Bashkir language

Bashkir (/ˈbɑːʃkɪər, ˈbæʃ-/; Bashkir: Башҡортса‎, Башҡорт теле, [bɑʃˈqort tɘˈlɘ] (listen)) is a Turkic language belonging to the Kipchak branch. It is co-official with Russian in Bashkortostan. It is spoken by approximately 1.2 million native speakers in Russia. It has three dialect groups: Southern, Eastern and Northwestern.

Bashkir
Башҡортса‎
Native toRussia
RegionBashkortostan
EthnicityBashkirs
Native speakers
1.2 million (2010 census)[1]
Turkic
Early form
Old Tatar language
Cyrillic
Official status
Official language in
 Russia
Language codes
ISO 639-1ba
ISO 639-2bak
ISO 639-3bak
Glottologbash1264[2]
Geographic distribution of Bashkir language in the Russian Empire according to 1897 census

Speakers
Bashkirs in Russia by administrative districts (raions) in 2010

Speakers of Bashkir mostly live in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. Many speakers also live in Tatarstan, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Tyumen, Sverdlovsk and Kurgan Oblasts and other regions of Russia. Minor Bashkir groups also live in Kazakhstan and other countries.

Classification

Bashkir together with Tatar belongs to the Bulgaric (Russian: кыпчакско-булгарская) subgroups of the Kipchak languages. They both share the same vocalism and the vowel shifts (see below) that make both the languages stand apart from most other Kipchak and Oghuz Turkic languages.

However, Bashkir differs from Tatar in several important ways:

  • Bashkir has dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ in the place of Tatar (and other Turkic) /s/ and /z/. Bashkir /θ/ and /ð/, however, cannot begin a word (there are exceptions: ҙур zur 'big', and the particle/conjunction ҙа/ҙә źa/źä). The only other Turkic language with a similar feature is Turkmen. However, in Bashkir /θ/ and /ð/ are two independent phonemes, distinct from /s/ and /z/, whereas in Turkmen [θ] and [ð] are the two main realizations of the common Turkic /s/ and /z/. In other words, there are no /s/ and /z/ phonemes in Turkmen, unlike Bashkir which has both /s/ and /z/ and /θ/ and /ð/.
  • The word-initial and morpheme-initial /s/ is turned into /h/. An example of both features can be Tatar сүз süz [syz] and Bashkir һүҙ hüź [hyθ], both meaning "word".
  • Common Turkic /tʃ/ (Tatar /ɕ/) is turned into Bashkir /s/, e.g., Turkish ağaç [aˈatʃ], Tatar агач ağaç [ɑˈʁɑɕ] and Bashkir ағас ağas [ɑˈʁɑs], all meaning "tree".
  • The word-initial /ʑ/ in Tatar always corresponds to /j/ in Standard Bashkir, e.g., Tatar җылы cılı [ʑɤˈlɤ] and Bashkir йылы yılı [jɤˈlɤ], both meaning "warm". However, the eastern and northern dialects of Bashkir have the /j/ > /ʑ~ʒ/ shift.

The Bashkir orthography is more explicit. /q/ and /ʁ/ are written with their own letters Ҡ ҡ and Ғ ғ, whereas in Tatar they are treated as positional allophones of /k/ and /ɡ/, written К к and Г г.

Labial vowel harmony in Bashkir is written explicitly, e.g. Tatar тормышым tormışım and Bashkir тормошом tormoşom, both pronounced [tormoˈʃom], meaning "my life".

Orthography
Trilingual sign in Ufa Airport in Bashkir, Russian and English

After the adoption of Islam, which began in the 10th century and lasted for several centuries, the Bashkirs began to use Turki as a written language. Turki was written in a variant of the Arabic script.

In 1923, a writing system based on the Arabic script was specifically created for the Bashkir language. At the same time, the Bashkir literary language was created, moving away from the older written Turkic influences. At first, it used a modified Arabic alphabet. In 1930 it was replaced with the Unified Turkic Latin Alphabet, which was in turn replaced with an adapted Cyrillic alphabet in 1939.

The modern alphabet used by Bashkir is based on the Russian alphabet, with the addition of the following letters: Ә ә /æ/, Ө ө /ø/, Ү ү [y], Ғ ғ /ʁ/, Ҡ ҡ /q/, Ң ң /ŋ/, Ҙ ҙ /ð/, Ҫ ҫ /θ/, Һ һ /h/.

А а Б б В в Г г Ғ ғ Д д Ҙ ҙ Е е Ё ё
Ж ж З з И и Й й К к Ҡ ҡ Л л М м Н н
Ң ң О о Ө ө П п Р р С с Ҫ ҫ Т т У у
Ү ү Ф ф Х х Һ һ Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ
Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ә ә Ю ю Я я
Letters and symbols of the Bashkir Cyrillic alphabet
Cyrillic version
(Capital)		 Cyrillic version
(Small)		 Pronunciation Notes
Аа[ɑ], [a]
Бб[b]
Вв[v], [w]
Ғғ[ɣ]
Дд[d]
Ҙҙ[ð]
Ее [jɪ̞], [ɪ̞], [je], [e]
Ёё[jo]
Жж[ʒ]
Зз[z]
Ии[i]
Йй[j]
Кк[k]
Ҡҡ[q]
Лл[l]
Мм[m]
Нн[n]
Ңң[ŋ]
Оо[ʊ̞], [o]
Өө[ø]
Пп[p]
Рр[r]
Сс[s]
Ҫҫ[θ]
Тт[t]
Уу[u], [w]
Үү[y], [w]
Фф[f]
Хх[χ]
Һһ[h]
Цц[ts]
Чч[tɕ]
Шш[ʂ]
Щщ[ɕɕ]
Ъъ[-]
Ыы[ɯ], [ɨ]
Ьь[ʲ]
Ээ[ɪ̞], [e]
Әә[æ]
Юю[ju]
Яя[jɑ], [ja]

Phonology

Vowels

Bashkir has nine native vowels, and three or four loaned vowels (mainly in Russian loanwords).[3]

Phonetically, the native vowels are approximately thus (with the Cyrillic letters and the usual Latin romanization in angle brackets; R+ means rounded):

Front Back
Spread Rounded Spread Rounded
Close и ⟨i⟩
[i]		 ү ⟨ü⟩
[y~ʉ]		 у ⟨u⟩
[u]
Mid э, е ⟨e⟩
[ĕ~ɘ̆]		 ө ⟨ö⟩
[ø~ɵ]		 ы ⟨ı⟩
[ɤ̆~ʌ̆]		 о ⟨o⟩
[o]
Open ә ⟨ä⟩
[æ~a]		 а ⟨a⟩
[ɑ]

The two mid unrounded vowels are always short, in an unstressed position they are frequently elided, as in кеше keşe [kĕˈʃĕ] > [kʃĕ] 'person', or ҡышы qışı [qɤ̆ˈʃɤ̆] > [qʃɤ̆] '(his) winter'.[3] Low back /ɑ/ is rounded [ɒ] in the first syllable and after [ɒ], but not in the last, as in бала bala [bɒˈlɑ] 'child', балаларға balalarğa [bɒlɒlɒrˈʁɑ] 'to children'.[3] In Russian loans there are also [ɨ], [ɛ], [ɔ] and [ä], written the same as the native vowels: ы, е/э, о, а respectively.[3] The mid vowels may be transcribed as lowered near-high [ɪ̞, ʏ̞, ɯ̞, ʊ̞].

Historical shifts

Historically, the Old Turkic mid vowels have raised from mid to high, whereas the Old Turkic high vowels have become the Bashkir reduced mid series. (The same shifts have also happened in Tatar.)[4]

Vowel Old Turkic Turkish Azerbaijani Kazakh Tatar Bashkir Gloss
*e *et et ət et it it 'meat'
*ö *söz söz söz söz süz hüź [hyð] 'word'
*o *sol sol sol sol sul hul 'left'
*i *it it it it et et 'dog'
*ï *qïz kız qız qız qëz [qɤ̆z] qëź [qɤ̆θ] 'girl'
*u *qum kum qum qum qom qom 'sand'
*ü *kül kül kül kül köl köl 'ash'

Consonants
The consonants of Bashkir[3]
Labial Labio-
velar		 Dental Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasals м ⟨m⟩
/m/		 н ⟨n⟩
/n/		 ң ⟨ñ⟩
/ŋ/
Plosives Voiceless п ⟨p⟩
/p/		 т ⟨t⟩
/t/		 к ⟨k⟩
/c/		 к ⟨k⟩
/k/*		 ҡ ⟨q⟩
/q/		 ь/ъ ⟨’⟩
/ʔ/*
Voiced б ⟨b⟩
/b/		 д ⟨d⟩
/d/		 г ⟨g⟩
/ɟ/		 г ⟨g⟩
/ɡ/*
Affricates Voiceless ц ⟨ts⟩
/ts/*		 ч ⟨ç⟩
/tɕ/*
Fricatives Voiceless ф ⟨f⟩
/f/*		 ҫ ⟨ś⟩
/θ/		 х ⟨x⟩
/χ/		 һ ⟨h⟩
/h/
Voiced в ⟨v⟩
/v/*		 ҙ ⟨ź⟩
/ð/		 ғ ⟨ğ⟩
/ʁ/
Sibilants Voiceless с ⟨s⟩
/s/		 ш ⟨ş⟩
/ʃ/
Voiced з ⟨z⟩
/z/		 ж ⟨j⟩
/ʒ/
Trill р ⟨r⟩
/r/
Approximants у/ү/в ⟨w⟩
/w~ɥ/		 л ⟨l⟩
/l/		 й ⟨y⟩
/j/
Notes
^* The phonemes /f/, /v/, /ts/, /tɕ/, /k/, /ɡ/, /ʔ/ are only found in loanwords. /ʔ/ also exist in a few native onomatopoeic words.
  • /θ, ð/ are dental [θ, ð], whereas /r/ is apical alveolar [r̺]. The exact place of articulation of the other dental/alveolar consonants is unclear.

Grammar

A member of the Turkic language family, Bashkir is an agglutinative, SOV language.[3][5] A large part of the Bashkir vocabulary has Turkic roots; and there are many loan words in Bashkir from Russian, Arabic and Persian sources.

Declension of nouns
Casefathermotherchilddogcat
SingularNominative ата ataәсәй äsäyбала balaэт etбесәй besäy
Genitive атаның atanıñәсәйҙең äsäyźeñбаланың balanıñэттең etteñбесәйҙең besäyźeñ
Dative атаға atağaәсәйгә äsäygäбалаға balağaэткә etkäбесәйгә besäygä
Accusative атаны atanıәсәйҙе äsäyźeбаланы balanıэтте etteбесәйҙе besäyźe
Locative атала atalaәсәйҙә äsäyźäбалала balalaэттә ettäбесәйҙә besäyźä
Ablative атанан atananәсәйҙән äsäyźänбаланан balananэттән ettänбесәйҙән besäyźän
PluralNominative аталар atalarәсәйҙәр äsäyźärбалалар balalarэттәр ettärбесәйҙәр besäyźär
Genitive аталарҙың atalarźıñәсәйҙәрҙең äsäyźärźeñбалаларҙың balalarźıñэттәрҙең ettärźeñбесәйҙәрҙең besäyźärźeñ
Dative аталарға atalarğaәсәйҙәргә äsäyźärgäбалаларға balalarğaэттәргә ettärgäбесәйҙәргә besäyźärgä
Accusative аталарҙы atalarźıәсәйҙәрҙе äsäyźärźeбалаларҙы balalarźıэттәрҙе ettärźeбесәйҙәрҙе besäyźärźe
Locative аталарҙа atalarźaәсәйҙәрҙә äsäyźärźäбалаларҙа balalarźaэттәрҙә ettärźäбесәйҙәрҙә besäyźärźä
Ablative аталарҙан atalarźanәсәйҙәрҙән äsäyźärźänбалаларҙан balalarźanэттәрҙән ettärźänбесәйҙәрҙән besäyźärźän

Declension of pronouns
Interrogative pronounsPersonal pronouns
CasewhowhatSingularPlural
Iyou (thou)he, she, itweyouthey
Nominative кем kemнимә nimäмин minһин hinул ulбеҙ beźһеҙ heźулар ular
Genitive кемдең kemdeñнимәнең nimäneñминең mineñһинең hineñуның unıñбеҙҙең beźźeñһеҙҙең heźźeñуларҙың ularźıñ
Dative кемгә kemgäнимәгә nimägäмиңә miñäһиңә hiñäуға uğaбеҙгә beźgäһеҙгә heźgäуларға ularğa
Accusative кемде kemdeнимәне nimäneмине mineһине hineуны unıбеҙҙе beźźeһеҙҙе heźźeуларҙы ularźı
Locative кемдә kemdäнимәлә nimäläминдә mindäһиндә hindäунда undaбеҙҙә beźźäһеҙҙә heźźäуларҙа ularźa
Ablative кемдән kemdänнимәнән nimänänминән minänһинән hinänунан unanбеҙҙән beźźänһеҙҙән heźźänуларҙан ularźan
Demonstrative pronouns
CaseSingularPlural
thisthatthesethose
Nominative был bılошо oşoшул şulтеге tegeбылар bılarошолар oşolarшулар şularтегеләр tegelär
Genitive бының bınıñошоноң oşonoñшуның şunıñтегенең tegeneñбыларҙың bılarźıñошоларҙың oşolarźıñшуларҙың şularźıñтегеләрҙең tegelärźeñ
Dative быға bığaошоға oşoğaшуға şuğaтегегә tegegäбыларға bılarğaошоларға oşolarğaшуларға şularğaтегеләргә tegelärgä
Accusative быны bınıошоно oşonaшуны şunıтегене tegeneбыларҙы bılarźıошоларҙы oşolarźıшуларҙы şularźıтегеләрҙе tegelärźe
Locative бында bındaошонда oşondaшунда şundaтегендә tegendaбыларҙа bılarźaошоларҙа oşolarźaшуларҙа şularźaтегеләрҙә tegelärźä
Ablative бынан bınanошонан oşonanшунан şunanтегенән tegenänбыларҙан bılarźanошоларҙан oşolarźanшуларҙан şularźanтегеләрҙән tegelärźän

References
  1. Bashkir at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Bashkir". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Berta, Árpád (1998). "Tatar and Bashkir". In Johanson, Lars; Csató, Éva Á. (eds.). The Turkic languages. Routledge. pp. 283–300.
  4. Johanson, Lars (1998). "The History of Turkic". In Johanson, Lars; Csató, Éva Á. (eds.). The Turkic languages. Routledge. p. 92.
  5. "Overview of the Bashkir Language". Learn the Bashkir Language & Culture. Transparent Language. Retrieved 4 Nov 2011.

Further reading
  • Poppe, Nicholas (1997) [1964]. Bashkir Manual. Routledge. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-7007-0836-9.
  • Грамматика современного башкирского литературного языка (in Russian). Москва: Наука. 1981.
  • Дмитриев, Н. К. (1948). Грамматика башкирского языка (in Russian). Из-во АН СССР.
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