Volga Türki

The Volga Turki language was a literary language used by some ethnic groups of the Volga-Ural region (Tatars and Bashkirs) from the Middle Ages until the 19th century.

Volga Turki
Old Tatar Old Bashkir
ترکی‎
Region	Volga region, Ural region
Ethnicity	Volga Tatars, Bashkirs
Era	Middle Ages-19th century developed into Bashkir and Tatar.
Language family	Turkic Common Turkic Kipchak Kipchak–Bulgar Volga Turki
Early form	Kipchak language
Writing system	Arabic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

Volga Turki is a member of the Kipchak (or Northwestern) group of Turkic languages, although it is partly derived from the ancient Bulgar language (the first poem, considered to be written by Qul Ghali in Volga Turki dates back to Volga Bulgaria's epoch). It included many Persian and Arabic loans.

In its written form the language was spelled uniformly among different ethnic groups, speaking different Turkic languages of the Kipchak group, but pronunciation differed from one people to another, approximating to the spoken language, making this written form universal for different languages. The main reason for this universal usage was that the principal differences between the languages of the Kipchak group are in the pronunciation of the vowels, which was not adequately represented by the Arabic script.

The language formerly used the Arabic script and later its variant İske imlâ. The Volga Turki language is a language of Idel-Ural poetry and literature. With the Ottoman Turkish, Azeri, Kipchak, Khaqani Turkic and Chagatai, they were the only Turkic literary languages used in the Middle Ages. It was actively used in publishing until 1905, when the first Tatar and Bashkir newspaper started being published in modern Tatar and Bashkir language, which until then had been used only in a spoken form.

Alphabet

	Name	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial	Modern Cyrillic Bashkir alphabet	Modern Latin Bashkir alphabet	IPA	Notes
1	әлеп (әлиф) мәддә əlip (əlif) məddə	آ‎	ـا‎		آ‎	а	a	ɑ
2	әлеп (әлиф) əlip (əlif)	ا‎	–‎		ا‎	ә, э, ы, и	ə, i, ı, e	æ, ɪ̆, ɤ̆, e
3	бей biy	ب‎	ـب‎	ـبـ‎	بـ‎	б	b	b
4	пей piy	پ‎	ـپ‎	ـپـ‎	پـ‎	п	p	p
5	тей tiy	ت‎	ـت‎	ـتـ‎	تـ‎	т	t	t	Before front towels
6	сей siy	ث‎	ـث‎	ـثـ‎	ثـ‎	с, ҫ	s, ś	s, θ	Only in borrowings from Arabic, and in Bashkir words in 19th century modification
7	жем jim	ج‎	ـج‎	ـجـ‎	جـ‎	ж, й	j, y	ʒ, j
8	сем sim	چ‎	ـچ‎	ـچـ‎	چـ‎	ш, с	ş, s	ɕ, s
9	хей xiy	ح‎	ـح‎	ـحـ‎	حـ‎	х	x	χ	Only in borrowings from Arabic
10	хый xıy	خ‎	ـخ‎	ـخـ‎	خـ‎	х	x	χ
11	дал dal	د‎	ـد‎		د‎	д	d	d
12	зал zal	ذ‎	ـذ‎		ذ‎	з, ҙ	z, ź	z, ð	Only in Arabic loanwords, and in Bashkir words in 19th century modification
13	рей riy	ر‎	ـر‎		ر‎	р	r	ɾ
14	зей ziy	ز‎	ـز‎		ز‎	з	z	z
15	жей jiy	ژ‎	ـژ‎		ژ‎	ж	j	ʒ	Only in Persian, French and Russian borrowings
16	сен sin	س‎	ـس‎	ـسـ‎	سـ‎	с, ҫ	s, ś	s, θ	Before front vowels
17	шен şin	ش‎	ـش‎	ـشـ‎	شـ‎	ш	ş	ʃ
18	сад sad	ص‎	ـص‎	ـصـ‎	صـ‎	с, ҫ	s, θ	s	Before back vowels
19	дад, зад dad, zad	ض‎	ـض‎	ـضـ‎	ضـ‎	д, з	d, z	d, z	Only in borrowings from Arabic
20	та ta	ط‎	ـط‎	ـطـ‎	طـ‎	т	t	t	Before back vowels
21	за za	ظ‎	ـظ‎	ـظـ‎	ظـ‎	з, ҙ	z, ð	z, ð	Only in borrowings from Arabic
22	ғәйн ğəyn	ع‎	ـع‎	ـعـ‎	عـ‎	ғ	ğ	ʁ	Only in borrowings from Arabic
23	ғайн ğayn	غ‎	ـغ‎	ـغـ‎	غـ‎	ғ	ğ	ʁ
24	фей fiy	ف‎	ـف‎	ـفـ‎	فـ‎	ф	f	ɸ
25	ҡаф qaf	ق‎	ـق‎	ـقـ‎	قـ‎	ҡ	q	q
26	каф kaf	ك/ ک‎	ـك/ ـک‎	ـكـ‎	كـ‎	к	k	k
27	гаф gaf	گ‎	ـگ‎	ـگـ‎	گـ‎	г	g	g
28	һаңғырау каф hañğıraw kaf	ڭ/ نک‎	ـڭ/ ـنک‎	ـڭـ/ ـنکـ‎	—	ң	ñ	ŋ	Initial form was never used due to phonetic reasons
29	ләм ləm	ل‎	ـل‎	ـلـ‎	لـ‎	л	l	l
30	мим mim	م‎	ـم‎	ـمـ‎	مـ‎	м	m	m
31	нон nun	ن‎	ـن‎	ـنـ‎	نـ‎	н	n	n
32	һей hiy	ه‎	ـه/ ـہ‎	ـهـ/ ـہـ‎	هـ‎	һ, ә	h, æ	h, æ
33	вау waw	و‎	ـو‎		و‎	в, у, о, ө, ү	w, o, u, ü, ö	w/o, ʊ̆/ʏ̆, ɵ, u	Alternative Cyrillic transcription: ў, у, о
34	вей viy	ۋ‎	ـۋ‎		ۋ‎	в	v	β	Only in borrowings from European languages
35	ей yiy	ی‎	ـی/ ـے‎	ـیـ‎	یـ‎	й, и, э, ы	y, e, i, ı	j, e, ɪ̆, ɤ̆

Bibliography

• "Eski Başqurt Əzəbiy Tili/Иҫке башҡорт әҙәби теле". Tatar Encyclopaedia (in Tatar). Kazan: The Republic of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences. Institution of the Tatar Encyclopaedia. 2002.

See also

• Turki
• Bashkir language
• Tatar language