What are the Turkic languages, and how many documented languages are included in this family?

The Turkic languages constitute a language family comprising more than 35 documented languages. These languages are spoken by Turkic peoples across Eurasia, extending from Eastern and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and West Asia.

Where are the Turkic languages primarily distributed geographically?

The Turkic languages are geographically distributed across Eurasia, encompassing regions from Eastern and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and West Asia. The distribution map of Turkic languages illustrates the wide area where these languages are spoken.

What is the estimated number of native speakers of Turkic languages as of 2020?

As of 2020, the Turkic languages are spoken by approximately 200 million native speakers.

Which Turkic language has the largest number of speakers, and where is it mainly spoken?

The Turkic language with the greatest number of speakers is Turkish, which is primarily spoken in Anatolia and the Balkans. Its native speakers account for about 38% of all Turkic speakers, with Uzbek being the second most spoken Turkic language.

What are the characteristic linguistic features almost universally found within the Turkic language family?

Characteristic features almost universal within the Turkic family include vowel harmony, agglutination, subject-object-verb (SOV) word order, and a lack of grammatical gender. These features contribute to the distinct phonetic and structural patterns of Turkic languages.

Which Oghuz languages exhibit a high degree of mutual intelligibility?

There is a high degree of mutual intelligibility, with moderate exposure, among various Oghuz languages. These include Turkish, Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Qashqai, Chaharmahali Turkic, Gagauz, and Balkan Gagauz Turkish, as well as Oghuz-influenced Crimean Tatar.

Into which two main branches are the Turkic languages usually divided?

Although methods of classification vary, the Turkic languages are usually considered to be divided into two main branches: Oghur, of which Chuvash is the only surviving member, and Common Turkic, which encompasses all other Turkic languages.

What is the prevailing view among historical linguists regarding the proposed Altaic language family, which includes Turkic languages?

The proposal of an Altaic language family, which would include Turkic languages along with Mongolic, Tungusic, Koreanic, and Japonic languages due to shared similarities, is widely rejected by historical linguists. The shared characteristics are currently attributed to extensive prehistoric language contact rather than a common genetic origin.

What was the Ural-Altaic hypothesis, and why is it no longer widely accepted?

The Ural-Altaic hypothesis was a long-held theory that regarded the Uralic and Altaic (including Turkic) language families as one larger family due to their similarities. However, this proposal is now widely rejected by mainstream linguists due to insufficient evidence, with shared characteristics primarily attributed to extensive prehistoric language contact.

What are some specific grammatical characteristics of Turkic languages?

Turkic languages are null-subject languages, meaning they often omit pronouns when the subject is clear from context. They also feature vowel harmony, converbs, extensive agglutination through suffixes and postpositions, and a consistent subject-object-verb word order. Additionally, they lack grammatical articles, noun classes, and grammatical gender.

How does vowel harmony vary among Turkic languages, citing specific examples?

Vowel harmony, a common feature in Turkic languages, varies in its level of application. Tuvan is characterized as almost fully harmonic, while Uzbek is noted as the least harmonic or not harmonic at all, largely due to strong Persian-Tajik influence. The documented historico-linguistic development of Turkic languages over more than a millennium demonstrates a definable trajectory in the evolution of vowel harmony.

How does the type of vowel harmony in Turkic languages compare to other Inner Eurasian language families?

While vowel harmony is a common characteristic across major Inner Eurasian language families such as Mongolic, Tungusic, Uralic, and Turkic, the specific type of harmony differs. Uralic and Turkic languages share a type known as palatal vowel harmony, whereas Mongolic and Tungusic languages exhibit a different type of vowel harmony.

Where is the proposed homeland of the Turkic peoples and their language, Proto-Turkic?

The homeland of the Turkic peoples and their language, Proto-Turkic, is suggested to be in a region spanning from the Transcaspian steppe to Manchuria in Northeastern Asia. Genetic evidence points to the area near South Siberia and Mongolia as the 'Inner Asian Homeland' of Turkic ethnicity, while linguists like Peter Benjamin Golden locate the Proto-Turkic Urheimat in the southern, taiga-steppe zone of the Sayan-Altay region based on lexical items related to climate, topography, flora, fauna, and subsistence.

What was the 'Turco-Mongol' tradition, and what linguistic evidence supports it?

The 'Turco-Mongol' tradition refers to the shared cultural tradition between Proto-Turks and Proto-Mongols, who had extensive contact during approximately the first millennium BC. They shared a similar religious system, Tengrism, and there is a multitude of evident loanwords between Turkic and Mongolic languages. Turkic loanwords currently constitute the largest foreign component in Mongolian vocabulary, indicating a significant influence.

What is notable about the Chuvash language in relation to other Turkic languages, according to Igor de Rachewiltz?

According to Italian historian and philologist Igor de Rachewiltz, the Chuvash language exhibits a significant distinction from other Turkic languages. It does not share certain common characteristics to such a degree that some scholars consider it an independent Chuvash family, similar to the Uralic and Turkic languages, with its Turkic classification seen as a compromise for classification purposes.

How are similarities between Turkic and other Northeast Asian language families explained in recent years?

In more recent years, lexical and extensive typological similarities between Turkic and the nearby Tungusic and Mongolic families, as well as the Korean and Japonic families, have been attributed to prehistoric contact among the group, sometimes referred to as the Northeast Asian sprachbund. A more recent contact (circa first millennium BC) between 'core Altaic' (Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic) is distinguished, with definitive common words appearing to have been mostly borrowed from Turkic into Mongolic, and then from Mongolic into Tungusic, as Turkic borrowings into Mongolic significantly outnumber Mongolic borrowings into Turkic, and Turkic and Tungusic do not share any words not also found in Mongolic.

What is the significance of Chinese loanwords in Proto-Turkic?

The presence of some Chinese loanwords in Proto-Turkic indicates early contact between the speakers of Proto-Turkic and Chinese during that period.

What are the earliest established written records of the Turkic languages?

The earliest established written records of the Turkic languages are the eighth-century AD Orkhon inscriptions. These inscriptions, discovered in 1889 in the Orkhon Valley in Mongolia, record the Old Turkic language and provide crucial insights into the early forms of Turkic.

What is the *Compendium of the Turkic Dialects*, and what is its historical importance?

The *Compendium of the Turkic Dialects* (Divânü Lügati't-Türk) is an 11th-century AD work by Kaşgarlı Mahmud of the Kara-Khanid Khanate. It is historically important as the first comprehensive dictionary of the Turkic languages and includes the first known map illustrating the geographical distribution of Turkic speakers, primarily focusing on the Southwestern branch of the family.

What is the *Codex Cumanicus*, and what information does it provide?

The *Codex Cumanicus*, dating from the 12th to 13th centuries AD, is an early linguistic manual focusing on the Northwestern branch of Turkic languages. It serves as a manual between the Kipchak language and Latin, and was used by Catholic missionaries sent to the Western Cumans residing in areas corresponding to modern-day Hungary and Romania.

When do the earliest records of the language spoken by Volga Bulgars date, and what is its debated relation to Chuvash?

The earliest records of the language spoken by Volga Bulgars date to the 13th–14th centuries AD. This language is debatably considered either the parent or a distant relative of the modern Chuvash language.

How did Turkic languages expand geographically during the Early Middle Ages?

During the Early Middle Ages, specifically from approximately the 6th to 11th centuries AD, Turkic languages underwent a significant expansion. In just a few centuries, they spread across Central Asia, reaching from Siberia to the Mediterranean, accompanying the Turkic peoples' migrations.

Into which languages have Turkic terminologies passed due to historical contact?

Various terminologies from Turkic languages have been adopted into Persian, Urdu, Ukrainian, Russian, Chinese, Mongolian, Hungarian, and to a lesser extent, Arabic, reflecting centuries of cultural and linguistic interaction.

What factors have complicated the historical classification of Turkic languages?

For centuries, Turkic-speaking peoples have migrated extensively and intermingled continuously, leading to mutual linguistic influence and contact with surrounding languages, particularly Iranian, Slavic, and Mongolic languages. This complex history has obscured the internal historical developments within each language and language group, resulting in several existing systems for classifying Turkic languages.

Who is credited with influencing modern genetic classification schemes for Turkic languages?

Modern genetic classification schemes for Turkic languages are still largely indebted to the work of Samoilovich, published in 1922.

What are the six main branches into which the Turkic languages may be divided?

The Turkic languages may be divided into six main branches: Oghuz Turkic (Southwestern Common Turkic), Kipchak Turkic (Northwestern Common Turkic), Karluk Turkic (Southeastern Common Turkic), Siberian Turkic (Northeastern Common Turkic), Arghu Turkic, and Oghur Turkic.

How are the Oghur Turkic and Common Turkic branches sometimes referred to, and what is unknown about their divergence?

Oghur Turkic is also referred to as Lir-Turkic, while the other branches are subsumed under the title of Shaz-Turkic or Common Turkic. The exact timing of when these two major types of Turkic languages diverged is not clear.

How are Turkic languages broadly categorized into 'West Turkic' and 'East Turkic' groups?

With less certainty, the Southwestern, Northwestern, Southeastern, and Oghur groups of Turkic languages may be broadly summarized as West Turkic, while the Northeastern, Kyrgyz-Kipchak, and Arghu (Khalaj) groups are categorized as East Turkic.

What is the distinction between central and peripheral Turkic languages based on geographical and linguistic factors?

Geographically and linguistically, the languages of the Northwestern and Southeastern subgroups are considered central Turkic languages, whereas the Northeastern and Khalaj languages are referred to as peripheral languages.

What method did Hruschka et al. use in 2014 to classify Turkic languages?

Hruschka et al. (2014) utilized computational phylogenetic methods to calculate a tree of Turkic languages, basing their classification on phonological sound changes.

What are the traditionally used isoglosses for classifying Turkic languages?

The traditionally used isoglosses for classifying Turkic languages include Rhotacism (or zetacism), which distinguishes the Oghur branch by its /r/ sound from the rest of Turkic with /z/ in words like 'nine' (*tokkuz*); the treatment of intervocalic *d*, as seen in the word for 'foot' (*hadaq*); and the suffix-final -G, exemplified in *tāglīg*.

What is Rhotacism in the context of Turkic language classification?

Rhotacism, or in some views, zetacism, is an isogloss that separates the Oghur branch of Turkic languages from the Common Turkic branches. In Oghur, sounds like *-/r/, *-/z/, and *-/d/ developed into /r/, *-/k/, or *-/kh/, while the Common Turkic languages retain /z/, as exemplified by the word for 'nine' (*tokkuz*), which has /r/ in Oghur and /z/ in Common Turkic.

What additional isoglosses are used in Turkic language classification?

Additional isoglosses used in Turkic language classification include the preservation of word initial *h*, which notably separates Khalaj as a peripheral language, and the denasalisation of palatal *ñ*, as observed in the word for 'moon' (*āñ*).

Which linguist's classification scheme is the 'Members' table mainly based upon?

The classification scheme presented in the 'Members' table is based mainly upon the work of Lars Johanson.

What are some of the languages classified under Southwestern Common Turkic (Oghuz)?

Southwestern Common Turkic, also known as Oghuz, includes languages such as Salar, Turkish, Gagauz, Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Khorasani Turkic, Qashqai, Chaharmahali Turkic, and Afshari Turkic. It also includes extinct languages like Ajem-Turkic, Old Anatolian Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, and Pecheneg.

Which language is the sole surviving member of the Oghuric branch?

The only surviving member of the Oghuric branch of Turkic languages is Chuvash.

What are some of the languages classified under Northwestern Common Turkic (Kipchak)?

Northwestern Common Turkic, or Kipchak, includes languages such as Kumyk, Karachay-Balkar, Crimean Tatar, Urum, Krymchak, Karaim, Tatar, Bashkir, Dobrujan Tatar, Kazakh, Karakalpak, Nogai, Siberian Tatar, and Kyrgyz. Extinct languages in this group include Cuman, Mamluk-Kipchak, Armeno-Kipchak, Old Tatar, and Fergana Kipchak.

What are some of the languages classified under Southeastern Common Turkic (Karluk)?

Southeastern Common Turkic, or Karluk, includes languages such as Uzbek, Uyghur, Ili Turki, and Äynu (Abdal). Extinct languages in this group are Chagatai, Khorezmian Turkic, and Karakhanid.

What are some of the languages classified under Northeastern Common Turkic (Siberian)?

Northeastern Common Turkic, or Siberian, includes languages such as Yakut (Sakha), Dolgan, Tuvan, Tofa, Dukhan, Chulym, Fuyu Kyrgyz, Khakas, Northern Altai (including Kumandin, Chelkan, Tuba), Shor, Southern Altai (including Altai proper, Telengit, Teleut), and Western Yugur. Extinct languages in this group are Orkhon Turkic and Old Uyghur.

What is the purpose of the vocabulary comparison table in the article?

The vocabulary comparison table provides a brief comparison of cognates among basic vocabulary words across various Turkic languages. It illustrates similarities and differences in word forms, noting that some words may have shifted meanings or that loanwords might be used in place of native terms in certain languages.

What does an empty cell in the vocabulary comparison table signify?

An empty cell in the vocabulary comparison table does not necessarily mean that a particular language lacks a word for the concept. Instead, it indicates that the word for that concept in that language may be formed from a different stem and is not cognate with the other words in the row, or that a loanword is commonly used in its place.

What is the current linguistic classification of the Turkic language family?

The Turkic language family is currently regarded as one of the world's primary language families.

Why is the Altaic language family controversial, despite Turkic being considered one of its main members?

The Altaic language family is controversial and currently lacks support from a majority of linguists because the shared features between Turkic and other languages grouped as Altaic (like Mongolic and Tungusic) are interpreted by most mainstream linguists as the result of a sprachbund, which is a group of languages that have become similar due to long-term geographical proximity and language contact, rather than a common genetic origin.

What is the current consensus among linguists regarding theories linking Turkic languages to other families?

Currently, none of the theories proposing a genetic link between Turkic languages and other language families have a wide degree of acceptance. Shared features are generally attributed to language contact rather than deep genetic ties.

What evidence do some linguists present for a possible genetic relation between Turkic and Korean languages?

Some linguists suggest a possible genetic relation between Turkic and Korean languages, independent of the broader Altaic hypothesis. Kabak (2004) notes similar phonology and morphology, while Li Yong-Sŏng (2014) points to several cognates between Turkic and Old Korean, particularly words related to nature, earth, ruling, sky, and stars, which could be useful for reconstructing early Turkic. Choi (1996) also highlighted that common morphological elements between Korean and Turkic are as numerous as those between Turkic and other Altaic languages, strengthening the possibility of a close genetic affinity.

What non-linguistic relationship is noted between Turkic peoples and Koreans?

Many historians point out a close non-linguistic relationship between Turkic peoples and Koreans, with particularly close relations noted between the Göktürks and Goguryeo.

What is the mainstream linguistic view on the suggested relation between Turkic and Uralic languages?

The suggested genetic relation between Turkic and Uralic languages, especially Ugric languages, is rejected and considered obsolete by mainstream linguists. Any observed similarities are attributed to language contact and borrowings, primarily from Turkic into Ugric languages, as stated by Stachowski (2015).

What is the Old Turkic language, and where were its earliest records found?

Old Turkic is an early form of the Turkic language, and its first established records are the eighth-century AD Orkhon inscriptions, which were discovered in the Orkhon Valley in Mongolia.

What is the *Irk Bitig*?

The *Irk Bitig*, also known as the 'Book of Divination,' is a 9th-century text written in the Old Uyghur language using the Orkhon script. It is an important literary source for early Turko-Mongol mythology.

What is the meaning of 'Proto-Turkic' in linguistic studies?

Proto-Turkic refers to the reconstructed ancestral language from which all modern Turkic languages are believed to have descended. It is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Turkic language family.

What is the significance of the map titled 'The distribution of the Turkic languages'?

The map titled 'The distribution of the Turkic languages' visually represents the geographical areas across Eurasia where Turkic languages are spoken, highlighting their widespread presence from Siberia to Turkey since the Ottoman era.

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Defining the Turkic Languages

A Vast Linguistic Family

The Turkic languages constitute a major language family comprising over 35 documented languages. They are spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast expanse of Eurasia, from Eastern and Southern Europe through Central Asia, and extending to North Asia (Siberia) and West Asia. This family originated in a region spanning from modern-day Mongolia to Northwest China, from which it expanded westward during the first millennium.

Speakers and Prominence

Approximately 200 million people speak a Turkic language. The most prominent member is Turkish, spoken primarily in Anatolia and the Balkans, which accounts for about 38% of all Turkic speakers. The second most widely spoken language in the family is Uzbek. Many Turkic languages exist as a dialect continuum, meaning adjacent dialects are often mutually intelligible.

High Mutual Intelligibility

A remarkable feature of the family is the high degree of mutual intelligibility among certain branches, particularly the Oghuz languages. With moderate exposure, speakers of Turkish, Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Qashqai, and Gagauz can often understand one another. This shared linguistic foundation facilitates communication and cultural exchange across a wide geographic area.

Core Grammatical Features

Vowel Harmony

A hallmark of the Turkic languages is vowel harmony, a phonological process where vowels within a word must belong to the same class (e.g., all front vowels or all back vowels). This system governs the vowels of suffixes, which change to match the vowels in the root word. While languages like Tuvan exhibit almost perfect harmony, others, such as Uzbek, have lost this feature due to significant influence from Persian.

Agglutination

Turkic languages are highly agglutinative. This means that complex words are formed by stringing together distinct suffixes, each with a single, clear grammatical meaning. Instead of using prepositions like "from the house," a Turkic language would typically attach suffixes to the root word for "house" to convey the same meaning, creating a single, longer word.

Structural Consistency

Several structural features are nearly universal across the family. These include a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order, the absence of grammatical gender (no "he" or "she"), and a lack of noun classes or grammatical articles (no "a" or "the"). These shared characteristics provide a consistent grammatical blueprint across most Turkic languages.

History and Development

Pre-Historic Origins

The linguistic homeland, or Urheimat, of the Proto-Turkic language is believed to be in East Asia. Linguistic and genetic evidence points to a region between the Transcaspian steppe and Manchuria, with a strong consensus centering on the area of modern-day Mongolia and South Siberia. Extensive contact with Proto-Mongols during the first millennium BC led to a shared "Turco-Mongol" cultural tradition and numerous loanwords between the language families.

Early Written Records

The earliest known records of a Turkic language are the Orkhon inscriptions, erected by the Göktürks in the 8th century AD in Mongolia's Orkhon Valley. These monuments record the Old Turkic language in the Old Turkic script.

Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk (11th century): The first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, compiled by Kaşgarlı Mahmud. It includes a map of the distribution of Turkic speakers.
Codex Cumanicus (13th-14th centuries): A linguistic manual of the Kipchak language, used by Catholic missionaries to the Cumans in Eastern Europe.
Volga Bulgar Texts (13th-14th centuries): The earliest records of the language spoken by the Volga Bulgars, considered a relative of the modern Chuvash language.

Expansion and Influence

Through the Turkic expansion in the Early Middle Ages (c. 6th–11th centuries), Turkic languages spread from Siberia across Central Asia to the Mediterranean. This migration led to continuous intermingling with neighboring peoples. As a result, Turkic languages have been influenced by, and have themselves influenced, Iranian, Slavic, and Mongolic languages, obscuring some historical developments and presenting challenges for modern classification.

The Turkic Family Tree

Primary Division

The most fundamental split in the Turkic family is between two major branches:

Oghuric (Lir-Turkic): A divergent branch whose only surviving member is the Chuvash language.
Common Turkic (Shaz-Turkic): This branch includes all other Turkic languages and is further subdivided into several groups.

This primary divergence is marked by key sound changes, most notably rhotacism, where the Oghuric branch exhibits an /r/ sound in certain words where Common Turkic has a /z/ sound.

Classification Isoglosses

Linguists classify Turkic languages using isoglosses—geographic boundaries of specific linguistic features. Key markers include:

Rhotacism vs. Zetacism: The sound in the word for "nine" (*tokkuz). Oghuric has /r/ (Chuvash: tăhăr), while Common Turkic has /z/ (Turkish: dokuz).
Intervocalic *d: The sound in the word for "foot" (*hadaq). Some languages preserve /d/ (Tuvan: adaq), while others shift it to /y/ (Turkish: ayak) or /z/ (Khakas: azaq).
Preservation of initial *h: The Khalaj language is unique in preserving the initial *h sound in words like *hadaq ("foot"), marking it as a peripheral language.

Detailed Classification Table

The Turkic family is incredibly diverse. The following table, based on the classification scheme by Lars Johanson, outlines the major branches and their member languages, both living and extinct.

		Northwestern (Kipchak)
Proto-Turkic	Common Turkic	Southwestern (Oghuz)			Salar
			West Oghuz		Ajem-Turkic Old Anatolian Turkish Ottoman Turkish Pecheneg Turkish Gagauz Azerbaijani
			East Oghuz		Turkmen Khorasani Turkic
			South Oghuz		Qashqai Chaharmahali Turkic Afshari Turkic Sonqori Turkic
		(Arghu)			Khalaj
			West Kipchak		Kumyk Karachay-Balkar Crimean Tatar Urum Krymchak Karaim Cuman Mamluk-Kipchak Armeno-Kipchak
			North Kipchak (Volga–Ural)		Tatar Bashkir Old Tatar
			South Kipchak (Aralo-Caspian)		Dobrujan Tatar Kazakh Karakalpak Nogai Siberian Tatar
			Eastern Kipchak (Kyrgyz–Kipchak)		Kyrgyz Fergana Kipchak
		Southeastern (Karluk)	West Karluk		Uzbek
		Southeastern (Karluk)	East Karluk		Uyghur Ili Turki Äynu (Abdal) Chagatai Khorezmian Turkic Karakhanid
		Northeastern (Siberian)	North Siberian		Yakut (Sakha) Dolgan
			South Siberian	Sayan Turkic	Tuvan Tofa Soyot-Tsaatan Dukhan
				Altai and Yenisei Turkic	Chulym Fuyu Kyrgyz Khakas Northern Altai Shor Southern Altai
					Western Yugur Orkhon Turkic Old Uyghur
	Oghuric				Chuvash Khazar Bulgar

A Comparative Lexicon

Vocabulary Comparison

The following table provides a brief comparison of cognates for basic vocabulary across the Turkic language family. This demonstrates both the deep connections between the languages and the sound shifts that differentiate them. Note that empty cells do not mean a language lacks a word for the concept, but that its word is not a cognate of the others in the row.

Meaning	Proto-Turkic	Turkish	Azerbaijani	Turkmen	Tatar	Kazakh	Kyrgyz	Uzbek	Uyghur	Sakha (Yakut)	Chuvash
father	*ata	ata	ata	ata	ata	ata	ata	ota	ata	ağa	atte
mother	*ana	ana, anne	ana	ene	ana	ana	ene	ona	ana	iye	anne
son	*ogul	oğul	oğul	ogul	ul	ul	uul	oʻgʻil	oghul	uol	ıvăl
girl	*kīŕ	kız	qız	gyz	qız	qyz	qız	qiz	qiz	kııs	hĕr
blood	*kiān	kan	qan	gan	qan	qan	qan	qon	qan	xaan	yun
head	*baĺč	baş	baş	baş	baş	bas	baş	bosh	bash	bas	puś
eye	*göŕ	göz	göz	göz	küz	köz	köz	koʻz	köz	xarax	kuś
stone	*dāĺ	taş	daş	daş	taş	tas	taş	tosh	tash	taas	čul
fire	*ōt	od	od	ot	ut	ot	ot	oʻt	ot	uot	vut
water	*sub	su	su	suw	su	su	suu	suv	su	uu	şıv
sun/day	*güneš	güneş, gün	günəş, gün	gün	qoyaş, kön	kün	kün	quyosh, kun	quyash, kün	kün	hĕvel, kun
tree/wood	*ïgač	ağaç	ağac	agaç	ağaç	ağaş	baq, cığaç	yogʻoch	yahach	mas	yıvăś
one	*bīr	bir	bir	bir	ber	bir	bir	bir	bir	biir	pĕrre
two	*éki	iki	iki	iki	ike	eki	eki	ikki	ikki	ikki	ikkĕ
ten	*ōn	on	on	on	un	on	on	oʻn	on	uon	vunnă

External Linguistic Connections

The Altaic Controversy

The Turkic family is a core member of the controversial Altaic language family proposal, which seeks to link Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, and sometimes Koreanic and Japonic languages. However, this theory is widely rejected by most historical linguists today. The similarities between these language groups are now largely attributed to extensive prehistoric language contact within a "Northeast Asian sprachbund," rather than a shared genetic origin.

Korean Connections

Some linguists propose a genetic relationship between Turkic and Korean, independent of the broader Altaic hypothesis. Proponents point to shared phonological and morphological features, as well as a number of proposed cognates, particularly in words related to nature, the sky, and ruling. Historians also note the close political and cultural ties between early Turkic groups like the Göktürks and ancient Korean kingdoms like Goguryeo.

Uralic Similarities

A historical theory once proposed a "Ural-Altaic" macrofamily linking Turkic and Uralic (e.g., Finnish, Hungarian) languages. This view is now considered obsolete by mainstream linguistics. The observed similarities are understood to be the result of language contact and borrowing, primarily from Turkic into Uralic languages, rather than a shared proto-language.

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References

Ãynu contains a very large Persian vocabulary component, and is spoken exclusively by adult men, almost as a cryptolect.

Larry Clark, "Chuvash", in The Turkic Languages, eds. Lars Johanson & Ãva Ãgnes CsatÃ³ (LondonâNY: Routledge, 2006), 434â452.

Johanson, Lars & Ãva Agnes CsatÃ³ (ed.). 1998. The Turkic languages. London: Routledge. 82-83p.

SOME STAR NAMES IN MODERN TURKIC LANGUAGES-I â Yong-SÅng LI â Academy of Korean Studies Grant funded by the Korean Government (MEST) (AKS-2010-AGC-2101) â Seoul National University 2014

A full list of references for this article are available at the Turkic languages Wikipedia page

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The Turkic Tapestry

💡 Dive in with Flashcard Learning! 💡

ℹ️ Defining the Turkic Languages

🌍 A Vast Linguistic Family

🗣️ Speakers and Prominence

🔗 High Mutual Intelligibility

🧩 Core Grammatical Features

🎶 Vowel Harmony

🧱 Agglutination

📜 Structural Consistency

📜 History and Development

🌏 Pre-Historic Origins

✍️ Early Written Records

➡️ Expansion and Influence

🌳 The Turkic Family Tree

bifurcation Primary Division

🔬 Classification Isoglosses

📋 Detailed Classification Table

📖 A Comparative Lexicon

🔤 Vocabulary Comparison

🔗 External Linguistic Connections

🤔 The Altaic Controversy

🇰🇷 Korean Connections

🇫🇮 Uralic Similarities

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Defining the Turkic Languages

A Vast Linguistic Family

Speakers and Prominence

High Mutual Intelligibility

Core Grammatical Features

Vowel Harmony

Agglutination

Structural Consistency

History and Development

Pre-Historic Origins

Early Written Records

Expansion and Influence

The Turkic Family Tree

Primary Division

Classification Isoglosses

Detailed Classification Table

A Comparative Lexicon

Vocabulary Comparison

External Linguistic Connections

The Altaic Controversy

Korean Connections

Uralic Similarities

Teacher's Corner

True or False?

Test Your Knowledge!

Gamer's Corner

Discover other topics to study!

References

Feedback & Support

Disclaimer

Important Notice