1.
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