List of Turkic languages

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The Turkic languages are a group of languages spoken across Central Asia, West Asia, North Asia as well as Eastern Europe. Turkic languages are spoken as native languages by some 200 million people.

Contents

Turkic languages by subfamily

The number of speakers derived from statistics or estimates (2022) and were rounded: [1] [2]

NumberBranchLanguagesStatusNative SpeakersMajorityMain Writing System
1 Oghuz languages 8Normal121,000,000Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey Latin
2 Karluk languages 4Normal43,500,000Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan Latin
3 Kipchak languages 12Normal27,000,000Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan Cyrillic
4 Siberian Turkic languages 9Vulnerable800,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cyrillic
5 Argu languages 1Vulnerable50,000Flag of Iran.svg  Iran Persian
6 Oghuric languages 1Vulnerable1,200,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Cyrillic
Total Turkic languages 35Normal193,800,000Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey Latin

Turkic languages by the number of speakers

The Turkic languages are a language family of at least 35 [3] documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples. The number of speakers derived from statistics or estimates (2019) and were rounded: [1] [2]

  1. Turkish (38.26%)
  2. Uzbek (19.13%)
  3. Azerbaijani (13.04%)
  4. Uyghur (10.87%)
  5. Kazakh (3.04%)
  6. Turkmen (2.26%)
  7. Tatar (1.96%)
  8. Kyrgyz (0.6%)
  9. Bashkir (0.5%)
  10. Chuvash (0.62%)
  11. 0.52%
  12. 0.52%
  13. Other (8.68%)

Endangered Turkic languages

An endangered language, or moribund language, is a language that is at risk of falling out of use as its speakers die out or shift to speaking another language. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead language".

26 endangered Turkic languages exist in World. The number of speakers derived from statistics or estimates (2019) and were rounded: [4] [5] [6]

NumberNameStatusSpeakersMain Country
1 Bashkir language Vulnerable1,500,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
2 Chuvash language Vulnerable1,200,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
3 Khorasani Turkic language Vulnerable1,000,000Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
4 Crimean Tatar language Vulnerable600,000Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine
5 Kumyk language Vulnerable450,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
6 Yakut language Vulnerable400,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
7 Karachay-Balkar language Vulnerable400,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
8 Tuvan language Vulnerable300,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
9 Urum language Definitely endangered200,000Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine
10 Gagauz language Critically endangered150,000Flag of Moldova.svg  Moldova
11 Siberian Tatar language Definitely endangered100,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
12 Nogai language Definitely endangered100,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
13 Dobrujan Tatar language Severely endangered70,000Flag of Romania.svg  Romania
14 Salar language Vulnerable70,000Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
15 Altai language Severely endangered60,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
16 Khakas language Definitely endangered50,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
17 Khalaj language Vulnerable20,000Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
18 Äynu language Critically endangered6,000Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
19 Western Yugur language Severely endangered5,000Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
20 Shor language Severely endangered3,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
21 Dolgan language Definitely endangered1,000Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
22 Krymchak language Critically endangered200Flag of Israel.svg  Israel
23 Tofa language Critically endangered100Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
24 Karaim language Critically endangered100Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine
25 Ili Turki language Severely endangered100Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
26 Chulym language Critically endangered50Flag of Russia.svg  Russia

Extinct Turkic languages

NumberNameTime of Extinct
- Proto Turkic Reconstructed language
1 Old Turkic 8th century
2 Old Anatolian Turkish 11th century
3 Pecheneg 12th century
4 Orkhon Turkic 13th century
5 Khazar 13th century
6 Old Uyghur 14th century
7 Khorezmian 14th century
8 Bulgar 14th century
9 Middle Turkic 15th century
10 Mamluk-Kipchak 16th century
11 Cuman 1770
12 Volga Türki 19th century
13 Fergana Kipchak 1920s
14 Chagatai 1921
15 Ottoman Turkish 1928
16 Fuyu Girgis 20th century
17 Soyot 20th century
18 Dukhan 21st century

Famous Turkic Dialects

NumberDialectMain Language
1 Rumelian dialect Turkish language
2 Cypriot dialect Turkish language
3 Afshar dialect Azerbaijani language
4 Sonqori dialect Azerbaijani language
5 Lop dialect Uyghur language
6 Baraba dialect Siberian Tatar language

Hypothetical ancestors

Hypothetical relation to other language families and their proto-languages

Ancestral

Geographical distribution of the Turkic languages. Dark Blue: Northeastern Common Turkic (Siberian Turkic languages); Green: Southeastern Common Turkic (Karluk languages); Orange: Northwestern Common Turkic (Kipchak languages); Red: Southwestern Common Turkic (Oghuz languages); Purple: Oghur languages TurkicLanguagemap.png
Geographical distribution of the Turkic languages. Dark Blue: Northeastern Common Turkic (Siberian Turkic languages); Green: Southeastern Common Turkic (Karluk languages); Orange: Northwestern Common Turkic (Kipchak languages); Red: Southwestern Common Turkic (Oghuz languages); Purple: Oghur languages

Common Turkic (Shaz Turkic / Z Turkic)

Siberian Turkic

Siberian Turkic languages Siberian Turkic Languages distribution map.png
Siberian Turkic languages
      • South Siberian
        • Altai Turkic
          • Northern Altai
            • Tuba
            • Kumandy/Qumanda
              • Turachak
              • Solton
              • Starobardinian
            • Chalkan (Kuu/Qu, Lebedin)
        • Chulym Turkic
          • Chulym
            • Lower Chulym (Küerik) (now believed extinct)
            • Middle Chulym
            • Upper Chulym
        • Sayan Turkic (dialect continuum)
          • Tofa
            • Tuha
            • Tsengel Tuvan
          • Tuvan
            • Western/Khemchik River (It is influenced by Altai)
            • Central (the geographical centrality of this dialect meant it was similar to the language spoken by most Tuvans, whether or not exactly the same). Forms the basis of the standard and literary language and includes:
              • Ovyur
              • Bii-Khem
            • Northeastern/Todzhi (it is spoken near the upper course of the Bii-Khem River by the Tozhu Tuvans. The speakers of this dialect utilize nasalization. It contains a large vocabulary related to hunting and reindeer breeding not found in the other dialects).
            • Southeastern (shows the most influence from the Mongolian language).
          • Taiga
        • Orkhon Turkic / Old Turkic / Old Uyghur (extinct) (not a direct ancestor of Uyghur, that descends from Karluk) (not synonymous with Proto-Turkic)
          • Yenisei Turkic
            • Khakas (Xakas tili)
            • Shor
              • Mrassu (basis for literary and standard Shor)
                • Upper Mrassu
              • Kondoma
                • Upper-Kondoma
            • Western Yugur or "Yellow Uighur" (direct descendant of Old Uyghur)
      • North Siberian

Karluk (Southeastern)

Karluk languages. Green: East Karluk; Red: West Karluk Lenguas karluk.png
Karluk languages. Green: East Karluk; Red: West Karluk

Historically in Central Asia there was a distinction between sedentary, called Sart or Taranchi, and nomadic peoples (regardless of the ethnic group and language). Many times it was used confusingly because it was a generic word for several peoples and their languages (mainly Iranians or Turkics) and also because it had different meanings at different historical times (had shifting meanings over the centuries). Strictly it was not an ethnic or linguistic definition but one of a lifestyle. (strong Iranian substrate)

Kipchak (Northwestern)

Orange: South Kipchak (Aralo-Caspian); Red: North Kipchak (Uralo-Caspian); Green: West Kipchak (Ponto-Caspian) Map-Kypchak Language World.png
Orange: South Kipchak (Aralo-Caspian); Red: North Kipchak (Uralo-Caspian); Green: West Kipchak (Ponto-Caspian)

Oghuz (Southwestern Turkic)

Orange: East Oghuz; Green; Azerbaijani; Red: Turkish; Purple: Gagauz; Light Blue: Qashqai; Greenish Blue: Salar Oghuzlanguages6.png
Orange: East Oghuz; Green; Azerbaijani; Red: Turkish; Purple: Gagauz; Light Blue: Qashqai; Greenish Blue: Salar
      • East Oghuz (Eastern)
        • Salar, an Oghuz language outlier strongly influenced by Karluk and Kipchak languages and also by non-Turkic languages like Tibetan and Chinese
          • Qinghai (Amdo) Salar
          • Ili Salar
        • Turkmen
          • Teke (Tekke) (basis of the standard Turkmen)
          • Nohurly
          • Ýomud
          • Änewli
          • Hasarly
          • Nerezim
          • Gökleň
          • Salyr
          • Saryk
          • Ärsary
          • Çowdur
          • Trukhmen
      • Transitional East-West Oghuz
      • West Oghuz (Western)
        • Azerbaijani (Azeri Turkic, has an Iranian substrate from the Old Azeri language, an Indo-European language
          • South Azerbaijani
            • Qarapapaq
            • Shahsavani (Shahseven)
            • Muqaddam
            • Baharlu (Kamesh)
            • Nafar
            • Qaragözlü
            • Pishaqchi
            • Bayatlu
            • Qajar
            • Tabrizi (basis of Standard South Azerbaijani but not identical)
            • Iraqi Turkmen (South Turkmen)
          • North Azerbaijani
            • Salyan
            • Lenkaran
            • Qazakh
            • Airym
            • Borcala
            • Terekeme
            • Qyzylbash
            • Nukha
            • Zaqatala (Mugaly)
            • Qabala
            • Yerevan
            • Ordubad
            • Ganja
            • Shusha (Karabakh)
            • Karapapak
            • Shirvan dialect
              • Baku dialect (basis of Standard North Azerbaijani, but not identical)
            • Shamakhi
            • Quba
            • Derbend
            • Nakhchivan
        • Transitional Turkish Azerbaijani-Turkish
        • Old Anatolian Turkish (extinct)
          • Turkish
            • Anatolian dialects (Anadolu Ağızları)
              • Western Anatolian (Batı Anadolu Ağızları)
                • Central (Orta Anadolu)
                  • East central
                  • West Central
                • Mediterranean (Akdeniz)/South (Güney)
                  • Southwest (Güneybatı)
                  • Southeast (Güneydoğu)
                • Black Sea (Karadeniz)/North (Kuzey)
                  • Çorum, Çankırı
                  • East Black Sea Coast
                  • West Black Sea Coast
                  • Sakarya-Izmit
                • Aegean (Ege)/West (Batı)
                • Yörük (Nomadic Anatolian Turkish)
            • Istanbul dialect (İstanbul Türkçesi) (basis of Modern Standard Turkish but not identical)
            • Syrian Turkmen (Syrian Turkish)
            • Cypriot Turkish
            • Balkanic/Rumelian/Danubian
              • East Balkanic/East Rumelian/East Danubian
                • Edirne
              • West Balkanic/West Rumelian/West Danubian
            • Karamanli Turkish (Turkish of the Karamanlides, Turkish-speaking Greeks, Greek language substrate, not confuse with Cappadocian Greek, a mixed language, or the Cappadocian Greeks, although they are related) (almost extinct)
          • Balkan Gagauz Turkish (Balkan Turkic) (Rumeli Türkçesi)
            • Gajal
            • Gerlovo Turk
            • Karamanli
            • Kyzylbash
            • Surguch
            • Tozluk Turk
            • Yuruk
            • Macedonian Gagauz
            • Gagauz
              • Bulgar Gagauzi
              • Maritime Gagauzi
          • Ottoman Turkish(extinct) (not a direct ancestor of Anatolian Turkish but a heavily Persianized and Arabized Turkic language)
            • Fasih Türkçe (Eloquent Turkish): the language of poetry and administration, Ottoman Turkish in its strict sense
            • Orta Türkçe (Middle Turkish): the language of higher classes and trade
            • Kaba Türkçe (Rough Turkish): the language of lower classes.
      • South Oghuz
    • Pecheneg

Arghu

Oghur (Lir Turkic / R Turkic)

Possible Turkic languages (all extinct)

Unclassified languages that may have been Turkic or members of other language families

Possible Mixed languages

Constructed languages

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Turkic". Ethnologue. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Welcome to Glottolog 5.0" . Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  3. Dybo A.V., Chronology of Türkic languages and linguistic contacts of early Türks, Moscow, 2007, p. 766, "Хронология тюркских языков и лингвистические контакты ранних тюрков (Chronology of Turkic languages and linguistic contacts of the early Turks)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-03-11. Retrieved 2005-03-11. (In Russian)
  4. "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger".
  5. "Atlas of languages in danger | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization".
  6. The Sounds of Tatar Spoken in Romania: The Golden Khwarezmian Language of the Nine Noble Nations (Academia.edu)
  7. Holcombe, Charles (2001). The Genesis of East Asia: 221 B.C. - A.D. 907. p. 132.

Further reading