Mamluk-Kipchak language

Last updated
Mamluk-Kipchak
Region Egypt and Syria
Extinct After 1516 [1]
Turkic
Ottoman Turkish alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottolog None

The Mamluk-Kipchak language was a Kipchak language that was spoken in Egypt and Syria during the Mamluk Sultanate period.

Contents

Classification

The Mamluk-Kipchak language belongs to the Cuman-Kipchak group of Kipchak languages. Other Cuman-Kipchak languages include Kumyk, Karachai-Balkar, Crimean Tatar. [2]

History

Since most of the Mamluk rulers were monolingual Turkic speakers, several dictionaries were complied to enable communication between Arabic speaking population of the empire and its rulers. The language was also used as literary language and several Arabic and Persian works have been translated to Kipchak by Mamluks. [3] It was written in Arabic script.

Mamluk-Kipchak lost its ground as the dominant Turkic language to Oghuz Turkic among the ruling Burji dynasty. [4]

Literature

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References

  1. Баскаков Н. А. Историко-типологическая фонология тюркских языков / Отв. ред. Э. Р. Тенишев. — М.: Наука, 1988.
  2. Eckmann, János (1963). "The Mamluk-Kipchak Literature". Central Asiatic Journal. 8 (4): 304–319. JSTOR   41926593.
  3. Turan, Fikret; Boeschoten, Hendrik; Stein, Heidi (2007). "The Mamluks and Their Acceptance of Oghuz Turkish as Literary Language: Political Maneuver or Cultural Aspiration?". Turcologica. Harrassowitz.