Oghuz languages

Oghuz
Southwestern Turkic
Geographic
distribution
Linguistic classification Turkic
Subdivisions
Glottolog oghu1243  (Oghuz + Kipchak + Uzbek)[1]

The Oghuz languages are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family, spoken by approximately 110 million people. The three languages with the largest number of speakers are Turkish, Azerbaijani and Turkmen, which combined account for more than 95% of speakers.

Terminology

The term "Oghuz" is applied to the southwestern branch of the Common Turkic languages. It is in reference to the Oghuz Turks, who migrated from the Altai Mountains to Central Asia in the 8th century and further expanded to the Middle East and to the Balkans as separate tribes.

Language classification

TutiuttiigThe Oghuz languages currently spoken have been classified into three r, rtii on their featuiyres:y

Proto-Turkic Common Turkic Oghuz
Salar
Western
Eastern
Southern

Two further languages, Crimean Tatar and Urum, are Kipchak languages, but have been heavily influenced by the Oghuz languages.

The extinct Pecheneg language was probably Oghuz, but as it is poorly documented, it is difficult to further classify it within the Oghuz family; it is therefore usually excluded from classification.[2]

Features

The Oghuz languages share a number of features that have led linguists to classify them together. Some of the features are shared with other Turkic languages, and others are unique to the Oghuz family.

Shared features

Unique features

  • Voicing of stops before front vowels (e.g. gör- < kör-, "to see")
  • Loss of q/ɣ after ɯ/u (e.g. quru < quruq, "dry", sarɯ < sarɯɣ, "yellow")
  • Change in form of participial from -gan to -an

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Oghuz + Kipchak + Uzbek". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. ↑ Баскаков, Н. А. Тюркские языки, Москва 1960, с. 126-131.
  • Johanson, Lars & Csató, Éva Ágnes (1998). The Turkic Languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-08200-5.
  • Menges, Karl H. (1995). The Turkic Languages and Peoples. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03533-1.
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