Kumyk language

Kumyk (къумукъ тил,[2] qumuq til) is a Turkic language, spoken by about 426,212[3] speakers — the Kumyks — in the Dagestan, North Ossetia and Chechen republics of the Russian Federation.

Not to be confused with the Kalmyk language.
Kumyk
къумукъ тил/qumuq til
Native toNorth Caucasus
RegionDagestan, Chechnya, North Ossetia
EthnicityKumyks
Native speakers
450,000 (2010 census)[1]
Turkic
Cyrillic and Latin
Official status
Official language in
 Russia
Language codes
ISO 639-2kum
ISO 639-3kum
Glottologkumy1244

Origin

Kumyk language , which is a part of Kipchak-Cuman subfamily of the Kipchak family of the Turkic languages. It's a descendant of the Cuman languages, with likely influence from the Khazar language,[4] and in addition contains words from the Bulghar and Oghuz substratum.[5]

Nikolay Baskakov, based on a famous 12th century scripture named Codex Cimanicus, included modern Kumyk, Karachai-Balkar, Crimean Tatar, Karaim, and the language of Mamluk Kipchaks in lingual family of the Cuman-Kipchak language. Samoylovich also considered Cuman-Kipchak close to Kumyk and Karachai-Balkar.[6]

Kumyk had been a lingua-franca of the bigger part of the Northern Caucasus, from Dagestan to Kabarda, until the 1930s.[7][8][9]

In 1848, a professor of the "Caucasian Tatar" (Kumyk) Timofey Makarov published the first ever grammatical book in Russian language for one of the Northern Caucasian languages - which was international Kumyk. Makarov wrote:[10]

From the peoples speaking Tatar language I liked the most Kumyks, as for their language's distinction and precision, so for their closeness to the European civilization, but most importantly, I take in account that they live on the Left Flank of the Caucasian Front, where we're conducting military actions, and where all the peoples, apart from their own language, speak also Kumyk.

Kumyk was an official language of communication between North-Eastern Caucasian nations and Russian administration.[11]

Amongst the dialects of the Kumyk there are Kaitag, Terek (Güçük-yurt and Braguny), Buynaksk (Temir-Khan-Shura) and Xasavyurt. The latter two became basis for the literary language.[12]

Kumyk is the oldest script literary language of Dagestan and Caucasus. During the 20th century the writing system of the language was changed twice: during Soviet times in 1929 traditional Arabic script (called ajam) was substituted by the Latin script, and then in 1938 — by Cyrillic script.

The closest languages to Kumyk are Karachai-Balkar, Crimean Tatar, and Karaim languages.[13]

More than 90% of the Kumyks, according to 2010 census, also speak Russian, and those in Turkey and the Levant (Sham) speak Turkish and Arabic.

Lingua franca in the Caucasus

Kumyk was a lingua franca in part of the Northern Caucasus from Dagestan to Kabarda until the 1930s.[14][15][16]

In 1848, Timofey Makarov, a professor of "Caucasian Tatar" (Kumyk), published the first grammar of the language.[17][18]

In Russian and European classical literature

Kumyk language was learned by Russian classical authors such as Leo Tolstoy[19] and Mikhail Lermontov,[20] both of whom served in the Caucasus. The language is present in such works of Tolstoy as "The Raid",[21] Cossacks,[22] Hadji Murat, and Lermontov's - "A Hero of Our Time",[23][20] Bestuzhev-Marlinsky's - "Molla-nur" and "Ammalat-bek".

Figures and press

Irchi Kazak (Yırçı Qazaq; born 1839) is usually considered to be the greatest poet of the Kumyk language. The first regular Kumyk newspapers and magazines appeared in 1917–18 under the editorship of Kumyk poet, writer, translator, and theatre figure Temirbolat Biybolatov (Temirbolat Biybolat). Currently, the newspaper Ёлдаш (Yoldash, "Companion"), the successor of the Soviet-era Ленин ёлу (Lenin yolu, "Lenin's Path"), prints around 5,000 copies 3 times a week. More than 90% of Kumyks also speak Russian, and those in Turkey speak Turkish.

Phonology
Kumyk vowels
Front Back
Close и [i] уь [y] ы [ɯ]у [u]
Mid e [e] оь [ø] o [o]
Open ә [æ] a [a]
Kumyk consonants
Labial Dental Lateral Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive voiceless п [p] т [t] к [k] къ [q]†
voiced б [b] д [d] г [ɡ] къ [ɢ]†
Fricative voiceless ф [f] c [s] ш [ʃ] x [χ] гь [h]
voiced в [β] з [z] ж [ʒ] гъ [ʁ]
Affricate voiceless ч [tʃ]
voiced дж [dʒ]
Nasal м [m] н [n] нг [ŋ] нг ([ɴ])
Liquid p [r] л [l]
Approximant й [j]

† къ represents [ɢ] at the beginning of words, and [q] elsewhere (complementary distribution). [24]

Orthography

Kumyk has been used as a literary language in Dagestan and Caucasus for some time. During the 20th century the writing system of the language was changed twice: in 1929, the traditional Arabic script (called ajam) was first replaced by a Latin script at first, which was then replaced in 1938 by a Cyrillic script.

Latin based alphabet (1927–1937)
Kumyk alphabet from newly introduced Latin school book (1935).
A a B b C c Ç ç D d E e F f G g
Ƣ ƣ H h I i J j K k L l M m N n
Ꞑ ꞑ O o Ɵ ɵ P p Q q R r S s Ꞩ ꞩ
T t U u V v X x Y y Z z Ƶ ƶ Ь ь

Cyrillic based alphabet (since 1937)
А а Б б В в Г г Гъ гъ Гь гь Д д Е е
Ё ё Ж ж З з И и Й й К к Къ къ Л л
М м Н н Нг нг О о Оь оь П п Р р С с
Т т У у Уь уь Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш
Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я

Bibliography
  • Saodat Doniyorova and Toshtemirov Qahramonil. Parlons Koumyk. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2004. ISBN 2-7475-6447-9.

References
  1. 2010 Russian Census
  2. L. S. Levitskaya, "Kumyk language", in Languages of the world. Turkic languages (1997). (in Russian)
  3. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/kumyk.php
  4. Baskakov N.A. Введение в изучение тюркских языков. М., 1962, с. 236.
  5. Baskakov N.A. Введение в изучение тюркских языков. М., 1962, с. 236.
  6. Абибуллаева С. "'Кодекс Куманикус' – ПАМЯТНИК ТЮРКСКИХ ЯЗЫКОВ КОНЦА XIII – НАЧАЛА XIV ВЕКОВ" (PDF) (in Russian). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Pieter Muysken. (2008). Studies in language companion series. From linguistic areas to areal linguistics. 90. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 74. ISBN 9789027231000.
  8. Nansen. Gjennem Kaukasus til Volga (Oslo: Jacob Dybwads Forlag, 1929).
  9. Н.С.Трубецкой (1925). "О народах Кавказа" (статья ed.). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. "Kafkaz Lehçeni Tatar Grammatikası, Makarov 1848". caucasian.space (in Kumyk and Russian). Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  11. Ярцева В.Н. и др. (ред.) Языки Российской Федерации и соседних государств. Том 2. К-Р, стр. 183
  12. Кумыкский язык // Большая советская энциклопедия : [в 30 т.] / гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. — 3-е изд. — Москва: Советская энциклопедия, 1969—1978.
  13. Кумыкский энциклопедический словарь. Махачкала. 2012. С. 218.
  14. Pieter Muysken. (2008). Studies in language companion series. From linguistic areas to areal linguistics. 90. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 74. ISBN 9789027231000.
  15. Nansen. Gjennem Kaukasus til Volga (Oslo: Jacob Dybwads Forlag, 1929).
  16. Н.С.Трубецкой (1925). "О народах Кавказа" (статья ed.). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. "Kafkaz Lehçeni Tatar Grammatikası, Makarov 1848". caucasian.space (in Kumyk and Russian). Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  18. Кумыкский язык // Большая советская энциклопедия : [в 30 т.] / гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. — 3-е изд. — Москва : Советская энциклопедия, 1969—1978.
  19. "Лев Толстой: Дневник 1847 — 1854 гг. Тетрадь Г. Март - май 1851 г." tolstoy.lit-info.ru. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  20. Мугумова, Анна Львовна. "К проблеме ориентального лексического влияния на язык русской художественной литературы 20-30-х годов XIX в.: На материале произведений М. Ю. Лермонтова" (диссертация ed.). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. s:Набег (Толстой)
  22. s:Казаки (Толстой)/XL
  23. s:Герой нашего времени (Лермонтов)/Предисловие
  24. Levitskaïa. 1997.
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