Uzbek language

Uzbek
oʻzbekcha, oʻzbek tili; ўзбекча, ўзбек тили; اوزبیکچه, اوزبیک تیلی
Native to Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia, China
Ethnicity Uzbeks
Native speakers
32 million (2017)[1]
Early forms
Latin, Cyrillic, and Arabic (used in Afghanistan and China), Uzbek Braille
(Uzbek alphabets)
Official status
Official language in
 Uzbekistan
 Afghanistan (3rd official language)
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated by Tashkent State University of Uzbek language and literature
Language codes
ISO 639-1 uz
ISO 639-2 uzb
ISO 639-3 uzbinclusive code
Individual codes:
uzn  Northern
uzs  Southern
Glottolog uzbe1247[3]
Linguasphere 44-AAB-da, db
A map, showing that Uzbek is spoken throughout Uzbekistan, except the western third (where Karakalpak dominates), and northern Afghanistan.
Dark blue = majority; light blue = minority

Uzbek is a Turkic language that is the first official and only declared national language of Uzbekistan. The language of Uzbeks, it is spoken by some 32 million native speakers in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in Central Asia.

Uzbek belongs to the Eastern Turkic, or Karluk, branch of the Turkic language family. External influences include Persian, Arabic and Russian. One of the most noticeable distinctions of Uzbek from other Turkic languages is the rounding of the vowel /ɑ/ to /ɒ/, a feature that was influenced by Persian.

Name

In the language itself, Uzbek is oʻzbek tili or oʻzbekcha. In Arabic script, اوزبیک تیلی and اوزبیکچه.

History

Turkic speakers probably settled the Amu Darya, Syr Darya and Zarafshan river basins since at least 600–700 CE, gradually ousting or assimilating the speakers of Eastern Iranian languages who previously inhabited Sogdia, Bactria and Khwarezm. The first Turkic dynasty in the region was that of the Kara-Khanid Khanate in the 9th–12th centuries,[4] who were a confederation of Karluks, Chigils, Yaghma and other tribes.[5]

Uzbek can be considered the direct descendant or a later form of Chagatai, the language of great Turkic Central Asian literary development in the realm of Chagatai Khan, Timur (Tamerlane), and the Timurid dynasty[6] (including the early Mughal rulers of India). The language was championed by Ali-Shir Nava'i in the 15th and 16th centuries. Nava'i was the greatest representative of Chagatai language literature.[7][8] He significantly contributed to the development of the Chagatai language and its direct descendant Uzbek and is widely considered to be the founder of Uzbek literature.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Ultimately based on the Karluk variant of the Turkic languages, Chagatai contained large numbers of Persian and Arabic loanwords. By the 19th century it was rarely used for literary composition, but disappeared only in the early 20th century.

The term Uzbek as applied to language has meant different things at different times. Prior to 1921 "Uzbek" and "Sart" were considered to be different dialects:

In Khanate of Khiva, Sarts spoke a highly Oghuz Turkified form of Karluk Turkic. After 1921 the Soviet regime abolished the term Sart as derogatory, and decreed that henceforth the entire settled Turkic population of Turkestan would be known as Uzbeks, even though many had no Uzbek tribal heritage.

However, the standard written language that was chosen for the new republic in 1924, despite the protests of Uzbek Bolsheviks such as Fayzulla Khodzhayev, was not pre-revolutionary "Uzbek" but the "Sart" language of the Samarkand region. Edward A. Allworth argued that this "badly distorted the literary history of the region" and was used to give authors such as the 15th century author Ali-Shir Nava'i an Uzbek identity.[16] All three dialects continue to exist within modern spoken Uzbek.

Writing systems

A 1911 text in the Uyghur Arabic alphabet

Uzbek has been written in a variety of scripts throughout history:

  • Pre-1928: the Arabic-based Yaña imlâ alphabet by literates, approximately 3.7% of Uzbeks at the time.[17]
    • 1880s: Russian missionaries attempted to use Cyrillic for Uzbek.[17]
  • 1928–1940: the Latin-based Yañalif used officially.
  • 1940–1992: the Cyrillic script used officially.
  • Students in Taskent studying a Cyrillic-Latin conversion chart, 1943.
    Since 1992: a Yañalif-based Latin script is official in Uzbekistan.

Despite the official status of the Latin script in Uzbekistan, the use of Cyrillic is still widespread, especially in advertisements and signs. In newspapers, scripts may be mixed, with headlines in Latin and articles in Cyrillic.[18] The Arabic script is no longer used in Uzbekistan except symbolically in limited texts[18] or for the academic studies of Chagatai (Old Uzbek).[17]

In the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, where there is an Uzbek minority, the Arabic is still used.

In Afghanistan, the traditional Arabic orthography is still used.

Grammar

Phonology

Vowels

Standard Uzbek has six vowel phonemes:[19]

Front Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open æ ɒ

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive/Affricate voiceless p (t͡s) t͡ʃ k q (ʔ)
voiced b d͡ʒ ɡ
Fricative voiceless ɸ s ʃ χ h
voiced z (ʒ) ʁ
Approximant l j w
Rhotic r

Morphology and syntax

As a Turkic language, Uzbek is null subject, agglutinative and has no articles and no noun classes (gender or otherwise). The word order is subject–object–verb (SOV). Words are usually oxytones (i.e. the last syllable is stressed), but certain endings and suffixal particles are not stressed.

In Uzbek, there are two main categories of words:

  • nominals (equivalent to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, some adverbs)
  • verbals (equivalent to verbs and some adverbs)
Verbs

Uzbek uses the following verbal suffixes:

Suffix Function Example Translation
-moq infinitive kelmoq to come
-di past tense keldi came
-ing imperative keling! come!
-sa conditional kelsa would come

The present and future tenses are both expressed with the -a and -y suffixes.

Articles

Nouns take the -ni suffix as an indefinite article. Unsuffixed nouns are understood as definite.

Pronouns
Pronoun Translation
men I
biz we
sen you
(informal singular)
siz you
(formal singular and plural)
u he/she/it

Number of speakers

Estimates of the number of speakers of Uzbek vary widely. The Swedish encyclopedia Nationalencyklopedin estimates the number of native speakers to be 30 million,[20] and the CIA World Factbook estimates 25 million. Other sources estimate the number of speakers of Uzbek to be 21 million in Uzbekistan,[21] 3.4 million in Afghanistan,[22] 900,000 in Tajikistan,[23] 800,000 in Kyrgyzstan,[24] 500,000 in Kazakhstan,[25] 300,000 in Turkmenistan,[26] and 300,000 in Russia.[27]

Loan words

The influence of Islam, and by extension, Arabic, is evident in Uzbek loanwords. There is also a residual influence of Russian, from the time when Uzbeks were under the rule of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Most importantly, Uzbek vocabulary, phraseology and pronunciation has been heavily influenced by Persian through its historic roots.

Dialects

The Uzbek language has many dialects, varying widely from region to region. However, there is a commonly understood dialect which is used in mass media and in most printed materials. Among the most-widespread dialects are the Tashkent dialect, Uzbek dialect, the Ferghana dialect, the Khorezm dialect, the Chimkent-Turkestan dialect, and the Surkhandarya dialect.

See also

References

  1. Uzbek at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Northern at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Southern at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Scott Newton (20 November 2014). Law and the Making of the Soviet World: The Red Demiurge. Routledge. pp. 232–. ISBN 978-1-317-92978-9.
  3. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Uzbek". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. "The Origins of the Uzbek Language" (in Russian). Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  5. Golden, Peter. B. (1990), "Chapter 13 – The Karakhanids and Early Islam", in Sinor, Denis, The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-24304-1
  6. Allworth, Edward (1994). Central Asia: 130 Years of Russian Dominance, a Historical Overview. Duke University Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-8223-1521-1.
  7. Robert McHenry, ed. (1993). "Navā'ī, (Mir) 'Alī Shīr". Encyclopædia Britannica. 8 (15th ed.). Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. p. 563.
  8. Subtelny, M. E. (1993). "Mīr 'Alī Shīr Nawā'ī". In C. E. Bosworth; E. Van Donzel; W. P. Heinrichs; Ch. Pellat. Encyclopaedia of Islam. VII. LeidenNew York: Brill Publishers. pp. 90–93.
  9. Valitova, A. A. (1974). "Alisher Navoi". In A. M. Prokhorov. Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian). 17 (3rd ed.). Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia. pp. 194–195.
  10. A. M. Prokhorov, ed. (1997). "Navoi, Nizamiddin Mir Alisher". Great Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian) (2nd ed.). Saint Petersburg: Great Russian Encyclopedia. p. 777.
  11. "Alisher Navoi". Writers History. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  12. Maxim Isaev (7 July 2009). "Uzbekistan – The monuments of classical writers of oriental literature are removed in Samarqand". Ferghana News. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  13. Kamola Akilova. "Alisher Navoi and his epoch in the context of Uzbekistan art culture development [sic]". San'at Magazine. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  14. "Uzbek Culture". UzHotels. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  15. "Alisher Navoi – The Crown of Literature". Kitob.uz Children's Digital Library (in Uzbek). Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  16. Allworth, Edward A. (1990). The Modern Uzbeks: From the Fourteenth Century to the Present: A Cultural History. Hoover Institution Press. pp. 229–230. ISBN 978-0-8179-8732-9.
  17. 1 2 3 Batalden, Stephen K. (1997). The Newly Independent States of Eurasia: Handbook of Former Soviet Republics. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-89774-940-4.
  18. 1 2 European Society for Central Asian Studies. International Conference (2005). Central Asia on Display. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 221. ISBN 978-3-8258-8309-6.
  19. Sjoberg, Andrée F. (1963). Uzbek Structural Grammar. Uralic and Altaic Series. 18. Bloomington: Indiana University. pp. 16–18.
  20. "Världens 100 största språk 2007" ("The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007"), Nationalencyklopedin
  21. "Uzbekistan". CIA. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  22. "Languages of Afghanistan". Ethnologue. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  23. "Languages of Tajikistan". Ethnologue. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  24. "Ethnic Makeup of the Population" (PDF). National Statistics Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic (in Russian). Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  25. "National Census 2009" (PDF). Statistics Agency of Kazakhstan (in Russian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  26. "Languages of Turkmenistan". Ethnologue. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  27. "National Census 2010". Federal State Statistics Service (in Russian). Retrieved 7 December 2012.

Sources

  • Mamatov, Jahangir; Kadirova, Karamat (2008). Comprehensive Uzbek-English Dictionary. Hyattsville, Maryland: Dunwoody Press. ISBN 1-931546-83-5. OCLC 300453555.
  • Csató, Éva Ágnes; Johanson, Lars (1936). The Turkic Languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-41261-7. OCLC 40980286.
  • Bregel, Yu (1978). "The Sarts in The Khanate of Khiva". Journal of Asian History. 12 (2): 120–151. doi:10.2307/41930294. JSTOR 41930294.
  • Bodrogligeti, András J. E. (2002). Modern Literary Uzbek: A Manual for Intensive Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced Courses. München: Lincom Europa. ISBN 3-89586-695-4. OCLC 51061526.
  • Fierman, William (1991). Language Planning and National Development: The Uzbek Experience. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-085338-8. OCLC 815507595.
  • Ismatullaev, Khaĭrulla (1995). Modern literary Uzbek I. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies. ISBN 0-933070-36-5. OCLC 34576336.
  • Karl, A. Krippes (1996). Uzbek-English Dictionary (Rev ed.). Kensington: Dunwoody Press. ISBN 1-881265-45-5. OCLC 35822650.
  • Sjoberg, Andrée Frances (1997). Uzbek Structural Grammar. Richmond: Curzon Press. ISBN 0-7007-0818-9. OCLC 468438031.
  • Waterson, Natalie (1980). Uzbek-English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-713597-8. OCLC 5100980.
  • Republic of Uzbekistan, Ministry of Higher and Middle Eductation. Lotin yozuviga asoslangan oʻzbek alifbosi va imlosi (Latin writing based Uzbek alphabet and orthography), Tashkent Finance Institute: Tashkent, 2004.
  • A. Shermatov. "A New Stage in the Development of Uzbek Dialectology" in Essays on Uzbek History, Culture and Language. Ed. Bakhtiyar A. Nazarov & Denis Sinor. Bloomington, Indiana, 1993, pp. 101–9.
Converters
Dictionaries
Grammar and orthography
Learning/teaching materials

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