Kipchak languages#Language-specific
{{Short description|Sub-branch of the Turkic language family}}
{{for|the extinct Turkic language|Kipchak language}}
{{Infobox language family
| name = Kipchak
| altname = Northwestern Turkic
| ethnicity = Kipchaks
| familycolor = Altaic
| fam1 = Turkic
| fam2 = Common Turkic
| child1 = Kipchak–Bulgar
| child2 = Kipchak–Cuman
| child3 = Kipchak–Nogai
| child4 = Kipchak–Kyrgyz
| glotto = kipc1239
| glottorefname = Kipchak
| map = Kipchak Map Labeled.png
| mapcaption =
| region = Central Asia, Russia, Northern Caucasus, Balkans, Anatolia, Ukraine, China
| ancestor =
| glottoname =
| notes =
}}
The Kipchak languages (also known as the Kypchak, Qypchaq, Qypshaq or the Northwestern Turkic languages) are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family spoken by approximately 30 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.
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 {{IPAslink|j}} (e.g. *hadaq > ajaq "foot")
- Loss of initial *h, see above example
=Unique features=
==Family-specific==
- Extensive labial vowel harmony (e.g. olor vs. olar "them") {{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}
- Frequent fortition (in the form of assibilation) of initial {{IPA|*/j/}} (e.g. *{{IPA link|j}}etti > {{IPA link|ʒ}}etti "seven")
- Diphthongs from syllable-final {{IPA|*/ɡ/}} and {{IPA|*/b/}} (e.g. *taɡ > taw "mountain", *sub > suw "water")
==Language-specific==
- In both Tatar and Bashkir, the original mid and high vowels are swapped in position by vowel raising and lowering:
| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" | Old Turkic ! colspan="2" | Tatar |
| colspan="4" | Mid → high |
|---|
| *e
| {{IPA|/e/}} ! i | {{IPA|/i/}} |
| *o
| {{IPA|/o/}} ! u | {{IPA|/u/}} |
| *ö
| {{IPA|/ø/}} ! ü | {{IPA|/y/}} |
| colspan="4" | High → Mid |
| *i
| {{IPA|/i/}} ! e | {{IPA|/e/}} |
| *ı
| {{IPA|/ɯ/}} ! î | {{IPA|/ɤ/}} |
| *u
| {{IPA|/u/}} ! o | {{IPA|/o/}} |
| *ü
| {{IPA|/y/}} ! ö | {{IPA|/ø/}} |
Classification
The Kipchak languages may be broken down into four groups based on geography and shared features (languages in bold are still spoken today):
See also
Notes
{{reflist|group=nb}}
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last1=Johanson |first1=Lars |last2=Csató |first2=Éva Ágnes |title=The Turkic Languages |location=London |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |isbn=0-415-08200-5}}
- {{cite book |last=Menges |first=Karl H. |author-link=Karl Heinrich Menges |title=The Turkic Languages and Peoples |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Harrassowitz |year=1995 |edition=2nd |isbn=3-447-03533-1}}
{{Turkic languages}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kipchak Languages}}