AZERBAIJANI AS ONE OF THE ALTAIC LANGUAGES

Aytekin Aliyeva

Words were monosyllabic.

Words could be formed by linking root words and suffixes. (agglutinative)

Made out of strong velar and dental consonants joined to 8 different vowels. The vowels were grouped into two groups of 4, according to an internal sound harmony. The thick vowels are a , ı, o, u. Thin vowels are e, i, ö, ü.

Vowels and consonants can be transferred: k => g, d => t, u => a etc.

Some Characteristics of Proto-Altaic Language:

Examples

Okhuz is formed of a root “Okh” and a suffix –uz. “Ok” (h can be omitted) means an arrow. So Ok(g)uz means : “We are the arrow people and move as fast as an arrow”

Oghlan, meaning “acquire an arrow” or equivalently “become an adult” and that’s why “Oksuz” (öksüz-in Turkish) means an orphan, a young one who has no adult person for protection.

Azeri Turkish

ayaq ayak

yarpaq yaprak

buynuz boynuz

ulduz yıldız

Turkmen

ayag

yaprag

buynuð

yïldïð

65-90% 72%

Gagauz

ayaq

yapraq

buynus

yïldïs

Mutual Intelligibility

Dialects of Azeri Turkic:1. Seljuk, Gashgai (both are spoken in Iran)2. Kumyk (spoken in Dagestan)

Alphabetical Reform

• After Arabian Occupation till the end of 1920s (Arabian)

• From 1928 to 1939 (Old Latin)

• From 1940 to 1991 ( Cyrillic)

• From 1991- nowadays (New Latin)

Changes in Language First Period (XIII-XVIII centuries)1. Vocabulary was rich with loan words: Persian and Arabic words Ottoman Turkish words (şu, şöyle, kendi etc.)

2. Changings in affixes: from -isər to -acaq, -əcək accusative case -yi, -yı, -yu, -yü to -ni, -nı, -nu, -nü

3. Defining word comes not first but last: (daxili-əhli-kamal, fəsli-gül) Example:

Gül-i ruxsârına qarşı gözümdən qanlı axar su,Həbîbim fəsli-güldür bu axar sular bulanmazmı? (M.Fuzuli)

Second Period (XVIII- nowadays)

1. Nationalisation of language- (XVIII century)

2. Formation and development of the national language- (beginning of XIX-XX centuries) There were 3 movements from the beginning of XX till 1930:

Creating a simple, understandable language based on dialect. (Followers of the magazine “Molla Nasraddin”: J. Mammadguluzadeh- “The Postbox”, “Gurban Ali bey”, M.A.Sabir “Plougher”etc.)

Creating a complicated, literary language (Followers of the magazine “Fuyuzat”: A. Huseynzade- “Concern of Motherland”)

Creating a simple but dialect-free language (A.Shaig- “Undelivered Letter”, “Heroes of Our Century”, A.Sahhat- “Poverty is not Shameful”, J.Jabbarly- “Sevil”, “Almas”)

3. New period: Azerbaijani was an official language from 1969 till 1977 Official Language of The Republic of Azerbaijan from 1995 till now.

National Minorities and the Languages They Use

• Lezgins 2,2%• Talyshes 1,0%• Udis 0,05%• Tats 0,13%• Avars 0,6%• Khinalug People• Haputs• Jek

Lezgis- Language Lezgian

Belongs to Northeast Caucasian language family, Dagestan group, Lezgin subgroup

784,000 speakersSpoken in- Kusar, Kuba,

Kabala, Oghuz, Ismailli and Khachmaz

Locations of Lezgins Azerbaijan

Talyshes-Talysh Language

• Belongs to Northwestern Iranian language family

• Spoken in Lankaran, Astara, Lerik and Masallı

Haputs- Haput Language• Belongs to Northeast

Caucasian language family, Dagestan group, Lezgin subgroup (“Shahdagh Group”)

• Spoken in the village of Mollaisaglı (Kuba)

Khinalug- Khinalug Language

• Northeast Caucasian language family, Dagestan group, Lezgin subgroup

• Users- more than 1500

• Spoken in the village Khinalug (Kuba)

Khinalug People Now and Then

Udis- Udi Language

• Northeast Caucasian language family, Dagestan group, Lezgin subgroup

• Users - about 5,000 people

• Spoken in the village of Nij (Kabala), Oghuz

Jeks- Jek Language

The Village of Jek (Kuba)

• Belongs to Northeast Caucasian language family, Dagestan group, Lezgin subgroup

• Users11,000 people

• Spoken in The Village

of Jek (Kuba)

Avars- Avar Language

• Belongs to the Avar–Andic group of the Northeast Caucasian language family.

• Spoken in Balaken, Zaqatala

Tats- Tat Language

• Belongs to Southwestern Iranian language family

• Three group- Moslem Tats, Christian Tats and Jewish Tats (or Mountain Jews)

• Users in Azerbaijan- 18,000 people

• Spoken in some villages of Absheron, Khızı, Siyezen, Devechi and Kuba

References PhD. Haluk Berkmen, Diversification of Languages

Robert Lindsay, Mutual Intelligibility Among the Turkic Languages

The Turkic Languages in a Nutshell http://turkiclanguages.scienceontheweb.net

A Brief Exploration of the Altaic Hypothesis http://linguistics.byu.edu/classes/ling450ch

Presidental Library of the Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan National Encyclopedia. 25 volumes. "Azerbaijan". Baku, 2007, pages 147, 150, 151, 152.