3 summer 2011 - Prince Claus Fund

030–053talattekin_alt:turklergaram 29.11.2007 9:21 Uhr Seite 43= H kek “blue,” T k’orklu = H kerkli “beautiful,” T k’oz = H kez“eye,” T öpk’a = H epke “lung,” T öz = H ez “himself,” T t’ugal= H tigel “complete, finished,” T t’uv’ul = H tivil, kivil “not,” Tyur’ak, yür’ak = H yirek “heart,” T yuz = H iz “face,” etc.7. Although the Common Turkic /fl/ is preserved in theTroki dialect, in the Halich dialect it changes to /s/, as in Kazakhand Nogay: T taş = H tas, T kişi = H kisi, T yaşırın = H yasırın“secretly,” T ülüş = H ilis “share, portion,” etc. As for the thirddialect, this displays a certain confusion in the use of thesesounds r: çaç //tsats, zer //cer //yer, köçüb // köçüf, etc.One of the most important features of Karay is the totalcorruption of Turkic syntax under the influence of writtenHebrew syntax: Halich bitigi karandasnın “the brother’s letter”;Troki uturu tängriga “against God”; Troki Yaptılar tereceni artxarı“They closed the window again”; Kaytmamen artkarı sezimden“I never go back on my word”; Da algışladı allarnı tangrı “And theLord blessed him”; Ullu edi kerki bu yarık ketsenin “The beautyof this night was great”; Sendir otnu suvba, yamanlıknı dostlukba“Fire is extinguished with water, enmity with friendship.”= H dzan “heart, soul,” T cıns = H dzıns “type, sort,” T terece =H teredze “window,” etc.3. Although the Common Turkic /ç/ is preserved in theTroki dialect, in the Halich dialect it becomes affricate /ts/: T üç= H its “three,” T çaç = H tsats “hair,” T küç = H kits “power,” Töç = H ets “revenge,” etc.4. The Common Turkic /ng/ becomes /n/ in the Halichdialect and /y/ in the Troki dialect: H atan = T atey “your father,”H barınız = T barıyız “you go, please,” H mana = T maya “to me,”H sana = T saya “to you,” etc.5. Although the initial /ti/ is preserved in the Trokidialect, in the Halich dialect it frequently changes to /ki/: T til= H kil “tongue,” T tiş = H kis “tooth,” T tiz = H kiz “knee,” etc.6. Although the Common Turkic vowels /ö/ and /ü/ arepreserved in the Troki dialect as /ö, o/ and /ü, u/, in the Halichdialect these vowels change into the vowels /e/ and /i /: T k’okI. The Crimean Tatars and Their LanguageThe Crimean Tatars are the descendants of the people ofthe old Crimean Khanate. Until the end of World War II, therewere as many as 200,000 Tatars living in the Crimea. After thewar, the Crimean Tatars were banished to Uzbekistan, wherethey lived for many years. In recent decades, they have finallybegun returning to their ancestral homes in the Crimea.Crimean Tatar is the general name applied to the languageused by the Turks of Kipchak extraction (Tatar andNogay), who have inhabited the Crimea since the fifteenth centuryor earlier. It is also the language employed by the CrimeanJews known as K›r›mchak, who also inhabited the Crimea in thepast. The Dobruja Nogay spoken in Romania north of Costanzaand the Dobruja Tatar spoken to the south of the city may beregarded as dialects of Crimean Tatar. Crimean Tatar is a Turkicwritten language consisting of a mixture of Tatar and Oghuz,with three distinct dialects: (1) The Northern dialect (Nogay),(2) the Central dialect (Tatar), (3) the Southern dialect. TheSouthern dialect is not Tatar but Turkish—the Turkish as spokenin Turkey. For that reason, it has been given the name CrimeanOsmanish in Turcology literature. Until 1928, Crimean Tatar waswritten in Arabic script, but from 1928 to 1938, this wasreplaced by a Latin alphabet. Since 1938, the language hasbeen written in a Cyrillic alphabet.1. Crimean Tatar is a complex written language withhighly complex features. For example, although in certain wordsthe initial /y/ is preserved, in others it changes to /c/: yangı“new,” yardım, yıl, yer, yok; but caş “young,” cay “bow,” curt“motherland,” ciber- “to send,” etc.2. The change of the final /i€, ig/ to /uw, üw/ is one ofthe distinguishing characteristics of Crimean Tatar: aluw “take,”baruw “arrival,” berüw “giving,” etüw “doing,” kelüw “coming,”bitirüw “completing, finishing,” etc.3. One of the general characteristics of Crimean Tataris the disappearance of the initial and medial /h/: ayat “life,”araret “heat,” areket “movement,” al “condition,” angi “which,”azır “ready,” er “every, each,” ikaye “story,” oca “teacher,” episi“all,” muim “important,” etc.PRESENT-DAY TURKIC PEOPLES AND THEIR LANGUAGES4353 · Prince Claus Fund Reader #3 · Summer 2011