Tatar language

The Tatar language is spoken in Russia by about 5.3 million people, and also by communities in Azerbaijan, China, Finland, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States, Uzbekistan, and several other countries.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} Globally, there are more than 7 million speakers of Tatar.

Tatar is also the mother tongue for several thousand Mari, a Finnic people;{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} Mordva's Qaratay group also speak a variant of Kazan Tatar.

In the 2010 census, 69% of Russian Tatars claimed at least some knowledge of the Tatar language.Russian Census 2010. [http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/Documents/Vol4/pub-04-06.pdf Владение языками населением] {{in lang|ru}} In Tatarstan, 93% of Tatars and 3.6% of Russians claimed to have at least some knowledge of the Tatar language. In neighbouring Bashkortostan, 67% of Tatars, 27% of Bashkirs, and 1.3% of Russians claimed to understand basic Tatar language.Russian Census 2010. [http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/Documents/Vol4/pub-04-07.pdf Владение языками населением наиболее многочисленных национальностей по субъектам Российской Федерации] {{in lang|ru}}

File:Kazan Millennium tamğa.svg – قازان is written in Arabic script in the semblance of a Zilant.]]

File:Söyälmäskä.jpg]]

File:Kazan metro sign.JPG

Tatar, along with Russian, is the official language of the Republic of Tatarstan. The official script of the Tatar language is based on the Cyrillic script with some additional letters. The Republic of Tatarstan passed a law in 1999, which came into force in 2001, establishing an official Tatar Latin alphabet. A Russian federal law overrode it in 2002, making Cyrillic the sole official script in Tatarstan since. Unofficially, other scripts are used as well, mostly Latin and Arabic. All official sources in Tatarstan must use Cyrillic on their websites and in publishing. In other cases, where Tatar has no official status, the use of a specific alphabet depends on the preference of the author.

The Tatar language was made a de facto official language in Russia in 1917, but only within the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Tatar is also considered to have been the official language in the short-lived Idel-Ural State, briefly formed during the Russian Civil War.

The usage of Tatar declined during the 20th century. By the 1980s, the study and teaching of Tatar in the public education system was limited to rural schools. However, Tatar-speaking pupils had little chance of entering university because higher education was available in Russian almost exclusively.

As of 2001, Tatar was considered a potentially endangered language while Siberian Tatar received "endangered" and "seriously endangered" statuses, respectively.{{Cite book |publisher=Unesco Pub. |isbn=978-92-3-103798-6 |last=Wurm |first=S |author2=Unesco |title=Atlas of the world's languages in danger of disappearing |location=Paris |year=2001}} Higher education in Tatar can only be found in Tatarstan, and is restricted to the humanities. In other regions Tatar is primarily a spoken language and the number of speakers as well as their proficiency tends to decrease. Tatar is popular as a written language only in Tatar-speaking areas where schools with Tatar language lessons are situated. On the other hand, Tatar is the only language in use in rural districts of Tatarstan.

Since 2017, Tatar language classes are no longer mandatory in the schools of Tatarstan.{{cite news |publisher=BBC Russia |url=http://www.bbc.com/russian/features-42186885 |title=Без языка: Казань отказалась от обязательных уроков татарского |date=1 December 2017 |language=ru}} According to the opponents of this change, it will further endanger the Tatar language and is a violation of the Tatarstan Constitution which stipulates the equality of Russian and Tatar languages in the republic.{{cite news |publisher=БИЗНЕС Online |url=https://www.business-gazeta.ru/article/358446 |title=Татарский язык становится "ящиком Пандоры" |date=22 September 2017 |language=ru}}{{cite news |publisher=БИЗНЕС Online |url=https://www.business-gazeta.ru/article/363554 |title=Исмагил Хуснутдинов: "Под лозунгом добровольности татарский язык пытаются изгнать из школ" |date=12 November 2017 |language=ru}}

There are two main dialects of Tatar:

• Central or Middle (Kazan; Qazan)
• Western (Mishar; Mişər)

All of these dialects also have subdivisions. Significant contributions to the study of the Tatar language and its dialects, were made by a scientist Gabdulkhay Akhatov (Ğabdelxəy Əxətov), who is considered to be the founder of the modern Tatar dialectological school.

Spoken idioms of Siberian Tatars, which differ significantly from the above two, are often considered as the third dialect group of Tatar by some, but as an independent language on its own by others.

The Central or Middle dialectal group is spoken in Kazan and most of Tatarstan and is the basis of the standard literary Tatar language. Middle Tatar includes the Nagaibak dialect.

{{Main|Mishar Tatar dialect}}

The Western (Mishar) dialect is distinguished from the Central dialect most clearly by the absence of the uvular q and ğ and the rounded å of the first syllable. Letters ç and c are pronounced as affricates.{{cite book |title=Jazyki Rossijskoi Federatsii i sosednih gosudarstv |volume=3 |pages=67–68 |location=Moscow |publisher=Nauka |year=2005 |isbn=5-02-011237-2}} Regional differences exist also.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Zakiev |first=M. Z. |editor-last=Tenišev |editor-first=Ėdchjam R. |title=Tatar |encyclopedia=Tjurkskije jazyki |series=Jazyki mira |page=371 |location=Moscow |publisher=Indrik |year=1997 |isbn=5-85759-061-2}}

Mishar Dialect, and especially its regional variant in Sergachsky district (Nizhny Novgorod), is said to be "faithfully close" to the ancient Kipchak language.Leitzinger, Antero: Mishäärit – Suomen vanha islamilainen yhteisö. Kirja-Leitzinger, 1996. {{ISBN|952-9752-08-3}}. (p. 41) Some linguists, such as Radlov, Samoylovich, think that Mishar traditionally belongs to the Kipchak-Cuman group of languages, rather than to the Kipchak-Bulgar group.Махмутова Л. Т. Опыт исследования тюркских диалектов: мишарский диалект татарского языка. — М.: Наука, 1978

Mishar is the dialect spoken by the Tatar minority of Finland.{{cite book |last=Leitzinger |first=Antero |title=Mishäärit – Suomen vanha islamilainen yhteisö |location=Helsinki |publisher=Kirja-Leitzinger |year=1996 |isbn=952-9752-08-3}}

{{Main|Siberian Tatar language}}

Two main isoglosses that characterize Siberian Tatar are ç as {{IPAblink|ts}} and c as {{IPAblink|j}}, corresponding to standard {{IPAblink|ɕ}} and {{IPAblink|ʑ}}. There are also grammatical differences within the dialect, scattered across Siberia.[http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/nasia_report.html#SibTatar Information about Siberian Tatar]

Many linguists claim the origins of Siberian Tatar dialects are actually independent of Volga–Ural Tatar; these dialects are quite remote both from Standard Tatar and from each other, often preventing mutual comprehension. The claim that this language is part of the modern Tatar language is typically supported by linguists in Kazan, Moscow{{cite book |author-link=Nikolai Baskakov (linguist) |first=Nikolai |last=Baskakov |title=Тюркские языки |trans-title=Turkic languages |editor-first=Г. Д. |editor-last=Санжеев |publisher=Издательство восточной литературы |location=Moscow, Russia |date=1960 |page=248}} and by Siberian Tatar linguists{{cite book |last=Утяшева |first=Гузель Чахваровна |title=Русские заимствования в тоболо-иртышском диалекте сибирских татар |trans-title=Russian borrowings in the Tobol-Irtysh dialect of the Siberian Tatars |publisher=Казанский федеральный университет |location=Tobolsk, Russia |year=2006 |oclc=1042797537}}{{cite book |last=Рахимова |first=Роза Нуретдиновна |title=Тюменский говор в системе диалектов сибирских татар: фонетико-морфологическая характеристика |trans-title=Tyumen dialect in the system of dialects of the Siberian Tatars: phonetic and morphological characteristics |publisher=Казанский федеральный университет |location=Tyumen, Russia |year=2007 |oclc=1042799247}}{{cite conference |last=Рамазанова |first=Д. Б. |title=Сибирско-татарские диалекты и говоры татарского языка |book-title=Материалы IX Всероссийской научно-практической конференции "Сулеймановские чтения – 2006" |trans-title=Materials of the IX All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "Suleiman Readings – 2006" |publisher=Казанский федеральный университет |location=Tyumen, Russia |year=2006 |pages=89–90 |url=http://atlas.antat.ru/upload/ramazanova/dialekt.pdf}} and denounced by some Russian and Tatar{{cite book |last=Валеев |first=Фоат Тач-Ахметович |title=Западносибирские татары во второй половине XIX – начале XX в. (Историко-этнографические очерки) |trans-title=West Siberian Tatars in the second half of the 19th to early 20th centuries. (Historical and ethnographic essays) |publisher=Татарское книжное изд-во |location=Kazan', Tatarstan, Russia |year=1980 |oclc=63230819}} ethnographs.

Over time, some of these dialects were given distinct names and recognized as separate languages (e.g. the Chulym language) after detailed linguistic study. However, the Chulym language was never classified as a dialect of Tatar language. Confusion arose because of the endoethnonym "Tatars" used by the Chulyms. The question of classifying the Chulym language as a dialect of the Khakass language was debatable. A brief linguistic analysis shows that many of these dialects exhibit features which are quite different from the Volga–Ural Tatar varieties, and should be classified as Turkic varieties belonging to several sub-groups of the Turkic languages, distinct from Kipchak languages to which Volga–Ural Tatar belongs.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

File:Tatar vowels F1 F2.png

There exist several interpretations of the Tatar vowel phonemic inventory. In total Tatar has nine or ten native vowels, and three or four loaned vowels (mainly in Russian loanwords).{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WdI5AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA194 |title=Current Trends in Caucasian, East European and Inner Asian Linguistics |last1=Harrison |first1=K. David |last2=Kaun |first2=Abigail R. |year=2003 |editor-last=Holisky |editor-first=Dee Ann |pages=194–198 |chapter=Vowels and Vowel Harmony in Namangan Tatar |publisher=John Benjamins |isbn=9789027275257 |editor-last2=Tuite |editor-first2=Kevin}}{{Cite book |title=The Turkic languages |last=Berta |first=Árpád |chapter=Tatar and Bashkir |year=1998 |editor-last=Johanson |editor-first=Lars |editor-last2=Csató |editor-first2=Éva Á. |publisher=Routledge |pages=283–300}}

According to Baskakov (1988) Tatar has only two vowel heights, high and low. There are two low vowels, front and back, while there are eight high vowels: front and back, round (R+) and unround (R−), normal and short (or reduced).

Poppe (1963) proposed a similar yet slightly different scheme with a third, higher mid, height, and with nine vowels.

According to Makhmutova (1969) Tatar has three vowel heights: high, mid and low, and four tongue positions: front, front-central, back-central and back (as they are named when cited).

The mid back unrounded vowel ë is usually transcribed as ı'', though it differs from the corresponding Turkish vowel.

The tenth vowel ï is realized as the diphthong ëy ({{IPA|tt|ɯɪ|IPA}}), which only occurs word-finally, but it has been argued to be an independent phoneme.

Phonetically, the native vowels are approximately thus (with the Cyrillic letters and the usual Latin romanization in angle brackets):

In polysyllabic words, the front-back distinction is lost in reduced vowels: all become mid-central. The mid reduced vowels in an unstressed position are frequently elided, as in кеше keşe {{IPA|[kĕˈʃĕ]}} > {{IPA|[kʃĕ]}} 'person', or кышы qışı {{IPA|[qɤ̆ˈʃɤ̆]}} > {{IPA|[qʃɤ̆]}} '(his) winter'. Low back {{IPAslink|ɑ}} is rounded {{IPAblink|ɒ}} in the first syllable and after {{IPAblink|ɒ}}, but not in the last, as in бала bala {{IPA|[bɒˈlɑ]}} 'child', балаларга balalarğa {{IPA|[bɒlɒlɒrˈʁɑ]}} 'to children'. In Russian loans there are also {{IPAblink|ɨ}}, {{IPAblink|ɛ}}, {{IPAblink|ɔ}}, and {{IPAblink|ä}}, written the same as the native vowels: ы, е/э, о, а respectively.

Historically, the Old Turkic mid vowels have raised from mid to high, whereas the Old Turkic high vowels have become the Tatar reduced mid series. (The same shifts have also happened in Bashkir.){{Cite book |title=The Turkic languages |last=Johanson |first=Lars |chapter=The History of Turkic |year=1998 |editor-last=Johanson |editor-first=Lars |editor-last2=Csató |editor-first2=Éva Á. |publisher=Routledge |page=92}}

| 'word'

|-

| *o

| *sol

| sol

| sul

| hul

| 'left'

|-

| *i

| *it

| it

| et

| et

| 'dog'

|-

| *ï

| *qïz

| qız

| qız {{IPA|tt|qɤ̆z|}}

| qıź {{IPA|ba|qɤ̆θ|}}

| 'girl'

|-

| *u

| *qum

| qum

| qom

| qom

| 'sand'

|-

| *ü

| *kül

| kül

| köl

| köl

| 'ash'

|}

;Notes:

:{{note|loan|*}} The phonemes {{IPAslink|v}}, {{IPAslink|ts}}, {{IPAslink|tɕ}}, {{IPAslink|ʒ}}, {{IPAslink|h}}, {{IPAslink|ʔ}} are only found in loanwords. {{IPAslink|f}} occurs more commonly in loanwords, but is also found in native words, e.g. yafraq 'leaf'. {{IPAslink|v}}, {{IPAslink|ts}}, {{IPAslink|tɕ}}, {{IPAslink|ʒ}} may be substituted with the corresponding native consonants {{IPAslink|w}}, {{IPAslink|s̪|s}}, {{IPAslink|ɕ}}, {{IPAslink|ʑ}} by some Tatars.

:{{note|dialect|†}} {{IPAslink|dʑ}} and {{IPAslink|tɕ}} are the dialectal Western (Mişär) pronunciations of җ{{nbsp}}⟨c⟩{{nbsp}}{{IPAslink|ʑ}} and ч{{nbsp}}⟨ç⟩{{nbsp}}{{IPAslink|ɕ}}, the latter are in the literary standard and in the Central (Kazan) dialect. {{IPAslink|ts}} is the variant of ч{{nbsp}}⟨ç⟩{{nbsp}}{{IPAslink|ɕ}} as pronounced in the Eastern (Siberian) dialects and some Western (Mişär) dialects. Both {{IPAslink|tɕ}} and {{IPAslink|ts}} are also used in Russian loanwords (the latter written ц).

:{{note|uvular|‡}} {{IPAslink|q}} and {{IPAslink|ʁ}} are usually considered allophones of {{IPAslink|k}} and {{IPAslink|ɡ}} in the environment of back vowels, so they are never written in the Tatar Cyrillic orthography in native words, and only rarely in loanwords with къ and гъ. However, {{IPAslink|q}} and {{IPAslink|ʁ}} also appear before front {{IPAslink|æ}} in Perso-Arabic loanwords which may indicate the phonemic status of these uvular consonants.

Tatar consonants usually undergo slight palatalization before front vowels. However, this allophony is not significant and does not constitute a phonemic status. This differs from Russian where palatalized consonants are not allophones but phonemes on their own. There are a number of Russian loanwords which have palatalized consonants in Russian and are thus written the same in Tatar (often with the "soft sign" ь). The Tatar standard pronunciation also requires palatalization in such loanwords; however, some Tatar may pronounce them non-palatalized.

In native words there are six types of syllables (Consonant, Vowel, Sonorant):

• V (ı-lıs, u-ra, ö-rä)
• VC (at-law, el-geç, ir-kä)
• CV (qa-la, ki-ä, su-la)
• CVC (bar-sa, sız-law, köç-le, qoş-çıq)
• VSC (ant-lar, äyt-te, ilt-kän)
• CVSC (tört-te, qart-lar, qayt-qan)

Loanwords allow other types: CSV (gra-mota), CSVC (käs-trül), etc.

Stress is usually on the final syllable. However, some suffixes cannot be stressed, so the stress shifts to the syllable before that suffix, even if the stressed syllable is the third or fourth from the end. A number of Tatar words and grammatical forms have the natural stress on the first syllable. Loanwords, mainly from Russian, usually preserve their original stress (unless the original stress is on the last syllable, in such a case the stress in Tatar shifts to suffixes as usual, e.g. sovét > sovetlár > sovetlarğá).

Tatar phonotactics dictate many pronunciation changes which are not reflected in the orthography.

• Unrounded vowels ı and e become rounded after o or ö:

::коры/qorı > [qoro]

::борын/borın > [boron]

::көзге/közge > [közgö]

::соры/sorı > [soro]

• Nasals are assimilated to the following stops:

::унбер/unber > [umber]

::менгеч/mengeç > [meñgeç]

• Stops{{clarify|date=April 2022|reason=/l/ is an approximant, not a stop.}} are assimilated to the preceding nasals (this is reflected in writing):

::урманнар/urmannar ( < urman + lar)

::комнар/komnar ( < kom + lar)

• Voicing may also undergo assimilation:

::күзсез/küzsez > [küssez]

• Unstressed vowels may be syncopated or reduced:

::урыны/urını> [urnı]

::килене/kilene > [kilne]

• Vowels may also be elided:

::кара урман/qara urman > [qarurman]

::килә иде/kilä ide > [kiläyde]

::туры урам/turı uram > [tururam]

::була алмыйм/bula almıym > [bulalmıym]

• In consonant clusters longer than two phones, ı or e (whichever is dictated by vowel harmony) is inserted into speech as an epenthetic vowel.

::банк/bank > [bañqı]

• Final consonant clusters are simplified:

::артист/artist > [artis]

• Final devoicing is also frequent:

::табиб/tabib > [tabip]

Like other Turkic languages, Tatar is an agglutinative language.{{cite web |url=http://www.tatar.com.ru/grammatika.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503111707/http://www.tatar.com.ru/grammatika.php |archive-date=3 May 2020 |title=Грамматика татарского языка}}

Tatar nouns are inflected for cases and numbers. Case suffixes change depending on the last consonants of the noun, while nouns ending in п/к are voiced to б/г (китабым) when a possessive suffix was added. Suffixes below are in back vowel, with front variant can be seen at #Phonology section.

The declension of possessive suffixes is even more irregular, with the dative suffix -а used in 1st singular and 2nd singular suffixes, and the accusative, dative, locative, and ablative endings -н, -на, -нда, -ннан is used after 3rd person possessive suffix. Nouns ending in -и, -у, or -ү, although phonologically vowels, take consonantic endings.{{cite book |url=https://ibt.org.ru/sites/default/files/files/TTR_Gram_R_web.pdf |title=Tatar Grammar: А Grammar of the Contemporary Tatar Literary Language |first=Gustav |last=Burbiel |year=2018 |publisher=Institute for Bible Translation |isbn=978-5-93943-259-7}}

The declension of personal and demonstrative pronouns tends to be irregular. Irregular forms are in bold.

{{Clear}}

{{Clear}}

The distribution of present tense suffixes is complicated, with the former (also with vowel harmony) is used with verb stems ending in consonants, and the latter is used with verb stem ending in vowels (with the last vowel being deleted, {{wikt-lang|tt|эшләү}} – эшли, compare Turkish işlemek – continuous işliyor). The distribution of indefinite future tense is more complicated in consonant-ending stems, it is resolved by -арга/-ырга infinitives (язарга – язар). However, because some have verb citation forms in verbal noun (-у), this rule becomes somewhat unpredictable.

Tenses are negated with -ма, however in the indefinite future tense and the verbal participle they become -мас and -мыйча instead, respectively. Alongside vowel-ending stems, the suffix also becomes -мый when negates the present tense. To form interrogatives, the suffix -мы is used.

Definite past and conditional tenses use type II personal inflections instead. When in the case of present tense, short ending (-м) is used. After vowels, the first person imperative forms deletes the last vowel, similar to the present tense does ({{wikt-lang|tt|эшләү}} – эшлим). Like plurals of nouns, the suffix -лар change depending the preceding consonants (-алар, but -ганнар).

Some verbs, however, fall into this category. Dozens of them have irregular stems with a final mid vowel, but obscured on the infinitive ({{wikt-lang|tt|уку}} – укы, укый, {{wikt-lang|tt|төзү}} – төзе, төзи). The verbs кору "to build", тану "to disclaim", ташу "to spill" have contrastive meanings with verbs with their final vowelled counterparts, meaning "to dry", "to know", "to carry".

The verb {{wikt-lang|tt|дию}} "to say" is significantly more irregular than any other verbs: its 2nd person singular imperative is диген, while its expected regular form is repurposed as the present tense forms (дим, диң, ди...).

These predicative suffixes have now fallen into disuse, or rarely used.{{cite book |title=Татар грамматикасы |volume=2 |edition=2 |last=Зәкиев |first=М.З. |location=Казан |publisher=ТӘһСИ |year=2016 |pages=56{{hyphen}}57|url= http://antat.ru/ru/iyli/publishing/book/2016/%D0%93%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0_2.pdf#page=55}}

{{Main|Tatar alphabet|Yañalif|l2=Jaꞑalif}}

File:Tatar Latin Janalif Arabic 1928.png

File:Tatar guide in Latin.jpg are in Latin script, especially in fashion boutiques]]

File:Nizhny-Novgorod-Mosque-inscription-C0274.jpg in Nizhny Novgorod, written in both Arabic and Cyrillic Tatar scripts]]

During its history, Tatar has been written in Arabic, Latin and Cyrillic scripts.

Before 1928, Tatar was mostly written in Arabic script (Иске имля/İske imlâ, "Old orthography", to 1920; Яңа имла/Yaña imlâ, "New orthography", 1920–1928).

During the 19th century, Russian Christian missionary Nikolay Ilminsky devised the first Cyrillic alphabet for Tatar. This alphabet is still used by Christian Tatars (Kryashens).

In the Soviet Union after 1928, Tatar was written with a Latin alphabet called Jaꞑalif.

In 1939, in Tatarstan and all other parts of the Soviet Union, a Cyrillic script was adopted and is still used to write Tatar. It is also used in Kazakhstan.

The Republic of Tatarstan passed a law in 1999 that came into force in 2001 establishing an official Tatar Latin alphabet. A Russian federal law overrode it in 2002, making Cyrillic the sole official script in Tatarstan since. In 2004, an attempt to introduce a Latin-based alphabet for Tatar was further abandoned when the Constitutional Court ruled that the federal law of 15 November 2002 mandating the use of Cyrillic for the state languages of the republics of the Russian Federation{{cite book |last=Spolsky |first=Bernard |title=Language Policy |isbn=978-0-521-01175-4 |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=2}} does not contradict the Russian constitution.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4016571.stm |title=Russia court sticks to letter law |date=16 November 2004 |access-date=20 February 2012 |work=BBC News}} In accordance with this Constitutional Court ruling, on 28 December 2004, the Tatar Supreme Court overturned the Tatarstani law that made the Latin alphabet official.{{cite web |url=http://www.usefoundation.org/view/517 |title=The Tatar language will continue to be written through the Cyrillic alphabet |date=February 2005 |access-date=20 February 2012 |work=U.S. English Foundation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430044601/http://www.usefoundation.org/view/517 |archive-date=30 April 2011}}

In 2012 the Tatarstan government adopted a new Latin alphabet but with limited usage (mostly for Romanization).

• Tatar Perso-Arabic alphabet (before 1928):

• Tatar Old Latin (Jaꞑalif) alphabet (1928 to 1940):

• Tatar Old Cyrillic alphabet (by Nikolay Ilminsky, 1861; the letters in parentheses are not used in modern publications):

• Tatar Cyrillic alphabet (1939; the letter order adopted in 1997):

• 1999 Tatar Latin alphabet, made official by a law adopted by Tatarstani authorities but annulled by the Tatar Supreme Court in 2004:

• 2012 Tatar Latin alphabet{{Cite web |url=https://cdnstatic.rg.ru/uploads/attachments/73/99/43/pril.pdf |title=Law of the Republic of Tatarstan "On the use of the Tatar language as the state language of the Republic of Tatarstan" with an appendix (correspondence table)}}

In 2024, the modified Common Turkic Alphabet replaced letter ä with ə, which was already in use in Azerbaijani, as well as among Tatar activists using the Latin alphabet.{{Cite web |last=Abuova |first=Nagima |date=23 September 2024 |title=Turkic States Revive Latin-Based Alphabet to Preserve Linguistic Heritage |url=https://astanatimes.com/2024/09/turkic-states-revive-latin-based-alphabet-to-preserve-linguistic-heritage/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241206030812/https://astanatimes.com/2024/09/turkic-states-revive-latin-based-alphabet-to-preserve-linguistic-heritage/ |archive-date=6 December 2024 }}{{Cite web |last=Ahmetcan |first=Aygul |title=Learn Tatar – Vocabulary |url=https://www.learntatar.com/vocabulary}}{{Cite web |title=Tatar Grammar |url=https://www.instagram.com/tatargrammar?igsh=MTVmNWRiZmt0cWQwNQ==}}

{{Main|Turkic languages#Vocabulary comparison}}

The ancestors of Tatar are the extinct Turkic Bulgar and Kipchak languages.

The literary Tatar language is based on the Middle Tatar (Kazan) dialect and on the Old Tatar language (İske Tatar Tele), also known as Türki (ترکی). Both are members of the Volga-Ural subgroup of the Kipchak group of Turkic languages, although they also partly derive from the ancient Volga Bulgar language.

Crimean Tatar, although similar by name, belongs to another subgroup of the Kipchak languages. Unlike Kazan Tatar, Crimean Tatar is heavily influenced by Turkish (mostly its Ottoman variety with Arabic and Persian influences) and Nogai languages.

Most of the Uralic languages in the Volga River area have strongly influenced the Tatar language,[http://www.princeton.edu/~turkish/aatt/tatar.htm Tatar language – Princeton University] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213002624/http://www.princeton.edu/~turkish/aatt/tatar.htm |date=13 December 2006 }} as have the Arabic, Persian and Russian languages.{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.languages-study.com/tatar.html Татарский язык в Интернете: информация о методах и средствах обучения]

The Arabic and Persian influence on Tatar can be seen most clearly in loan words but also in specific sounds. For example, Tatar ğ / г is the Arabic ghayn غ. However, in Arabic words and names where there’s an ayin ع, Tatar adds the ghayn instead (عبد الله, ’Abdullah; Tatar: Ğabdulla / Габдулла; Yaña imlâ: غابدوللا /ʁabdulla/).{{Cite web |title=Tatar (Standard) |url=https://eurphon.info/languages/html?lang_id=46 |website=The Database of Eurasian Phonological Inventories |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511160945/https://eurphon.info/languages/html?lang_id=46 |archive-date=2021-05-11}}{{Cite web |title=Abdullah - Islamic Name Meaning |url=https://quranicnames.com/abdullah/ |website=QuranicNames}}{{Cite web |title=Tatar Names |url=https://magarif-uku.ru/tatar-isemnere/ir-at/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027192517/https://magarif-uku.ru/tatar-isemnere/ir-at/ |archive-date=27 October 2022 |language=tt}}{{Cite web |last1=Yevlampiev |last2=Pentzlin |last3=Joomagueldinov |first1=Ilya |first2=Karl |first3=Nurlan |date=20 May 2011 |title=Revised Proposal to encode Arabic characters used for Bashkir, Belarusian, Crimean Tatar, and Tatar languages |url=https://unicode.org/L2/L2011/11209-n4072-arabic.pdf |website=International Organization for Standardization}} In the Mishar Tatar Dialect, ğ is not pronounced, and thus, a word like şiğır (شعر, шигыр, "poem") is şigır or şiyır for Mishars (who in Finland use the Latin alphabet).{{cite book |title=Jazyki Rossijskoi Federatsii i sosednih gosudarstv |volume=3 |pages=67–68 |location=Moskva |publisher=Nauka |year=2005 |isbn=5-02-011237-2 |lang=ru}}{{Cite web |title=Yabalak Süzlek – Finnish-Tatar Dictionary |url=https://yabalak.fi/}}

When it comes to Arabic and Persian loanwords, in the Tatar Latin script, alif is realised as the letter a, and when there’s no alif, it is ä (ə) (عيسى, Ğəysə; آزاد, Azat). When the alif has hamza on top (أ), it is also ä (ə), but Tatar İske imlâ spells it without (امين / أمين, Əmin). Vowel harmony as well is a deciding factor (عبد الله, Ğabdulla; عبد الرشيد, Ğəbderrəşit). Similarly with ö/o (عمر, Ğömər; عثمان, Ğosman). However, this rule is often inconsistent when transliterating from Cyrillic to Latin.{{Cite web |date=2004-12-24 |title=Xristian dönyası Raştua bäyräm itä |script-work=tt:Азатлык Радиосы |url=https://www.azatliq.org/a/816786.html |lang=tt}}{{Cite web |last=Ahmetcan |first=Aygul |title=Azat Minnekaev |url=https://www.learntatar.com/culture/famous-people/azat-minnekaev}}{{Cite web |date=2003-01-17 |title=Äfğanstanda general Dostumnı üterergä telägän keşe qulğa alındı |script-work=tt:Азатлык Радиосы |lang=tt |url=https://www.azatliq.org/a/806083.html}}{{Cite journal |doi=10.30853/filnauki.2019.11.19 |title=EXISTENTIAL MOTIVES IN ĞABDULLA TUQAY'S CREATIVE WORK |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337712786 |date=November 2019 |journal=Philology Theory & Practice |volume=12 |issue=11 |pages=86-89 |first1=L. R. |last1=Nadyrshina |first2=G. M. |last2=Khannanova|doi-access=free }}{{Cite web |date=2003-06-04 |title=Ğömär Sabircanov: «Dan qazanğan çittäge millättäşlärebez dä tatar entsiklopediäsenä kertelä ala...» |script-work=tt:Азатлык Радиосы |url=https://www.azatliq.org/a/808392.html}}{{Cite web |date=2005-04-01 |title=Ğosman Sadä : "Taşqınnar da yua almıy xalıq xäteren..." "Şähri Qazan" |script-work=tt:Азатлык Радиосы |url=https://www.azatliq.org/a/818220.html}}{{Cite book |script-title=ru:Азбука татарского языка |trans-title=Tatar Language Alphabet |url=https://www.marefa.org/w/images/9/95/%D0%A5%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%84%D0%B8%D0%BD_%D0%90%D0%B7%D0%B1%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%B0_1778.pdf |language=ru |via=marefa.org}}

During the Golden Horde (1242–1502), the ancestors of modern Tatars used Persian in addition to their Turkic language to a relatively significant extent, especially in poetry and even after the Golden Horde. For example, the long-serving Khan of the Kazan Khanate (1438–1552), Möxəmməd-Əmin, wrote poetry in Persian. In religious and legal matters Arabic was used.{{Cite encyclopedia |first=И.Л. |last=Измайлов |script-title=tt:Алтын Урда |trans-title=Golden Horde |url=https://tatarica.org/tat/razdely/istoriya/srednie-veka/gosudarstva/altyn-urda |encyclopedia=Tatarica |language=tt}}{{Cite book |last=DeWeese |first=Devin |date=2019 |title=Persian and Turkic from Kazan to Tobolsk: Literary Frontiers in Muslim Inner Asia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvr7fdrv.11 |pages=131–156 |publisher=University of California Press |jstor=j.ctvr7fdrv.11 |isbn=978-0-520-30092-7 }} Many Persian and Arabic works are considered part of Tatar literature today.{{Cite encyclopedia |first1=Х. Й. |last1=Миңнегулов |first2=Т. Н. |last2=Галиуллин |script-title=tt:Татар әдәбияты |trans-title=Tatar Literature |url=https://tatarica.org/tat/razdely/kultura/literatura/literatura-tatarskaya |encyclopedia=Tatarica |language=tt}}

File:Article 1 in Tatar.flac

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Tatar (Cyrillic):

:{{lang|tt-Cyrl|Барлык кешеләр дә азат һәм үз абруйлары һәм хокуклары ягыннан тиң булып туалар. Аларга акыл һәм вөҗдан бирелгән, һәм алар бер-берсенә карата туганнарча мөнасәбәттә булырга тиешләр.}}

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Tatar (Latin):

:{{lang|tt-Latn|Barlıq keşelər də azat həm üz abruyları həm xoquqları yağınnan tiñ bulıp tuwalar. Alarğa aqıl həm wöcdan birelgən, həm alar ber-bersenə qarata tuğannarça mönəsəbəttə bulırğa tiyeşlər.}}

International Phonetic Alphabet transcription:

:{{IPA|[bɒrˈɫɤq kʃɘ̆ˈlɛr dɛ ɒˈzɑt hɛm ʉz ɒβˌrujɫɑˈrɤ hɛm χoˌquqɫɑˈrɤ ˌʝɒʁɤnˈnɑn tiŋ buˈɫɤp ˌtuwɑˈɫɑr ‖ ˌɒɫɒrˈʁɑ ɒˈqɤɫ hɛm wɵʑˈdɑn ˌbirɘlˈɡɛn hɛm ˌbɘr‿ˌbɘrsɘˈnɛ ˌqɒrɒˈtɑ tuˌʁɑnnɑrˈɕɑ mɵˌnɑsɛβɛtˈtɛ ˌbuɫɤrˈɢɑ ˌtijɘʃˈlɛr ‖]}}

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:

:All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

{{Promotional section|date=December 2024}}

A common complaint among those curious about the Tatar language outside of Russia has been its lack of non-Russian Latin alphabet sources. For this, a young Germany-based Tatar architect Aygul Ahmetcan (Aygöl Əxmətcan), with the help of linguistics student Bulat Shaymi{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Булат Шаймиев: "Они пронесли эти знания сквозь века – неужели на мне все это и закончится?" |url=https://realnoevremya.ru/articles/225859-intervyu-s-vidoeblogerom-bulatom-shaymievym |website=realnoyevremya}} (Bulat Şəymi), has created a Telegram channel Learn Tatar, which offers Tatar language teaching in English. It has gained thousands of viewers in few months after its creation in August 2023.{{Cite news |date=February 2024 |title="Learn Tatar" каналы авторы: "Татар телен төрле милләтләргә танытасым килә" |url=https://www.azatliq.org/a/learn-tatar-kanali-tatar-telen-torle-milletlerge-tanita/32811807.html |newspaper=Азатлык Радиосы}} Shaymi himself has a Youtube channel dedicated to Tatar content.{{Cite web |title=Bulat Shaymi |url=https://www.youtube.com/@BulatShaymi |website=Youtube}}

Since then, a website learntatar.com has also been established.{{Cite web |title=Get to know the Tatar language and culture |url=https://www.learntatar.com/}}

Among other helpful sources is the Finnish Tatar website Aybagar ("Sunflower"), which "publishes scientific works and original materials about Tatars, the Tatar language and Tatar culture, focusing especially on the Tatar diaspora worldwide".{{Cite web |title=About – Aybagar |url=https://aybagar.eu/about/ |website=Aybagar}} Tatar pronunciations can be found in Forvo{{Cite web |title=Tatar pronunciation dictionary |url=https://forvo.com/languages/tt/ |website=Forvo}} and "Corpus of Written Tatar".{{Cite web |title=Corpus of Written Tatar |url=https://sintez.corpus.tatar/index_en.php?of=search/sintez.php}}

Modern Tatar Identity is a podcast that has "conversations with people who have dedicated a part of their life to Tatar and Tatar language research".{{Cite web |title=Modern Tatar Identity |url=https://open.spotify.com/show/1m30sSsrG9SGqYIKGpE2i1 |website=Spotify}}

• Corpus of Written Tatar
• Tatar alphabet
• Tatar name
• Tatar–Russian code-switching
• Bashkir language

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |isbn=978-0-7007-1077-5 |title=Historical anthology of Kazan Tatar verse: voices of eternity |last1=Bukharaev |first1=Ravilʹ |last2=Matthews |first2=D. J. |last3=Matthews |first3=David John |date=29 November 2023 |publisher=Psychology Press}}
• {{cite journal |doi=10.1111/weng.12324 |title=Language education for glocal interaction: English and Tatar |date=2018 |last1=Gilmetdinova |first1=Alsu |last2=Malova |first2=Irina |journal=World Englishes |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=624–634 |s2cid=149975557}}
• PEN (Organization). (1998). Tatar literature today. Kazan: Magarif Publishers.
• Poppe, N. N. (1963). Tatar manual: descriptive grammar and texts with a Tatar-English glossary. Bloomington: Indiana University.
• {{in lang|ru}} Ахатов Г. Х. Татарская диалектология (учебник для студентов вузов). – Казань, 1984.
• {{in lang|ru}} Татарская грамматика. В 3-х т. / Гл. ред. М. З. Закиев. – Казань, 1993.

• {{in lang|ru}} [http://atlas.antat.ru/ Atlas of Tatar dialects]
• [http://pauctle.com/tttr Tatar<>Turkish dictionary]
• [https://lisan.tatar/ Иске татар теле]

{{InterWiki|code=tt}}

{{Wikivoyage|Tatar phrasebook}}

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