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 (Başķortsa)‎, Башҡорт теле‎ (Başķort tele)
Pronunciation	[bɑʃˈqort tɘˈlɘ] (listen)
Native to	Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Estonia and other neighboring post-Soviet states, and Bashkir diaspora[1]
Region	Bashkortostan
Ethnicity	Bashkirs
Native speakers	1.2 million (2010 census)[2]
Language family	Turkic Common Turkic Kipchak North Kipchak Bashkir
Early form	Old Tatar language
Writing system	Cyrillic (Bashkir alphabet)
Official status
Official language in	Russia  Bashkiria
Regulated by	Institute of history, language and literature of the Ufa Federal research center the RAS
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ba
ISO 639-2	bak
ISO 639-3	bak
Glottolog	bash1264[3]
Linguasphere	44-AAB-bg
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
А	а	[ɑ], [a]
Б	б	[b]
В	в	[v], [w]
Ғ	ғ	[ɣ]
Д	д	[d]
Ҙ	ҙ	[ð]
Е	е	[jɪ̞], [ɪ̞], [je], [e]
Ё	ё	[jo]
Ж	ж	[ʒ]
З	з	[z]
И	и	[i]
Й	й	[j]
К	к	[k]
Ҡ	ҡ	[q]
Л	л	[l]
М	м	[m]
Н	н	[n]
Ң	ң	[ŋ]
О	о	[ʊ̞], [o]
Ө	ө	[ø]
П	п	[p]
Р	р	[r]
С	с	[s]
Ҫ	ҫ	[θ]
Т	т	[t]
У	у	[u], [w]
Ү	ү	[y], [w]
Ф	ф	[f]
Х	х	[χ]
Һ	һ	[h]
Ц	ц	[ts]
Ч	ч	[tɕ]
Ш	ш	[ʂ]
Щ	щ	[ɕɕ]
Ъ	ъ	[-]
Ы	ы	[ɯ], [ɨ]
Ь	ь	[ʲ]
Э	э	[ɪ̞], [e]
Ә	ә	[æ]
Ю	ю	[ju]
Я	я	[jɑ], [ja]

Phonology

Vowels

Bashkir has nine native vowels, and three or four loaned vowels (mainly in Russian loanwords).[4]

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'.[4] 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'.[4] In Russian loans there are also [ɨ], [ɛ], [ɔ] and [ä], written the same as the native vowels: ы, е/э, о, а respectively.[4] 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.)[5]

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[4]

		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 found only in loanwords except that /ʔ/ also occurs in a few native onomatopoeic words.

• /θ, ð/ are dental [θ, ð], and /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.[4][6] 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

	Case	father	mother	child	dog	cat
Singular	Nominative	ата ata	әсәй äsäy	бала bala	эт et	бесәй besäy
	Genitive	атаның atanıñ	әсәйҙең äsäyźeñ	баланың balanıñ	эттең etteñ	бесәйҙең besäyźeñ
	Dative	атаға atağa	әсәйгә äsäygä	балаға balağa	эткә etkä	бесәйгә besäygä
	Accusative	атаны atanı	әсәйҙе äsäyźe	баланы balanı	этте ette	бесәйҙе besäyźe
	Locative	атала atala	әсәйҙә äsäyźä	балала balala	эттә että	бесәйҙә besäyźä
	Ablative	атанан atanan	әсәйҙән äsäyźän	баланан balanan	эттән ettän	бесәйҙән besäyźän
Plural	Nominative	аталар atalar	әсәйҙәр äsäyźär	балалар balalar	эттәр ettär	бесәйҙәр besäyźär
	Genitive	аталарҙың atalarźıñ	әсәйҙәрҙең äsäyźärźeñ	балаларҙың balalarźıñ	эттәрҙең ettärźeñ	бесәйҙәрҙең besäyźärźeñ
	Dative	аталарға atalarğa	әсәйҙәргә äsäyźärgä	балаларға balalarğa	эттәргә ettärgä	бесәйҙәргә besäyźärgä
	Accusative	аталарҙы atalarźı	әсәйҙәрҙе äsäyźärźe	балаларҙы balalarźı	эттәрҙе ettärźe	бесәйҙәрҙе besäyźärźe
	Locative	аталарҙа atalarźa	әсәйҙәрҙә äsäyźärźä	балаларҙа balalarźa	эттәрҙә ettärźä	бесәйҙәрҙә besäyźärźä
	Ablative	аталарҙан atalarźan	әсәйҙәрҙән äsäyźärźän	балаларҙан balalarźan	эттәрҙән ettärźän	бесәйҙәрҙән besäyźärźän

Declension of pronouns

Interrogative pronouns			Personal pronouns
Case	who	what	Singular			Plural
			I	you (thou)	he, she, it	we	you	they
Nominative	кем kem	нимә nimä	мин min	һин hin	ул ul	беҙ beź	һеҙ heź	улар ular
Genitive	кемдең kemdeñ	нимәнең nimäneñ	минең mineñ	һинең hineñ	уның unıñ	беҙҙең beźźeñ	һеҙҙең heźźeñ	уларҙың ularźıñ
Dative	кемгә kemgä	нимәгә nimägä	миңә miñä	һиңә hiñä	уға uğa	беҙгә beźgä	һеҙгә heźgä	уларға ularğa
Accusative	кемде kemde	нимәне nimäne	мине mine	һине hine	уны unı	беҙҙе beźźe	һеҙҙе heźźe	уларҙы ularźı
Locative	кемдә kemdä	нимәлә nimälä	миндә mindä	һиндә hindä	унда unda	беҙҙә beźźä	һеҙҙә heźźä	уларҙа ularźa
Ablative	кемдән kemdän	нимәнән nimänän	минән minän	һинән hinän	унан unan	беҙҙән beźźän	һеҙҙән heźźän	уларҙан ularźan

Demonstrative pronouns
Case	Singular				Plural
	this		that		these		those
Nominative	был bıl	ошо oşo	шул şul	теге tege	былар bılar	ошолар oşolar	шулар şular	тегеләр tegelär
Genitive	бының bınıñ	ошоноң oşonoñ	шуның şunıñ	тегенең tegeneñ	быларҙың bılarźıñ	ошоларҙың oşolarźıñ	шуларҙың şularźıñ	тегеләрҙең tegelärźeñ
Dative	быға bığa	ошоға oşoğa	шуға şuğa	тегегә tegegä	быларға bılarğa	ошоларға oşolarğa	шуларға şularğa	тегеләргә tegelärgä
Accusative	быны bını	ошоно oşona	шуны şunı	тегене tegene	быларҙы bılarźı	ошоларҙы oşolarźı	шуларҙы şularźı	тегеләрҙе tegelärźe
Locative	бында bında	ошонда oşonda	шунда şunda	тегендә tegenda	быларҙа bılarźa	ошоларҙа oşolarźa	шуларҙа şularźa	тегеләрҙә tegelärźä
Ablative	бынан bınan	ошонан oşonan	шунан şunan	тегенән tegenän	быларҙан bılarźan	ошоларҙан oşolarźan	шуларҙан şularźan	тегеләрҙән tegelärźän

References

1. Всеукраїнський перепис населення
2. Bashkir at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
3. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Bashkir". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
4. Berta, Árpád (1998). "Tatar and Bashkir". In Johanson, Lars; Csató, Éva Á. (eds.). The Turkic languages. Routledge. pp. 283–300.
5. Johanson, Lars (1998). "The History of Turkic". In Johanson, Lars; Csató, Éva Á. (eds.). The Turkic languages. Routledge. p. 92.
6. "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.

External links

• Machine fund of the Bashkir language
• Spoken corpus of Bashkir (Rakhmetovo and Baimovo)