Numerous peoples speaking the languages ​​of the Altai linguistic family are subdivided into Turkic, Mongolian and Tungus-Manchu groups. Sometimes it is also called the Turanian-Mongolian family. However, the generality of these three groups has not yet been conclusively proven. Therefore, they are very often viewed as separate language families.

Turkic languages

The Türkic language family is the most numerous in the Soviet Union - it includes about 25 closely related languages ​​and dialects. They are spoken by about 25 million people. By the number of speakers, they are in second place (after Slavic languages). The Turkic-speaking peoples are settled in the vast expanses of our Motherland, from its western borders to the most northeastern outskirts of Siberia. Most of them live in Central Asia, the Volga region, Siberia, as well as in the Caucasus.

Despite the fact that they are numerous and extremely scattered, most of the Turkic languages ​​largely retain common features. Speakers of certain languages ​​can usually understand speakers of many other related languages. However, the affinity between different languages ​​is not the same due to different historical destinies peoples speaking these languages.

The resettlement of Turkic-speaking peoples in certain territories, contacts with speakers of other languages, as well as with each other, contributed to the formation of linguistic groups and subgroups. Specialists in Turkic languages ​​( See in more detail: Baskakov N. A. Türkic languages. M., 1960; He's the same. Introduction to the study of the Turkic languages. 2nd ed. M., 1969.) there are five main groups.

The first group includes the languages ​​of the Turkic peoples living in the western regions of Lithuania, Ukraine (including Crimea) and in the south of Moldova. These are mainly the Gagauz, Crimean Tatar and Karaite languages, which will be discussed in more detail below.

This also includes the language of the Urums (about 104 thousand people), representing the Turkic Greeks, as well as the language of the Krymchaks (about 1500 people), living in separate families mainly in the Crimea. The first group includes, further, the Lithuanian and Belarusian Tatars, who, however, by now have assimilated respectively with the Lithuanians and Belarusians, having lost their language. Only written monuments have survived from their language.

The second group consists of the languages ​​of the Turkic peoples of the Caucasus - Azerbaijani, Kumyk, Karachay-Balkar (it is also considered as two languages), Nogai (see below).

This group also includes the language of Trukhmen (North Caucasian Turkmens), who came to these places from Turkmenistan relatively recently. They live mainly on the territory of the Stavropol Territory.

The third group is the languages ​​of the peoples of the Volga region and the Urals: Tatar, Bashkir, Chuvash. The first two languages ​​are pretty close to each other. The Chuvash language stands somewhat apart not only in this group, but also among all the Turkic languages.

The fourth group includes the languages ​​of a number of peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan: Uzbek, Kazakh, Turkmen, Kyrgyz, Karakalpak, Uyghur. These languages ​​were influenced to a certain extent by the influence of the Arabic, Persian, partly Chinese, and in the modern era, the Russian languages.

Finally, the fifth group consists of the languages ​​of the Turkic peoples of Siberia. These are, first of all, literary languages: Yakut, Tuvan, Altai, Khakass, as well as unwritten languages ​​- Shor and Chulym. According to the 1959 census, Shorts were 15 300 people. The 1970 census showed that the number of Shors increased to 16,494 people. As for other nationalities that do not have a written language, we have information about them only from the 1959 census. So, in 1959 there were 4500 Chulyms, 600 Kragas, and 200 Kamasins.

The given grouping reflects not only the initial kinship of languages, but also their later rapprochement in certain territories. This means that the classification presented by us is not completely genealogical (as, say, the division of Indo-European languages ​​into groups: Slavic, Baltic, Iranian, etc.), therefore, it will not be a violation of the principle adopted in this work, if further information on individual we will cite literary languages ​​without adhering to it.

Let's start with the languages ​​of the most numerous nations that make up the union republics, then talk about the languages ​​of the main population of the autonomous republics and regions.

Multilingual Turkic-speaking peoples Soviet Union passed in their national development various historical paths.

Part of the Turkic-speaking nations is the main indigenous population union republics. These are Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Azerbaijanis, Turkmens and Kyrgyz.

Each of these nations can easily notice its historical, cultural, ethnographic and other features that are reflected in the development and functioning of their languages.

Uzbeks (self-name "Uzbek"), representing the most numerous Turkic-speaking nation, the third among the peoples of the USSR (after the Russian and Ukrainian), are also settled in other countries.

The ancient ancestors of the Uzbeks have long inhabited the agricultural oases of Central Asia. The Uzbek nationality began to take shape in the 11th-12th centuries, and this process ended after the resettlement of nomadic Uzbeks to agricultural oases, where nomads mixed with the local population, giving them their name See: Peoples of the World. The number and settlement of the peoples of the world. M., 1962, p. 81 ..

In the past, there were a number of isolated ethnographic groups of the Uzbek people (Sarts, Turks, Kurama, etc.). The Uzbeks were divided into a large number of tribal groups: Mangyt, Kungrat, Lokai, Kipchak, Ming, Naiman, Ktai, etc. Uzbek) language by local Iranian-speaking peoples.

In the second half of the XIX century. the annexation of Central Asia to Russia took place, which was a significant event in the life of the Uzbeks, despite the fact that the tsarist administration of Turkestan was completely based on national and colonial oppression.

The processes of national consolidation of the Uzbeks ended only in the Soviet era, in the years of building the foundations of socialism in our country.

There are about 9195 thousand Uzbeks in the Soviet Union. In the Uzbek SSR they make up 65.5% of the total population. Quite large groups of Uzbeks live in other republics of the USSR: in Tajikistan - 665 662 people, in Kyrgyzstan - 332 638, in Kazakhstan - 216 340, in Turkmenistan - 179 498, in other republics - about 45 thousand people.

In Uzbekistan, in addition to Uzbeks, there are Tajiks, Russians, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Koreans, Tatars, as well as small groups of Roma, Uighurs, Armenians, etc.

Outside our country, Uzbeks live mainly in Afghanistan (over 1 million people).

The capital of the Uzbek SSR is Tashkent with an almost 1.5 million population ( It is interesting to note the rapid growth of the population of Tashkent, which in 1959 had about 912 thousand inhabitants.). - is the largest city in the whole of Central Asia, in which numerous peoples of the country are also represented. The importance of Tashkent in the economic and cultural development of all the peoples of Central Asia is enormous.

Uzbekistan is one of the largest industrial regions of the USSR with highly developed socialist agriculture, which in terms of its intensity occupies one of the first places in the country. V agriculture employs about two-thirds of the total population. Uzbekistan is considered the main cotton growing region of the country, supplying more than two thirds of all cotton produced in the USSR. It is interesting to note that Uzbekistan ranks third in the world in terms of gross cotton harvest.

During the years of Soviet power, Uzbek culture flourished, the main element of the national form of which is the old-written Uzbek language.

The formation of the national Uzbek language dates back to the 15th century, when the literary Old Uzbek (Chagatai) language was also formed, the creator of which was the great Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi (1441 - 1501).

A rich literature has been created in the Old Uzbek language. However, in the past, it was mainly available to a rather narrow circle of the local aristocracy. The literary language itself also developed in isolation from folk speech.

After the proclamation of Soviet power, the Uzbek literary language underwent significant changes. The folk-colloquial vocabulary, which enriched literary speech, poured into it in a wide stream. Another source from which the literary language continues to draw lexical and other expressive resources is the Russian language.

In the Soviet era, significant works of art were created in the Uzbek language by writers of the older generation, such as Hamid Alimjan, Ga-Fur Gulyam, Aibek, A. Kakhkhar, Yashen, Uygun, Gairati, etc., as well as younger ones: Zulfiya, Shaikh-zade , Uigun, A. Pulat, A. Umari, S. Dzhura, Sh. Rashidov and others. Uzbek writers are widely known abroad. It is no coincidence that Tashkent has repeatedly become a place for conferences of writers from Asia and Africa.

Kazakhs - one of the largest Turkic-speaking peoples - are settled mainly in the wide expanses of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, where 4,234,166 Kazakhs live. Large groups of Kazakhs also live in other union republics: in the RSFSR - 477,820 people, in the Uzbek SSR - 476,310, in the Turkmen SSR - 68,519, in the Kirghiz SSR - 21,998, in the Tajik SSR - 8306 people.

The total number of Soviet Kazakhs reaches 5,298,818. Of these, 98.4% consider Kazakh as their native language, 41.8% are fluent in Russian, and 1.8% - in other languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR.

In addition to the Kazakhs, in the eponymous union republic quite significant groups of other nationalities live:

Russians - 5,522 thousand Ukrainians - 933 thousand Germans - 858 thousand Tatars - 288 thousand Uzbeks - 216 thousand Beorussians - 198 thousand Uighurs - 121 thousand Koreans - 82 thousand Poles - 61 thousand Azerbaijanis - 58 thousand Mordovians - 34 thousand Jews - 28 thousand Moldovans - 26 thousand Chuvash - 23 thousand Bashkirs - 21 thousand Dungans - 17 thousand Tajiks - 16 thousand Udmurts - 16 thousand

as well as Lithuanians, Armenians, Kurds, Kyrgyz, Mari, Gypsies, etc.

Kazakhs formed into a nationality in the XV - XVI bv. Before the revolution they were usually called "Kirghiz-Kaisaks", they were divided into tribes and clans: senior zhuz (kangly, dulat, usun, etc.), middle zhuz (argyn, kypchak, naiman, kirei, kungrat, etc.), younger zhuz (alimuls, bayuls, etc.). This fragmentation was overcome only after the revolution in the process of the formation of the Kazakh socialist nation.

The modern highly developed economy and culture of Kazakhstan are a vivid example of what tremendous achievements under socialism and with the help of other fraternal Soviet peoples can be achieved by a previously backward people who did not even know the capitalist stage of development. Especially great is the help of the Russian people, with whom the Kazakhs tied their fate back in the first half of the 19th century, when they voluntarily joined the Russian state. In particular, under the great influence of Russian culture, Kazakh written literature is developing, which began to take shape in the middle of the 19th century ( Najip E.N., Kazakh language. - In the book: The languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR. M. - L., 1959; Khasanov B. Languages ​​of the peoples of Kazakhstan and their interaction; Alma-Ata, 1976.).

The written monuments of the Kazakh language have a long history. Back in the Middle Ages, Kazakhs, like many other Turkic-speaking peoples, used the Arabic alphabet in writing, which in the pre-revolutionary years was somewhat adapted to the peculiarities of the Kazakh language. However, the Arabic script did not meet the needs that the practice of cultural construction presented to writing. In 1923 - 1924. it was latinized, and at the end of the 40s, the Kazakh writing was translated into a Russian graphic basis.

There are no dialects in the Kazakh language, but in the speech of Kazakhs from different regions there are minor discrepancies, mainly concerning vocabulary and phonetics.

The main core of Kazakh vocabulary is made up of Turkic words. Along with this, in the Kazakh language in the XVIII - XIX centuries. includes a large number of words and terms from Persian and Arabic.

Over the past decades, the Kazakh literary language increasingly uses its own lexical resources, as well as many Russian and international words and terms borrowed from the Russian language and through it.

A great contribution to the development of Kazakh literature was made by Ibrai Altynsarin, who was educated at a Russian-Kazakh school. He was a passionate promoter of Russian culture and the Russian language among Kazakhs in the second half of the 19th century. Another outstanding educator, Abai Kunanbayev, was destined to become the founder of Kazakh written literature. He, like his predecessor, drew funds for the development of literature and language from two main sources - from oral folk speech (primarily folklore) and Russian literature (and language). He instructed the younger generation: "Remember that the main thing is to learn Russian science ... In order to avoid vices and achieve good, you need to know the Russian language and Russian culture."

The traditions of Altynsarin and Kunanbayev were continued by Mukhammedzhan Seralin (1872 - 1929), Sultanmakhmud Torashyrov (1893 - 1920), Spandiar Kobeev (1878 - 1956) and others, as well as a galaxy of modern Kazakh poets and writers (S, Mukanov, T. Zharokov, A Tazhibaev, D. Abilev, A. Tokmagambetov, S. Seifullin, M. Auezov, G. Musrepov, G. Mustafin, etc.) - A significant place in modern Kazakh literature belongs to folk akyns: Dzhambul Dzhabayev (1846 - 1945), and See also Nurpeis Bayganin, Doskey Alimbaev and others.

The unprecedented flourishing of the Kazakh literary language is associated with the general socio-economic development and those tremendous successes that the Kazakh people have achieved over the past half century in the field of culture and education.

Azerbaijanis - the largest (after the Russians) people of the Caucasus - make up the majority of the population of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. About 4,380,000 Azerbaijanis live in the Soviet Union: about 3,777,000 in the Azerbaijan SSR (73.8% of the republic's population), 218,000 in the Georgian SSR, 148,000 in the Armenian SSR, 95,689 people in the RSFSR , 38 898 - in the Uzbek SSR, 57 699 - in the Kazakh SSR, 16 775 people - in the Turkmen SSR, etc.

Over 6 million Azerbaijanis live abroad - in South (Iranian) Azerbaijan.

As part of the Azerbaijani people, several ethnographic groups are usually distinguished: Airums (live in the northwestern part of the Azerbaijan SSR), Padars (in eastern Azerbaijan), Shahsevens (in southern regions), as well as in Iran.

The ancestors of Azerbaijanis are considered to be the ancient population of the Kuro-Araks lowland, which adopted the language of the Oguz tribes in the era of medieval migrations of the Turkic-speaking peoples. The Azerbaijanis embarked on the path of capitalist development in the second half of the 19th century. and formed into a nation.

Baku, which is now one of the largest industrial, scientific and cultural centers of the Soviet Union (the population of the city reaches 1266 thousand people), played an important role in the consolidation and development of the Azerbaijani nation. Baku has long been famous as an international city, where representatives of different nationalities live as a single fraternal family.

It was in Baku that the multinational proletariat of Azerbaijan was formed, which played an outstanding role in the establishment of Soviet power in the entire Transcaucasia. Proletarian Baku was the first city in Transcaucasia where Soviet power was established - on October 31, 1917, at an expanded meeting of the Baku Council, a decision was made to transfer power to the Soviets.

Azerbaijani literature and literary language played an outstanding role in the development of Azerbaijani culture.

Azerbaijani literature, which has a rich centuries-old history, occupies an important place in cultural heritage peoples of the East. Suffice it to mention the names of the largest representatives of court poetry Katran Tabrizi (11th century), Abul-Ula Ganjavi (early 12th century) and his outstanding student Efzaladdi on Khaganp Shirvani (1120-1199).

The Azerbaijani people gave world culture the genius poet and thinker Nizami Ganjavi (1141 - 1209).

However, in the X - XIII centuries. Azerbaijani writers were forced to create their works in Persian, which was considered the language of poetry and literature.

Only from the XIV century. Attempts are being made to develop literature in the Azerbaijani language, but the aristocracy and clergy are waging a fierce struggle with them. Thus, in 1417, the outstanding poet Imadad-din Nesimi, the author of the first large collection of lyric poems in the Azerbaijani language, was brutally executed.

The further development of Azerbaijani literature proceeded under the decisive influence of eastern medieval poetry.

In the XVIII century. the influence of Russian culture increased following the annexation of Azerbaijan to Russia. In this respect, the most significant is the work of the outstanding figure of Azerbaijani culture, playwright and materialist philosopher Mirza Fatali Akhundov (1812-1878).

However, before the Great October socialist revolution the Azerbaijani literary language had a very narrow sphere of use, since the absolute majority of the population (95.5%) was illiterate. "The most important obstacle to the development of education and culture of the Azerbaijani people was the imperfect Arabic alphabet, spelling, terminology" ( Hajiyeva V. 3. The Azerbaijani language.- In the book: Languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR, vol. II, p. 66; Khasanov B. Languages ​​of the peoples of Kazakhstan and their interaction. Alma-Ata, 1976.).

In the early 1920s, the Azerbaijani Soviet intelligentsia initiated a movement for the improvement of the Arabicized alphabets, which were soon replaced by the Latinized ones.

The Azerbaijani language is divided into many dialects, which are combined into four groups: Eastern - Cuban, Shemakha dialects; western - Kazakh, Gyaydzhin, Karabakh dialects and Ayrum dialect; northern - the Nukhin dialect and the Zakat-Talokakh dialect; southern - Pnkhichevan, Ordubad, Tavriz dialects and Yerevan dialect. There are also three transitional dialects: Geokchay, Aghdagn and Jebrail.

The literary language is based on the Shemakha and Baku dialects.

The main vocabulary of the Azerbaijani language is made up of original Turkic words, which were also widely used by the classics of Azerbaijani literature: Nasimi, Khatai, Fizuli, Vagif. In the Azerbaijani vocabulary, a significant layer is made up of Arabic and Persian words. This is quite explainable by the historical ties that the Azerbaijani people had with the Persians and Arabs in different historical epochs.

In the process of the development of the literary language, many Persian and Arabic words and terms were replaced by native Azerbaijani ones.

Azerbaijani terminology is enriched with a large number of Russian and international terms, which are acquired together with new concepts modern life... However, the main source of further enrichment of the Azerbaijani literary language remains their own expressive wealth hidden in the folk speech.

Turkmen mainly live in the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (65.6% of the population). There are 1,525,284 Turkmen in the USSR, of which 92.9% live in Turkmenistan. In addition, the Turkmen are settled in the Khorezm, Bukhara and Surkhan-Darya regions and in the Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan, in the RSFSR - in the east of the Stavropol Territory and in the north of Dagestan, in the Jili-Kul region of the Tajik SSR.

Outside our country, the Turkmen population is represented mainly in the territory of neighboring Iran (about 3500 thousand people).

98.9% of Soviet Turkmen consider Turkmen as their native language.

Turkmenistan is a vast country, in terms of territory it is second only to Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, at the same time occupies one of the last places in terms of population. Apart from the Turkmens themselves, representatives of many nations and nationalities live in Turkmenistan:

Russians - 313 thousand Azerbaijanis - 17 thousand Uzbeks - 179 thousand Baluchis - 12 thousand Kazakhs - 68 thousand Dagestanis - 8 thousand Tatars - 36 thousand Iranians - 5 thousand Ukrainians - 35 thousand Belarusians - 4 thousand Armenians - 23 thousand Jews - 3 thousand

as well as Koreans, Mordovians, Kurds, Bashkirs, Karakalpaks, etc.

In connection with the rapid development of industry and culture in the republic, the urban population is growing at an exceptionally fast pace at the expense of the rural population. So, in 1926, the urban population accounted for only 13.7%, in 1939 - 33.2%, but already in 1959 - 46%, and in 1970 - almost 49%.

The name "Turkmen" was first encountered at the end of the 10th century. in the Arabic-speaking geographical literature - this was the name of a part of the Turkic tribes (Oguzes, Karluks, etc.) who lived on the border of the agricultural zone of Central Asia among the Iranian-speaking agricultural population, from the 11th - 12th centuries. the word "Turkmen" becomes more widespread and becomes the name of a nation that has developed in the western part of Central Asia. The completion of the formation of the Turkmen nation dates back to the XIV-XV centuries.

In the middle of the XIX century. about 115 thousand Caspian Turkmen voluntarily accepted Russian citizenship. Following this, the rest of the Turkmens also entered Russia. Entering Russian state, despite the colonial policy of tsarism, had an objectively progressive significance, since it introduced the Turkmen to more advanced cultural and social development.

The literary Turkmen language began to take shape within the framework of the norms of the Old Turkmen language, with the development of literature it became more and more common. Rich literature was published in the Turkmen language as early as the 18th century, which led to the consolidation of the literary norms of the language. Great importance in this respect, there were works of writers, and first of all the most outstanding of them - Makhtumkuli, who is rightfully considered the ancestor of Turkmen fiction.

However, before the October Revolution, the Turkmen literary language did not receive a nationwide distribution: the percentage of illiterates was too high, and, in addition, the people were split into numerous tribes and clans, and each tribe and each clan had their own dialects and dialects.

The objective processes of consolidation and development of the Turkmen socialist nation led to the strengthening of the role of the literary language in the life of the people, to the leveling of dialectal differences. During the years of Soviet power, the literary language was updated at the expense of dialects. The beneficial influence of other languages ​​(and especially Russian, from which many words and terms are borrowed), has a very significant effect on its development.

The writing in the Turkmen language initially developed on the basis of the Arabic script. However, with the development of education and culture, the old writing could no longer meet the new requirements, a latinized alphabet was developed (1929 - 1934), which later (1939 - 1940) was replaced by new graphics based on the Russian alphabet.

The true treasury of the literary language is the Turkmen fiction, the classic period of which is considered the XVIII - XIX centuries. The great Turkmen poet, the founder of Turkmen literature Makhtumkuli (1733 - 1782) made an undoubted contribution to world literature.

The names of many Soviet Turkmen poets and writers are widely known - such as B. Kerbabaev, A. Kaushutov, Ata-Salykh, Nury Annaklych, K. Kekilov,

Ch. Achirov, Pomma-Nurbediyev and others. With their works they help to improve the Turkmen literary language.

The Kyrgyz by their origin are associated not only with the peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, but also with the tribes of Central Asia. Scientists consider the Kyrgyz to be one of the ancient peoples Central Asia, the first historical mention of them dates back to 201 BC. NS. However, the absence of written monuments does not make it possible to restore with complete reliability the most ancient history of this people.

Before the revolution, the Kyrgyz were called Karakirgiz, or wild-stone Kyrgyz. They developed into a nationality in the 15th - 16th centuries. In the past, the Kyrgyz were divided into separate tribes and clans and only in Soviet time consolidated into a nation.

The Kyrgyz socialist nation numbers more than 1,452 thousand people. Of these, 1 284 773 people. live in Kyrgyzstan, but 726 - in Uzbekistan, 35,485 - in Tajikistan, 9612 - in Kazakhstan and 9107 people - in the Russian Federation. Over 100 thousand Kirghiz are settled outside the USSR - in the western regions of the Mongolian People's Republic, in the northeastern part of Afghanistan and Pakistan and other countries.

The population of Kyrgyzstan is growing at an exceptionally fast pace. In 1913, only 864 thousand people lived on this territory, in 1939 - 1450 thousand, and in 1959 - 2066 thousand, finally, in 1970 - about 2933 thousand people. Such an increase in population is explained not only by natural growth, but also by a significant influx of population from other republics. This was primarily due to the transfer of industrial enterprises to Kyrgyzstan from the central regions of the country during the Great Patriotic War and the deployment of new construction in post-war period... As a result, until 1959, along with an absolute increase in the number of Kirghiz within the republic by 11%, the proportion of the Kirghiz in relation to the entire population of the Kirghiz SSR decreased from 52% in 1939 to 40% in 1959. process, due to which the proportion of the Kyrgyz in the republic in 1970 was already equal to 43.8%.

Nowadays, the rather monolithic Kyrgyz nation was divided into separate groups before the revolution.

As a result of the division of the people into various tribal groups that existed in the past, the Kyrgyz language splits into many dialects, united into three dialects: northern, southeastern and southwestern. The differences between the groups are largely due to the influence of neighboring languages ​​on them. Thus, the southern dialects were largely influenced by the influence of the Tajik, Uzbek, Persian and Arabic languages.

Historically, three stages of development are usually distinguished Kyrgyz language: Old Kirgiz (VIII - IX centuries), Middle Kirghiz (X - XV centuries) and New Kirghiz (from the XV century). The last stage, in turn, is divided into three periods: from the 15th century. until the middle of the 18th century. the Kyrgyz tribes maintained a close relationship with each other, as evidenced by the fact of borrowing the Iranian-Arabic vocabulary by all dialects; from the middle of the 18th century. before the October Revolution, dialectal differences were increasing; the Soviet period is characterized by the leveling of dialectal differences, the formation and development of a national literary language.

The written Kyrgyz language is a vivid evidence of how fast a language can develop if its speakers gained freedom and achieved success in social progress. For half a century of Soviet power, the social functions of the Kyrgyz language have expanded significantly. If before the revolution this language in its dialects and dialects served very narrow spheres of everyday life and primitive patriarchal production, now it functions in all spheres of life of the modern socialist nation.

The Kyrgyz written literature began to develop simultaneously with the creation of writing in 1924.However, for many decades, works of art have existed in verbally(the most significant of them is the famous epic "Manas"). In a relatively short period of time, Kyrgyz literature won recognition thanks to the works of such writers as Tugelbai Sydikbekov, Nasreddin Baitemirov, Aaly Tokom-baev, K. Apaev, Kasymaly Bayalinov, K. Malikov and many others. The works of the outstanding Kyrgyz prose writer Chingiz Aitmatov are widely known in all republics of the country and abroad.

The Tatar language is spoken in many republics and regions of the Soviet Union. There are about 5,930,670 Tatars in total, of whom 89.2% consider the Tatar language their native language.

The Tatar people consists of several groups, different in their origin and culture: Volga, Siberian, Crimean, etc.

The Volga Tatars, in turn, are subdivided into Kazan, Astrakhan and Kasimov. They all descend from the Tatar-Mongols of the Golden Horde, mixed with other ethnic elements of the Volga region. Kazan Tatars are divided into Tatar-Mishars (Meshcheryaks), the so-called Kryashen (converted to Christianity) and Nagaybaks. Siberian Tatars - in Tobolsk, Barabinsk and Chulym.

The most compact groups of Tatars inhabit the territory of Tatarstan (25.9% of all Tatars), as well as Bashkiria, Chuvashia and Mordovia; many Tatars live in the Gorky, Tambov, Penza, Ryazan, Ulyanovsk, Kuibyshev, Orenburg, Volgograd, Saratov, Astrakhan, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tomsk, Tyumen, Perm and Kirov regions.

The Tatar folk colloquial back in the XV-XVI centuries, during the period of the Kazan Khanate. The literary tradition has a centuries-old tradition and is represented by the works of Tatar poets - Mukhamedyar (mid-16th century), Mavla Kuli (second half of the 17th century), Utyz Imeni (late 18th - early 19th centuries), H. Salikhov, G. Kandali (first half of the 19th century), etc.

The beginning of the formation of the literary language coincides with the period of the formation of the Tatar bourgeois nation (second half of the 19th century) “This was largely facilitated by the activities of the Tatar enlighteners, who set as their task to bring the literary language closer to the spoken language. At the beginning of our century, after the first Russian revolution, there is a further development and improvement of the literary language, in which a large role belongs to cultural figures, such writers, scientists, revolutionaries as G. Ibragimov, G. Tukai, Sh. Kamal, G. Kamal, G. Kulakhmetov, M. Faizi, M. Gafuri, H. Yamashev, M. Vakhitov and others.

A new stage in the development of the Tatar literary language begins with the Great October Socialist Revolution. During the years of Soviet power, the Tatar literary language was finally formed, became the property of all strata of the population and subjugated dialect varieties.

The spoken Tatar language is divided into three dialects - eastern, western and middle, each of which is divided into several dialects. The middle dialect formed the basis of the literary language, which also absorbs the wealth of other dialects.

The Tatar language began to be taught at school after the first Russian revolution. Nowadays, it is used for instruction in elementary, incomplete and complete secondary schools. The Tatar language and literature is studied in schools and universities. A rich fiction is being developed in the literary language that flourished during the years of Soviet power, and the immortal works of Musa Jalil were created.

The writing of the Tatars, like many other Muslim peoples in the past, first developed in Arabic, then Latin and, finally, Russian.

Chuvash (self-name - "chavash") live in the Middle Volga region, mainly in the Chuvash ASSR. The compact masses of the Chuvashes are mixed with the Russian population, Tatars also live in the east and southeast, Mordovians in the southwest, and the Mari in the northwest.

The Chuvash are divided into two main ethnic groups: upper and lower. In the past, they differed in culture and everyday life, but now the differences are preserved mainly in their speech.

As scientists have established, the Chuvash originate from the ancient Finnish-speaking tribes between the Sura, Sviyaga and Volga rivers, which were Turkized by the Kama Bulgarians, who moved to this area in the years Tatar-Mongol invasion... The Chuvash, experiencing a heavy oppression of the Kazan feudal lords, in the second half of the 16th century, when, as a result of a 100-year struggle, the Kazan Khanate was conquered by Russia, became part of Russia. This turning point in the history of the people had an enormous positive significance for its future destiny. The Chuvash got the opportunity to move to more fertile areas of their modern territory. Here they became close to the Russians, which contributed to the development of the agricultural culture of the Chuvash.

With the stratification of society, the Chuvash lower classes are subjected to double oppression: from their wealthy elite and tsarist officials. This triggered a series of peasant uprisings.

In the second half of the XIX - early XX century. in Chuvashia, capitalist relations are emerging, which brought the Chuvash, who worked at the enterprises, closer to the Russian workers. As a result, revolutionary sentiments spread among the Chuvash. It is characteristic that the Chuvash took an active part in the revolution of 1905-1907. and in the Great October Socialist Revolution, after which the previously downtrodden people took the path of social and cultural revival.

Of the 1,694,351 Chuvash, a little more than half (50.5%) live on the territory of the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and make up 70% of its population. Less than half of the Chuvash are found in separate groups on the territory of the Tatar, Bashkir, Mari ASSR, as well as the Kuibyshev, Ulyanovsk, Kemerovo, Orenburg, Perm, Sverdlovsk regions; Chuvash live in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

The historical fate of the Chuvash people has led to the fact that its language is very different from other Turkic languages. In particular, many ancient Türkic words and phrases have been preserved in it, as well as some elements close to the ancient Mongolian. There are also old Persian and Arabic words that are not found in other Turkic languages.

Chuvash writing originated in the 18th century. At this time, the first Chuvash grammar was compiled and books of religious content began to appear, designed to serve spiritual and missionary needs.

In 1873, the well-known Chuvash educator and teacher I. Ya. Yakovlev created the Chuvash alphabet on the basis of Russian graphics, developed the basics of spelling and established the publication of literature in his native language. The phonemic principle, put forward by I. Ya. Yakovlev, still underlies the Chuvash spelling, which underwent significant changes during the Soviet era. The alphabet has also been updated. If there were 25 letters in Yakovlevsky (17 Russian and 8 letters with diacritics), then in the modern Chuvash alphabet there are 37 letters (33 Russian and 4 letters with diacritics).

The Chuvash language stands out among other Turkic languages. This attracted the attention of researchers to him.

Interest in the Chuvash language especially grew after the opening of the Kazan University in 1804, within the walls of which the study of many Turkic languages ​​was developed. With the publication of the book by V. P. Vishnevsky ("The outline of the rules of the Chuvash language and a dictionary compiled for theological schools of the Kazan diocese"), many prominent orientalists in our country and abroad became interested in the Chuvash language and began to study. However, Chuvash studies have achieved the greatest success in domestic and Soviet science. In this regard, the name of the corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences N.I. and lexicography, as well as the terminology of the literary language itself.

The common spoken language splits into two main dialects - lower (pointing) and upper (okay), which differ in phonetics, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary. Some of the peculiarities of dialects should be explained by interaction with different languages... So, the speech of the riding Chuvashes was greatly influenced by the surrounding Russian dialects. At the same time, the Tatar language affects the lower dialect.

The Bashkirs (self-name - "Bashkort") make up the indigenous population of the Bashkir ASSR, where they make up slightly more than one fifth of the total population. The Bashkir Republic itself is multinational. Its total population exceeds 440 thousand people, of which about a third are Russians, and a fifth are Tatars. Chuvash, Mari, Ukrainians, Mordovians, Udmurts, etc. also live here. Basically, all these peoples are settled in the northern and western regions of the republic.

The Bashkirs themselves are widely settled throughout the country.

In total, there are about 1240 thousand Bashkirs, of which only 820 thousand (66%) consider their national language to be their native language; more than 563 thousand named Russian as their native language, and 363 thousand - other languages. In addition, 53.3% of the total population is fluent in Russian.

The bulk of the Bashkirs are settled in the valley of the river. White and its tributaries. Outside Bashkiria, they live in compact groups in the Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Orenburg regions and in the Tatar ASSR. Small groups of Bashkir villages are located in the Kuibyshev, Saratov and Perm regions. Several tens of thousands of Bashkirs also live in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The question of the origin of the Bashkirs in science has not yet been fully resolved. However, it has been established that the Bashkir people were formed from tribes of Turkic origin. Some tribes of Mongolian and Finno-Ugric origin also participated in the formation of the Bashkir people.

The first written mention of the Bashkirs dates back to 922, the Ambassador of the Arab Caliph to the Bulgars, Ibn-Fadlap, reports about the "country of the Turk people called albashgird." According to the information of this ambassador, the ancient Bashkirs occupied the territory on the left bank of the middle reaches of the Volga and south-western Priuralyo.

Among the historical events that influenced the fate of the people, one should name more than two centuries of Mongol rule, which led to a long economic and cultural stagnation. In that era (XIII - XIV centuries) the main occupations of the Bashkirs were nomadic cattle breeding, hunting and bee keeping. The Bashkirs paid heavy taxes to the Mongol khans, mainly in the form of expensive furs. Only the decline of the Golden Horde in the V century. gave the opportunity to form the Bashkir people.

In the second half of the XVI century. the finally formed Bashkir nationality entered the Russian state, which created new objective opportunities for further progress in the life of the Bashkirs. Despite the colonial policy of tsarism, the massive influx of a new population into Bashkiria caused the development of the economy and culture of the region.

At the same time, the exploitation of the common people intensified, which caused them to protest against colonial and feudal oppression. The most striking of these performances was peasant war 1773 - 1775 under the leadership of Yemelyan Pugachev and his associate

Salavat Yulaev is a legendary hero of the Bashkir people. In this war, its class character was clearly manifested, which was expressed, in particular, in the alliance of the Bashkir and Russian peasants. And in the future, the alliance of the Bashkirs and the Russians was inviolable in all periods, but it especially strengthened after the October Revolution, which gave the Bashkir people national and social liberation. Its beneficial influence is felt in all areas of life, including linguistic.

The Bashkir literary language was formed only in Soviet times. Soon after the proclamation of Soviet power in Bashkiria, the question of creating a Bashkir national language acquired paramount importance ( See: Yuldashev A.A. Formation of uniform norms of the Bashkir language.- In the book: Questions of the formation and development of national languages. M., 1960, p. 280.). Already in May 1918, a special meeting was held in Moscow, at which issues related to the creation of the Bashkir national literary language were considered. At the same time, the Central Commission was organized, which was supposed to deal with the problem of creating a Bashkir literary language. This commission also resolved a number of urgent organizational issues regarding the training of national personnel, the creation of national literature and theater, the formation of publishing houses, etc.

A special commission for the development of a national writing system and the compilation of textbooks and other manuals was established in 1923. Thanks to active language construction, the Bashkir people created their own literary language. Initially, this literary language used Latinized graphics, and from the end of the 30s it switched to Russian graphics. One of the features of the Bashkir literary language is that it is based simultaneously on two dialects - Kuvakan and Normatin, and also uses some of the expressive resources of the third dialect - the northwestern one.

On the development of the Bashkir literary language in the past a huge impact provided the Tatar language. In Soviet times, the influx of Russian and international borrowings increased significantly, which enriched and continue to enrich the literary language of the Bashkirs.

The Yakuts (self-name - "Sakha") as an independent people were formed in the 16th - 16th centuries. as a result of the resettlement of a group of Ttorko-speaking tribes of Southern Siberia far to the northeast, into the basin of the middle reaches of the Lena, where they partially mixed with the local, mainly Gush-speaking population. By the end of the XIX century. The Yakuts have already spread widely along the Lena valley and its tributaries, as well as along the Yana, Indigirka and other large rivers Eastern Siberia At the same time, the groups of indigenous peoples living there - the Bells, Yukaghirs, and others - were assimilated and displaced.

Despite the significant territorial dispersion, the Yakuts have retained the previous cattle-breeding type of economy, as well as cultural, everyday and ethno-linguistic unity.

The total number of Yakuts is 296 thousand. Of these, 285 thousand people consider Yakut their native language. (i.e. more than 96%). The majority (96.5%) of the Yakuts live on the territory of the Yakut ASSR. Small groups of Yakuts live in the Taimyr and Evenk national districts Krasnoyarsk Territory, in the Magadan, Sakhalin and Amur regions of the RSFSR.

The Yakut language occupies a special place among other Turkic languages. Many elements of the ancient Turkic languages ​​have been preserved in it. In addition, the development of the Yakut language could not but be affected by the long-term interaction with the Mongolian and Evenk languages. All these features are to a large extent distant Yakut from most other Turkic languages.

The strongest foreign language influence on vocabulary. The main vocabulary of the Yakut language is of Turkic origin. Since ancient times, the development of the Yakut vocabulary has been actively influenced by the Russian language. Before the revolution, as a rule, Russian words were borrowed from the oral dialect speech of Russian old-timers. This lexical layer has been completely adapted and has lost those features that were not characteristic of the Yakut language. In contrast, borrowing in Soviet times occurs mainly through the literary language (radio, print), and words largely retain their characteristics.

In essence, the national Yakut writing system appeared only after the revolution. Before that, mostly missionary literature was published (on a Russian graphic basis). The so-called practical alphabet was used to publish translations of official orders, as well as works by Yakut writers A.E. Kulakovsky and A.I. Sofronov.

Intensive work on the creation of a national writing system began in the very first years after the revolution. On the basis of international transcription, S.A. Novgorodov developed a draft alphabet, which was approved by the Council of People's Commissars of the Yakut ASSR in 1922. In 1924 the alphabet was improved, and in 1929 it was replaced by a single New Turkic alphabet on a Latin basis. In 1939, the Yakuts switched to a new alphabet based on Russian graphics.

Attempts to create a written language and study the Yakut language began long before the revolution. This, in particular, was facilitated by scientific expeditions with the participation of such prominent scientists as academicians MF Middendorf and ON Bötlingk. The activities of many political exiles who studied the Yakut language, folklore, and ethnography also played an important role in this regard.

Soviet scientists (S. E. Malov, E. I. Ubryatova, L. N. Kharitonov, E. I. Korkina, and others) worked especially hard on the study of various theoretical and practical issues. Their activities were aimed at solving topical issues of alphabets, spelling and terminology, creating school and scientific grammars, compiling dictionaries of various types, describing dialects, etc.

The development of issues of language development took place during the period of rapid economic and cultural growth of the Yakut people. This made it possible to start schooling in native language. The development of the literary language occurs in two interrelated ways: the deployment of the internal potentialities of the language itself and under the influence of Russian.

The Karakalpaks as a people were formed from various tribes and nationalities of the Aral Sea region. This process took place in antiquity and in the Middle Ages and was associated with the ethnogenesis of other Turkic peoples, primarily Kazakhs and Uzbeks. As a nation, the Karakalpaks were formed in the 15th - 16th centuries. The Karakalpak nation was formed during the Soviet era in the process of building a socialist society.

Today, the Karakalpaks make up 31% of the population of the autonomous republic of the same name, which is part of the Uzbek SSR. There are 236 thousand Soviet Karakalpaks. They, in addition to the Kara-Kalpak ASSR, also live in the Khorezm and Fergana regions of Uzbekistan, the Tashauz region of Turkmenistan, some regions of Kazakhstan and in the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation. Of the total number of Soviet Karakalpaks, 228,002 people. Karakalpak is considered their native language, 878 - Russian and 7129 people - Uzbek and other languages. A small number of Karakalpaks live in Afghanistan (about 2 thousand).

The Karakalpak language by its origin is most closely related to the Kazakh and Nogai languages. It “was formed among the Kypchak tribes, which were part of the tribal unions of the Kypchak-Polovtsians, first in the Golden Horde, and later in the Great Nogai Horde. From the composition of the latter by the 15th - 16th centuries. some nationalities emerged, including the Kazakh and Karakalpak "Baskakov N. A. Karakalpak language. - In the book: Languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR, vol. II, p. 301 ..

In Karakalpakstan, even before the revolution, there was a local version of the common Central Asian literary language, the so-called "Turki". However, literacy was extremely low (no more than 2% of the population), which minimized the importance of this language.

The problems of writing and literary language were resolved only in the Soviet era. In 1924, a reformed Arabic alphabet was adopted. But its difficulty in spreading literacy among the population has become a hindrance to the development of the language. Four years later, in 1928, it was replaced by the Latinized alphabet. On August 1, 1940, writing was transferred to the base of Russian graphics.

The Kumyks (self-name - "Kumuk") as a people were formed in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. NS. Along with the ancient tribes of Dagestan, alien Türkic-speaking tribes, especially the Kipchaks (Polovtsians), whose language was adopted by local aboriginal tribes, took part in the formation of the Kumyk people. Anthropological data and the main features of the culture and life of the Kumyks indicate the decisive role of the indigenous population in the formation of the Kumyk people.

There are about 190 thousand Kumyks. Kumyks inhabit the northern Caspian regions of the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Small groups live! also in the Chechen-Ingush and North Ossetian ASSR.

The term "kumyk" is interpreted in different ways. Some associates it with the word kimaki (kypchaki), others with the name of the Lak village of Kazikumukh, and still others with the word kum (sand). The mountain peoples of Dagestan, until recently, called the Kumyks the inhabitants of the plain, the steppe.

The Kumyk language is divided into three dialects: Buinak, Khasavvyurt, Kaitak. The first two formed the basis of the literary language, from which the Kaitak dialect differs in a number of phonetic, lexical, morphological and syntactic features.

The formation of the Kumyk literary language began only after the revolution. The written tradition has existed since at least the second half of the XIX v. Basically, only the church actively used the letter. Individual works of art also appeared. An example is Osman-zade (Muhammad Osmanov) "Collection of Nogai and Kumyk Poems", published in St. Petersburg in 1883.

The Kumyk script was first based on the Arabic script. However, "the Arabic alphabet, which poorly reflected the features of the Kumyk phonetic system, noticeably interfered with the elimination of illiteracy among the Kumyk people" ( Gadzhieva N. 3. The Kumyk language, - In the book: The languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR, p. 114.) and was subsequently (in 1929) replaced by the Latinized alphabet. At present (since 1938) Kumyk graphics are based on Russian writing signs.

Kumyk is one of the six literary languages ​​of Dagestan with which it interacts. But the Kumyk language is especially influenced by the Russian language. Even before the revolution, the well-known Hungarian Turkologist Y. Nemeth pointed out the beneficial prospects of this mutual influence, who in 1910 made a trip to the Caucasus to study the Balkar and Kumyk languages. After the revolution, the influx of Russian borrowings into the Kumyk language increased significantly, which contributes to the expansion expressive possibilities language of the Kumyks.

The Karachay-Balkar language serves two nationalities - the Karachais and the Balkars. The first (112741 people) live in the southern regions of the Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Region, and the Balkars, numbering 59501 people. inhabit the southern and southwestern regions of the Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. For a long time they lived in the neighborhood with the Kabardians, Circassians and other peoples, which led to the mutual enrichment of their cultures. In the distant past, Balkars and Karachais had common ancestors, as evidenced by their common language. This language is "a fragment of the language of the Turkic tribe, which gave the name to the Alanian union of tribes" ( See: On the origin of the Balkars and Karachais. Nalchik, 1960, p. 251.). The Karachais call themselves "Karachayly", and the Balkars call themselves "Taulu", which means "Chors". It is curious that up to now both nationalities (Karachais and Balkars) often call themselves Alans. The same word is used in addressing them by part of the Ossetians (Digors).

In the conditions of Soviet reality, the commonality of the two nationalities is in many respects strengthened thanks to uniform objective processes that bring all Soviet peoples closer together.

The Karachai-Balkarian language in writing in the first place began to develop as a literary language only in the Soviet era. Writing existed first on a Latin basis (from 1924), then on a Russian basis.

Due to the lack of written language before the revolution, the authors of the few studies on the Karachai-Balkarian language dealt with dialects and often talked about the existence of two independent languages ​​- Karachai and Balkar. The question of dialectal division has not been finally resolved to this day. However, as the results of the last dialectological study of the language show, two dialects should be distinguished in it - the Karachay-Baksan-Chegem (choking) and Balkarian (clicking), as well as the mixed Holam-Byzyngiev dialect.

The literary language is based on the Karachai-Baksan-Chegem dialect.

A successfully developing literary language uses the wealth of all dialects and dialects and, for its part, influences them. The development of a single literary language is largely facilitated by the works of scientists (U.B. Aliev, A.M. Appaev, N. A. Baskakov, A. K, Borovkov, A. T. Baziev, A. Kh. Sottaev, A. Zh . Budaeva, V.I. Filonenko, M.A.Khabichev, R.M.Shaumyan and others), as well as works of writers (A. Budaev, K. Kuliev, K. Otarov, etc.)

The Gagauz language is widespread in the southern regions of the Moldavian SSR and the adjacent regions of the Odessa region of the Ukrainian SSR. Separate Gagauz villages exist in Kazakhstan and Central Asia (from 1910-1914). In total, the Gagauz people are 157 thousand people, of which 94% recognize Gagauz as their native language, 4.9 thousand - Russian, 2.5 thousand - Moldovan and other languages. 100 thousand Gagauz live in Moldova.

The Gagauzians moved to the present places in late XVIII- the beginning of the XIX century. from northeastern Bulgaria, together with part of the Bulgarians and settled here as "Bulgarian colonists" of Tsarist Russia. A smaller part of the people remained in Bulgaria, where they still live. Gagauz is considered to be the descendants of the Bulgarians who were forcibly Turkified in the 14th-19th centuries, but who retained their Orthodox faith (all other Turkic-speaking peoples were Muslims in the past). This is evidenced by the fact that they differ little in culture and life from their neighbors, the Bulgarians.

The Gagauz language is closest in its structure to the Turkish dialects of northeastern Bulgaria. On this basis, some "foreign Türkologists attribute it to Turkish dialects. Soviet Türkologists consider Gagauz an independent language. It stands somewhat apart from the bulk of the Turkic languages, which is explained by the long-term influence of Slavic (Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian) and Romance (Moldavian and Romanian ) languages.

The Gagauz people have attracted the attention of scientists relatively recently. At the end of the XIX century. Russian ethnographer V. A. Moshkov collected extensive ethnographic and folklore materials from the Bessarabian Gagauz. The well-known Soviet Turkologist, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR N.K.Dmitriev, who gave the first scientific description of the grammar and vocabulary of a little-known language, began to study them in the 30s and 40s. After the Great Patriotic War, the study of the Gagauz language was continued by his students and local scientists (L. A. Pokrovskaya, B. P. Gafarov, T. G. Kolyakina-Kaledina, etc.).

Attempts to create a Gagauz written language were undertaken in 1910: the Chisinau diocese published church books translated by the archpriest of the Gagauz M. Chakir (based on the Russian, then Romanian alphabet). He also compiled a short Gagauz-Romanian dictionary. This writing did not become widespread among the population.

Only relatively recently, on July 30, 1957, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR, the writing in the Gagauz language was introduced. The alphabet consists of Russian letters with the addition of three characters (adopted to denote front vowels), a total of 36 characters in the alphabet.

Currently, the Gagauz written language is being introduced into school education. They publish books and newspapers there, which undoubtedly has a beneficial effect on the cultural development of the people.

The Gagauz language splits into two dialects: central (Ceadirlung-Komrat) and southern (Vulka-Nest); the written language is built on the basis of the first, but using some features of the second.

In the vocabulary of the language, the entire history of the people is reflected in a peculiar way. The main part of the vocabulary consists of the South Turkic vocabulary. Along with this, a significant number of Slavic and Romance, as well as Greek, Arabic, Persian borrowings are found in the Gagauz language.

In the Soviet era, new words acquired from the Russian language appear in the Gagauz language, such as collective farm, workday, school, radio, district committee, machine, communist, pioneer, satellite, cosmonaut etc. The ongoing terminological work contributes to the revitalization of the word-formation possibilities of the Gagauz language itself.

Tuvan is the language of the main population (59%) of the Tuva ASSR. In total, there are 139.4 thousand Tuvans in the USSR, of which about 135 thousand live in their republic, that is, 98%. In the republic, in the vicinity of the Tuvan population, there are Russians (about 89 thousand), Khakases (2.1 thousand), Urains (1.3 thousand), etc. A small group of Tuvinians settled in the urban settlements of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. There are also Tuvans in Mongolia.

During the 1959 census, the following were indicated as the native language: 99.2 thousand - Tuvan, 801 - Russian, 128 - other languages; according to the 1970 census, 39% of all Tuvans are fluent in Russian.

Tuvans call themselves Tuva, Kizhi, Tylavar; there are also several ethnonyms in the literature: Uryankhais, Soyots, Soyons, Tannu-Tukians.

The Tuvan language has retained a number of archaic features that bring it closer to the Old Oguz, Old Uigur and Tofalar (Karagas) languages, with them it forms a special Uygur-Tukuy subgroup of the Uyghur group of Turkic languages. But even within this subgroup, the Tuvan language stands out for its peculiarities in the field of phonetics, grammar and vocabulary (a significant number of Mongolian borrowings, the presence of elements of the ancient Finpo-Ugric and Samoyed languages).

The dialectal division of the language has not yet been established with sufficient completeness. Experts outline several dialect zones: the central zone is represented by the central dialect, which forms the basis of the common spoken and literary language, this zone includes the Ovur and Piy-Khem dialects; western zone (western dialect influenced by the Altai language); the northeastern zone (Todzhin dialect), the speech of the Tuvinians of this zone is characterized by a peculiar rhythmic-melodic side - the nasalized coloration of speech; southeastern zone (southeastern dialect), a significant influence of the Mongolian language is observed in the dialects of this zone.

Before the establishment of Soviet power, the language of the Tuvans, who did not have a written language, functioned in very narrow spheres of family life and a primitive patriarchal economy. After Tuva became part of the Soviet Union, wide opportunities for the flourishing of Tuvan culture opened up.

In 1930, the foundation was laid for a literary language, which began to develop on the basis of Latinized writing, and from 1941 on the basis of Russian graphics.

Other languages ​​have a great influence on the development of the Tuvan language.

In the Middle Ages (starting from the 12th century), the Tuvan language intensively interacted with Mongolian. The neighboring dialects of the two languages ​​constantly influenced each other, and through them many borrowed words also entered the language. Favorable was the fact that for some time before the national liberation revolution (1921) in Tuva, office work was conducted in the Mongolian language. This tradition continued during the first decade after the formation of the Tuvan People's Republic. Newspapers and books were also published in Mongolian. This could not but affect the nature of the interaction of languages: the Mongolian language exerted more influence on the Pa Tuvinian than the other eastern languages.

Recently, the most significant influence of the Russian language, from which many words and terms are borrowed, associated with the new, socialist way of life, production and culture.

All this made it possible to increase the pace of development of the Tuvan literary language, which is now used for school teaching, radio and television programs, newspapers, magazines, and books are published.

The Uyghur language is sometimes also called the New Uyghur language. Most of the Uighurs live in the PRC (3640 thousand people). Soviet ushurs live mainly in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Their number is 173.2 thousand people, of which about 153 thousand consider Uyghur as their native language, over 10.5 thousand - Uzbek, 4800 - Russian, and about 4500 - other languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR.

Uygur in the past was called “taranchi” (farmers), “kashgarlyk” (resident of Kashkar), “turpanlyk” (resident of Turfan), “aksuluk” (resident of Aksu), etc. The ethnonym “Uygur” has been known since the time of ancient Turkic inscriptions (VIII - IX centuries), found on the river. Orkhon in Mongolia. After about the 15th century. this name disappears for a long time and is revived on the initiative of the famous Soviet Turkologist S. E. Malov, whose proposal was accepted by the Congress of representatives of the Uyghur intelligentsia, held in 1921 in Alma-Ata.

The Uyghur language has a long and complex history. Back in the X - XI centuries. in the era of the Karakhanid state, a literary language was formed on its basis, which did not develop. As a result, in the 17th century. the literary language is formed anew, its gradual rapprochement with the common language takes place. The processes of democratization of the literary language were reflected in the works of Uyghur poets and writers of the 17th - 19th centuries: Khirkiti, Novbati, Zelili, Abdreyim Nizari, Molla Shakir, Molla Bilal, etc.

However, even during this period, one can speak about the literary language only very conditionally, since the illiteracy among the population was very high.

Only a few could use writing, and the so-called literary language was used mainly in oral form.

The true national literary language of the Uyghur was formed only in the Soviet era, which is associated with the revival and socio-economic progress of the people themselves.

The Uyghur literary language has a single dialectal base. However, due to a number of extralinguistic factors - the presence of different alphabets, different attitudes in term creation and spelling, etc. - some originality appeared in the tendencies of the further development of a single language.

The dialectal division of the Uighur language can be represented as follows: the northwestern, or central, dialect includes Turfan, Kuchar, Aksu, Kashgar, Karashar, Korlin dialects; Eastern, or Lobnar, dialect; southern, or Khotanese, dialect.

The central dialect is considered to be the mainstay for the modern literary language.

As with the literary language, the writing traditions were often interrupted. Back in the VIII century. the Uighurs were written in the New Sogdian alphabet. Since the XI century. they began to use Arabic script. In parallel with this, in some areas of Central Asia up to the XVIII century. continued to use the ancient Uigur script.

In 1930, the Soviet Uighurs switched to the Latinized script, and from 1946 to the new, Russian alphabet.

The Uyghur language has long attracted the attention of scholars. In Soviet times, a lot of work was carried out on its study by S.E. Malov, A.K.Borovkov, N.A. Baskakov, K.K. Yudakhin, V.M. Nasilov, E.N. Nadzhip, E.R. Te -nishev, AT Kaidarov, IA Ismailov, KM Melisv and others. Their works are not only of purely theoretical significance, but also play an important role in the development of the Uyghur literary language.

The Khakass language is spread along the middle reaches of the Yenisei and its tributaries - the Abakan and the upper reaches of the Chulym. The number of Khakass is 66.7 thousand, of which 63.7 thousand consider Khakass as their native language, and 65.6% are fluent in Russian. The absolute majority of Khakass - 90% (48.5 thousand people) - live in the Khakass Autonomous Region (except for them, Russians, Ukrainians, Mordovians, Tatars, Belarusians, etc. live in the region). Small groups of Khakass are settled in the Tuva Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and the Tomsk Region.

Before the revolution, the Khakases did not have a common self-name and represented a number of tribes (Kachin, Kyzyl, Sagay, Koibals, Beltyrs, Shors, etc.), known as Minusinsk (or Abakan) Tatars and Abakan (or Yenisei) Turks. As the well-known Türkologist V.V. Radlov wrote, various tribes that make up a variegated mixture, "as a result of long-term living together, merged into one compact whole both in the way of life and in language" ( Radlov V.V. Ethnographic review of the Turkish tribes of Siberia and Mongolia. Irkutsk, 1929, p. 15.). In the Soviet era, these tribes consolidated into a single socialist nation, adopting the name of the ancient Kyrgyz in its Chinese transcription "Khakass".

The modern Khakass language, according to the tribes that took part in the formation of the Khakass nationality, consists of a number of dialects. They survived in varying degrees... Once independent Beltyr and Koibal dialects obey the most common dialects (Kachin and Sagai) and exist as dialects. Other dialects have in many ways become close, the Sagai and Kachin dialects have the greatest independence. They also formed the basis of the literary language (with a clear predominance of elements of the first), which in its development also widely uses the wealth of other dialects.

The famous Soviet Turkologist N.A.Baskakov classifies the dialects of the Khakass language according to phonetic and morphological characteristics, establishing two groups ( The languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR in writing, p. 155 ff. 140.).

The first group - the Sagai-Beltir (or the group of whistling dialects) - consists of the modern Sagai dialect and the once assimilated independent Boltir dialect.

The second group - the Kachin-Koebal-Kyzyl (or the group of hissing dialects) - consists of the Kachin dialect (together with the Kamasin dialect); Koibal (now assimilated, on the one hand, by the Sagai, and on the other, by the Kachin dialect); Kyzyl (together with the Kyuerik dialect), which occupies a somewhat separate position; The Shor dialect approaches the neighboring closely related Shor language.

The Khakass language is a typical early-written language, that is, writing and literary practice in it began only during the years of Soviet power. The development of the Khakass writing system is usually divided into three stages. The first stage covers the period from the establishment of Soviet power to 1928. On the basis of Russian graphics, the Khakass alphabet (1924) was first developed by a special commission of the Khakass Revolutionary Committee. The second stage (1928 - 1938) is considered the period of the romanization of the Khakass alphabet. Third, final stage begins in 1939, when a new alphabet was developed, again based on Russian graphics.

At first, the literary language was focused on the Kachin dialect (a certain role was played by the fact that at that time the majority of literate people turned out to be representatives of this dialect), and in the following decades - on the Sagai dialect.

During the Soviet period, the literary language has come a long way in its development.

The development of the literary language is influenced by the Russian language, which is the second language for many Khakass. A significant number of Russian words enter the Khakass language through literature and from the oral speech of the Russian population.

The Altai language serves the indigenous population of the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Region of the Altai Territory. Altaians - 55.8 thousand people, of whom about 49 thousand consider Altai as their native language, and about 7 thousand - Russian. The bulk of the Altaians (over 90% of the entire nationality) are settled in their region. They make up 24.2% in it, in addition to them Russians (69.8%), Kazakhs, Ukrainians, etc. live here.

There are two groups of Altaians - southern and northern. The first includes the Altaians proper (or Altai-Kizhi), settled in the basin of the Katun River, the upper reaches of the Charysh and Peschanaya rivers: Maimians, Telengits - in the basins of the Chulyshman, Chui and Argut rivers; Teleuts - in the basins of the Cherga and Maima rivers and in the steppe region along the Bolshaya and Malaya Bachatu rivers. They all formed on the ancient Türkic ethnic base, supplemented by the later Türkic and Mongolian elements that penetrated Altai in the 13th - 14th centuries.

The Northern Altaians were probably formed from the Ugric, Samoyed and Ket tribes assimilated by the Turks. This group is subdivided into Tubalars (on the left bank of the upper Biya and on the northwestern shore of Lake Teletskoye), Lebedins (living in the Swan River basin) and Kumandins (along the middle course of the Biya).

According to the composition of the nationality and language, the Altai dialectally is divided into southern and northern dialect groups.

The southern group includes three main dialects: Altai (Ongudayskiy, UstkaEskiy, Elimkanarskiy and Shebalinskiy aimags); Gelengit (Ulagan and part of the Kosh-Agach aimag) with the Telengit-Te-les and Chuy dialects; Teleutsky (part of the Shebalinsky aimag and the Mayminsky aimag of the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Okrug, as well as the Chumyshsky District of the Altai Territory and the Belovsky District of the Novosibirsk Region).

The northern group also consists of three dialects: tuba (Choi and Turachak aimags); Kumandinsky (Tura-Chak aimak of Gorno-Altai Autonomous Okrug, as well as Solton and Sgarobardinsky districts of Altai Territory) with Turachak, Solton and Starobardin dialects; Chalkan (Turachak aimak).

In parallel with the formation of the Altai nationality, the process of leveling out dialect differences took place, which intensified during the years of Soviet power, when the literary language of the Altaians was developing.

Writing in the Altai language was first established in the 40s of the last century by representatives of the Altai spiritual mission. The basis written language the Teleut dialect was established. The published book products were mainly of a religious nature. Along with this, individual monuments of secular literature have survived.

The national literary language of the Altaians was formed only after the revolution. In 1923, on the basis of Russian graphics, a new alphabet was developed and introduced, which existed until 1928. For the next decade, writing was based on the Latin alphabet. In 1938 the alphabet was again translated into Russian.

In the same year, the first set of rules for the Altai spelling, compiled by T.M.Toshchakova, was approved. The created regional commission of language and literature contributes to the strengthening of work in the field of language construction. This task is greatly facilitated by the research of a number of scientists (N. A. Baskakova, N. P. Dyrenkova, T. M. Toshchakova, etc.).

The Nogai language is spoken mainly in Stavropol Territory and in the Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Region. Separate groups of Nogais live in the Astrakhan Region, Krasnodar Territory and the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The number of Nogais is 51.8 thousand people. Not everyone uses their literary language. Among the Astrakhan Nogays, the Tatar language is widespread, and among some of the Dagestan Nogais (in the Khasav-Yurt and Baba-Yurt regions) - the Kumyk language.

The Karakalpak and Kazakh languages ​​are closest to Nogai; all three languages ​​are included in the Kypchak-Nogais subgroup of the Turkic languages. The Nogays, Karakalpaks and Kazakhs historically separated from the Big Nogai Horde, which in an earlier period split from the Golden Horde.

Before the revolution, an insignificant part of the Nogai used Arabic script. The language of writing was a North Caucasian version of the common Turkic written language "Türsh" and had a narrow sphere of application.

The national literary language appeared among the Nogais only after the October Revolution. At first (30s) Nogai graphics were latinized, since 1938 it was based on the Russian alphabet, to which two-letter designations were added to convey specific Nogai phonemes ah, uv, ob, nb.

The spoken Nogai language is divided into three main dialects: Nogai proper, Kara-Nogai and Ak-Nogai, the differences between which are largely erased under the influence of the literary written language.

The Shor language is widespread in the northern foothills of Altai, in the Kuznetsk Alatau, along the Tom River and its tributary to Kondomy and Mrassy, ​​on the territory bordering the Khakass and Gorno-Altai autonomous regions.

Shorsev - about 16.3 thousand people, of which 73% consider Shor their native language, 50% know Russian well.

In literature (especially pre-revolutionary) Shorts were often called blinders, black Tatars, Mrasts, Kondoms, Mras Tatars, Kondomsk Tatars, Kuznetsk Tatars, Tomsk-Kuznetsk Tatars, Abints, etc.

The Shor language splits into two main dialects: Mras, which is spoken by the Shors living along the river. Mrasse and in the upper reaches of the Tom; Kondoma, which is spoken by the Shors living along the Kondoma River and in the lower reaches of the Tom (it is adjacent to the northern dialects of the Altai language).

Before the revolution, the Shors did not have a written language. In Soviet times, an alphabet was created based on Russian graphics. In 1927, the first letter was published on it, and the first Shor newspaper began to be printed. In 192E the Shors switched to the Latinized alphabet. Ten years later (in 1939) the Shors again switched to the old alphabet (based on Russian graphics).

Writing in the Shor language is developing poorly and it is hardly possible to speak about the established literary language.

The study of the Shor language was and is being done almost exclusively by Russian scientists - V.V. Radlov. B. PL Verbitsky, N. F. Katanov, S. E. Malov, N. P, Dyrenkova and others.

The language of the Baraba Tatars has long been widespread in the region of the Chapovsky lakes and the adjacent part of the Barabinsk steppe between the Irtysh and Ob, in a number of districts of the Novosibirsk region (Barabinsky, Kuibyshevsky, Chanovsky, Kargatsky, Kyshtovsky, Severny, etc.). Baraba Tatars - about 8 thousand people.

The name of the people is “paraba”, which is pronounced “baraba” in Russian. The place of settlement is Paraba-Barabinskaya steppe. The folk etymology of this word is associated with a Turkic verb steam-, in negative form steam-ma-, which means "not to go", "not to go."

In the north, the Barabinians have long been in close contact with the Finno-Ugric tribes. In areas inhabited by Barabinians, from the end of the 16th century. Bukharians begin to move, then Russians and Tatars from the European part of Russia. At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 20th century. the most intensive resettlement of Tatars from the Volga region to these areas is observed. Relations with other peoples largely determined their influence on the economic, cultural and linguistic development of the Barabinians.

The language of the Baraba Tatars came to the attention of scientists for a relatively long time, although it has not yet been sufficiently studied. Even in the famous "Comparative dictionaries of all languages ​​and dialects" published by P. S. Pallas ( Comparative dictionaries of all languages ​​and dialects collected by the right hand of the highest person, parts I-II. SPb., 1787-1789.), the Baraba dictionary is numbered 99 and is referred to as "Tatar on Baraba". In 1872 VV Radlov published the texts of "dialects of Barabin, Farsk, Tobolsk and Tyumen Tatars" he collected in Siberia. In Soviet times, dialectologists of Tatarstan are engaged in the language of Barabinians (L. Zalyaia et al.).

The question of the dialectal division of the language of the Baraba Tatars has been insufficiently studied. Writing in this language does not exist due to the small size of the population and its bilingualism. As a literary language, the people of Barabin use Tatar, which is used in school teaching, newspapers, magazines, books, etc. are printed. Along with this, people in Barabin widely use Russian in their daily life.

The Karaim language belongs to the northwestern (Kipchak) group of Turkic languages. According to the last census, there are 4,600 Karaites. Of these, over 12.8% showed Karaite as their native language, over 11% - Russian and about 21.4% - other languages.

Karaites are descendants of tribes that were part of the VIII-X centuries. part Khazar Kaganate... At the end of the XIV - beginning of the XV century. Karaites moved to the territory of Lithuania and Ukraine. Their language was the basis for the formation of Western dialects of the Karaite language.

At present, the Karaites live in islands in Lithuania, in the Crimea and in the city of Galich, Ivano-Frankivsk region of the Ukrainian SSR.

The non-written Karaite language is represented by two main dialects: Trakai, which is widespread in Vilnius, Paievzhis and Trakai (Lithuanian SSR), and Galician, which is spoken in Galich.

The Chulym-Turkic language belongs to the unwritten language and has been little studied. It is distributed along the coast of the river. Chulym, the right tributary of the Ob. There is no official information on the number of native speakers ( See: Dulzon A.P. Chulym Tatars and their language, - Uch.zap. Tomsk, ped. in-ta, 1952, v. XI.).

The Chulym-Turkic language splits into two dialects - Lower Chulym and Middle Chulym, which have their own dialects. Differences between dialects are observed mainly in vocabulary and phonetics.

Knowledge of the Russian language is widespread among the Chulym Tatars. This also influenced the development of their language, in which a large number of Russian borrowings can be traced, which penetrated it over a long period of contact between the two languages ​​(starting from the 17th century).

The Crimean Tatar language is the native language for the Turkic-speaking population living on the Crimean peninsula, and currently in its bulk moved to the territory of the Uzbek SSR.

It belongs to the group of Kypchak languages, which includes Kumyk, Crimean-Karaite, separate dialects of Karakalpak, Uzbek, medieval-Kypchak, Cuman, which, to varying degrees, experienced the influence of the Oguz languages, mainly in the field of phonetics and vocabulary.

The literary language was formed on the basis of central dialects. The most ancient written monuments of the Crimean Tatar language date back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

The systematic scientific study of the Crimean Tatar language began only in Soviet times. Of particular importance were the dialectological expeditions carried out in 1935-1936. prof. N.K.Dmitriev.

Until 1928, the Crimean Tatar writing was based on the Arabic script, the next decade - on the Latin, and since 1938 it switched to Russian.

Mongolian languages

The genetic relationship of the Mongolian languages ​​with the Turkic and Tungus-Manchu languages ​​has not been fully proven. At the same time, family ties within the group itself are very obvious, which gives reason to single out Mongolian languages ​​especially among other linguistic groups and families.

The Mongolian languages ​​in the USSR include Buryat and Kalmyk; both are early-written languages.

The Mongolian peoples had a written language in ancient times. The earliest written monument ("Genghis's stone") dates back to 1225 ( See: Bertagaev T.A. Mongolian languages. Introductory article .- In the book: Languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR. vol. V, p. 7; Vladimirtsev B. Ya. Mongolian literary languages.- Zap. Institute of Oriental Studies., 1931, vol. 1, p. 5 et seq.) The history of the Mongolian written language is usually divided into three periods: ancient (XIII - XV centuries), middle (XV - mid XVII century) and classical (from the middle of the XVII to the first quarter of the XX century).

The development of Mongolian writing was initially subordinated mainly to the tasks of the Buddhist religion. At first, writing was not based on any dialectal basis. Thanks to this, various tribes could use a common script. The tendencies towards convergence of the written language with the peculiarities of speech of individual tribes appeared from the middle of the 17th century. However, before the October Revolution, neither the Buryats nor the Kalmyks had a common literary language.

The Buryat language is spoken mainly in the eponymous autonomous republic, as well as in the national districts of Ust-Orda (Irkutsk region) and Aginsky (Chita region).

Buryats in the Soviet Union - 314,671. Of these, about 92.6% consider Buryat their native language, 66.7% speak Russian well.

Slightly more than half of all Buryats are settled in the Buryat ASSR.

About 100 thousand people live outside the USSR. They are called bargu-burnt.

Before the revolution, the Buryats in some narrow spheres of life (mainly for religious purposes) used one of the styles of the classical literary Mongolian language. It was used for insignificant Buddhist and some everyday correspondence. However, this was typical only for the eastern Buryats, while the western ones did not have any writing at all. In the XIX century. only attempts were made to compile textbooks of the Buryat language based on Russian graphics.

In 1931 the letter of the Buryats was translated into Latin, and in 1938 - into Russian graphic basis.

The solution of the problems of the Buryat writing, as well as the writing of other peoples of the USSR, was associated with a number of socio-political problems: attitude to religion, the use of the classical past, etc. Therefore, their solution was accompanied (especially in the first period of the existence of Soviet power) by an acute struggle.

The translation of the Buryat script into Latinized graphics made it possible to achieve significant success in cultural construction. By 1939, 70% of Buryats were literate, and by 1938 - 90%; a universal initial training... A number of works by talented writers have appeared in literature (H. Namoaraev, P. Don, V. Abiduev, F. Fashinimaev, B. Bazarov, P. Nomtoev, N. Bardin, A. Shadayev, Ts. Galsanov, etc.) , which to a significant extent brought the literary language closer to colloquial folk speech.

The process of expanding the social functions of the literary language continued. It was further enhanced by the fact that the Buryat script was transferred to the Russian script. During this period, the flow of borrowings from the Russian language increased significantly. With the growth of book production and flourishing literary activity there is an increase in the stylistic differentiation of the language, which is a sign of the maturity of the literary language.

The Kalmyks (self-name - "khalmg") in their origin go back to the Oirats - medieval tribes, some of which in the first half of the 17th century. separated from the main mass in Dzungaria (North-West China) and migrated to the Urals, and then to the Caspian steppes. About a century later, some of the tribes migrated back to Dzungaria, while others - the ancestors of the Kalmyks - remained on the right bank of the lower Volga and settled here, mixing with groups of the local population.

In the first half of the 17th century. Kalmyks voluntarily entered the Russian state, which significantly accelerated progress in the economic and cultural life people. They enthusiastically accepted the October Revolution. During the period civil war special regiments of Kalmyk cavalry were organized under the leadership of V. Khomutov and Kh. Kanukov. OI Gorodovikov, an outstanding son of the Kalmyk people, became especially famous on the fronts of the civil war.

The number of Kalmyks in the Soviet Union reaches 137 thousand, of which 91.7% consider Kalmyk as their native language. The percentage of the Kalmyks who are fluent in Russian is also high (81%). The bulk of Kalmyks live in the autonomous republic of the same name, which is also inhabited by Russians (over 100 thousand people), Kazakhs, Ukrainians, Tatars, etc.

In the middle of the century, the so-called Mongolian vertical writing based on the Uyghur was in circulation among the Kalmyks. Its variety survived until the first years of Soviet power. However, this writing did not serve any broad masses of the population and was mainly an instrument of the Buddhist clergy.

In 1924, the Kalmyk intelligentsia compiled a new alphabet (based on Russian graphics), which played an important role in spreading literacy among the people.

In 1931 - 1938. Kalmyk writing developed on a Latin basis. In 1938 it was transferred again to the Russian graphic base (the alphabet was supplemented with w, k, e).

The Kalmyk language is divided into two main dialects: Torgut and Derbet. The literary language initially relied only on the Torgut dialect, but then another (Derbet) dialect began to be widely used.

In its development, the Kalmyk language widely uses borrowed vocabulary from Russian and other languages.

Tungus-Manchu languages

The Tungus-Manchu languages ​​belong to the languages ​​of the peoples of the Far North. Eight languages ​​from this group are recorded on the territory of the USSR: Even, Evenk, Nanai, Negidal, Ulch, Orok, Oroch, Udege. The languages ​​listed are comparatively poorly studied. Their common features have not been fully revealed, which undoubtedly testify to the commonality of their origin. The genetic connections of these languages ​​with other Altaic languages ​​- Turkic and Mongolian - are being studied. Writing exists only in the first three languages.

The Evenk (Tungus) language serves the largest ethnic group in the Far North. It is spoken by 12,899 people. In total, the Evenks are 25,149. Of these, 4141 consider Russian to be their native language, and 8109 - other languages. The Evenks are settled in a huge territory - from the Yenisei in the west to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the east (the Evenks live in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, in the Taimyr National District, in the Buryat and Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, in the Irkutsk, Tomsk, Chita Regions and in the Khabarovsk Territory). A number of Evenks live outside the USSR.

In the places of the most compact concentration of the Evenks, the Evenk National District was formed in 1930.

At the height of linguistic construction, in 1931, the Evenks received a writing system based on the dialects of the Podkamennaya Tunguska basin.

The Nanai (Gold) language is widespread in the Khabarovsk Territory (Nanaysky, Komsomolsky, Kur-Urmiysky Districts) and in the Primorsky Territory (Pozharsky and Yakovlevsky Districts). Nanai are a little over 10 thousand. Of these, 6911 people consider Nanai native, Russian 3063 consider Russian, 31 other languages. Their self-designation is "nanai-nana", which means "earth-man", that is, "local man". There is also another self-name "hedenai-hedeny" (a person who lives in the lower reaches of the river).

Nanai writing appeared in 1931 on a Latinized basis, in 1936 it was transferred to the basis of Russian graphics.

Even (Lamut) language is widespread in the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, in the Chukotka District of the Magadan Region, in the Koryak National District of the Kamchatka Region and in the Okhotsk Region Khabarovsk Territory... There are 12,029 Evenks in total. Of this number, 6,736 people. Even is called their native language, 1705 - Russian and 3588 people - other languages. Writing in the Even language See: Tsintsius V.I. Essay on the grammar of the Even (Lamut) language, part 1.L., 1947. created in 1931 on the basis of the Latin alphabet, and since 1936 it has existed on the basis of Russian graphics ...

The same group includes languages: Ulchi, Oroch, Nsgpdal, Orok and Udege (Udei).

Between these language groups. Some linguists believe that both theories are in equilibrium; they are called "skeptics."

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✪ Nature & Culture in Altai language

Subtitles

Internal classification

According to the most common point of view, the Altai family includes the Turkic languages, Mongolian languages, Tunguso-Manchu languages, in the maximum version also the Korean language and the Japanese-Ryukyu languages ​​(the relationship with the latter two groups is debatable).

External relationship

Within the framework of one of the approaches of modern macrocomparative studies, the Altai family is included in the Nostratic macrofamily. This position, however, has been criticized by various experts, it is considered very controversial and its conclusions are not accepted by many comparativists, who view the theory of Nostratic languages ​​as either, at worst, completely erroneous or, at best, simply unconvincing. At first, the Altai and Uralic languages ​​were considered related. At present, scientists have moved away from this idea, only some of them (D. Nemet, M. Ryasyanen, B. Kollinder) admit the explanation of the lexical parallels in the Uralic and Altaic languages ​​by their relationship.

Grammatical characteristics of the proto-language and its development

Phonology

Notes (edit)

1. I. V. Kormushin Altai languages. // Linguistic encyclopedic Dictionary... - M .: Soviet encyclopedia... Ch. ed. V.N. Yartseva. 1990.
2. Georg et al. 1999: 73-74
3. Altaic languages (unspecified) ... Encyclopedia Britannica.
4. Interactive Maps The Altaic Family from The Tower of Babel
5. Languages ​​of the world. Turkic languages ​​(1996). P.7
6. Georg et al. 1999: 81
7. 2006. "Methodological Observations on Some Recent Studies of the Early Ethnolinguistic History of Korea and Vicinity." Altai Hakpo 2006, 16: 199-234.
8. Alexander Vovin, 2005. "Koguryǒ and Paekche: Different Languages ​​or Dialects of Old Korean?" Journal of Inner and East Asian Studies, 2005, Vol. 2-2: 108-140.

(based on the book: "Peoples of Russia: Atlas of Cultures and Religions")

Peoples living in Russia. Rice. E. M. Korneeva. 1812 g.

Russia differs not only in vast expanses, rich history and culture, but also the ethnic and religious diversity of the population. Representatives of more than 150 nationalities of all world confessions make up the people of Russia.
Today, ethnographers and historians often know the features of traditional culture (folk costume, types of dwelling, economic structure, etc.) better than the average representative of almost any of the peoples. In the XX century, with social and economic development, with the process of urbanization and the growth of social mobility, the population of the country was actively involved in the culture of supra-ethnic and secular, therefore, ethnographic descriptions of everyday life and folklore are largely historical in nature.
The classification presented below is based on the "ethno-linguistic" principle - peoples are grouped by language families and branches into which these families are divided.
The classification is arbitrary, since the division occurs according to the language, which can be lost or preserved only in a passive form.

Indo-European language family

Little Russians (Ukrainians). Hood. K.F.Gun. 1862 g.

In Russia, there are 8 branches of the Indo-European language family: Slavic, Baltic, Germanic, Romance, Greek, Armenian, Iranian, Indo-Aryan.
The Slavic branch includes Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, as well as Bulgarians and Serbs.
Lithuanians and Latvians belong to the Baltic (Letto-Lithuanian) branch of the Indo-European language family in Russia.

Valach and Moldovan. Hood. K.F.Gun. 1862 g.

The Germanic language branch includes Germans, Americans, British and Ashkenazi Jews.
The Romance language branch is represented in Russia by Moldovans, Romanians, Spaniards, Cubans, Italians, and French.
The Greek language branch includes the Greeks.

Kurd. Armenian. Fig. from the book of GF Pauli "Peoples of Russia". 1862 g.

The Armenian branch unites Armenians with the Hemshils who are close to them in origin.
The Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family in Russia includes Ossetians, Tajiks, Pashtuns, Persians, Central Asian Gypsies, Central Asian Jews, Mountain Jews, Tats, Talyshs, Kurds, Yezndis.
The Indo-Aryan language branch includes Gypsies (excluding Central Asian) and Hindi-speaking Indians living in Russia.

Uralic-Yukaghir language family

Zyryanka (Komi). Votyachka (Udmurt). Votyak (udmurt). Zyryanin (Komi). Fig. from the book of GF Pauli "Peoples of Russia". 1862 g.

The Ural-Yukaghir language family is represented in Russia by all three groups: Finno-Ugric, Samoyed and Yukaghir.
The largest Finno-Ugric branch unites Karelians, Finns, Izhorians, Vods, Estonians, Vepsians, Sami, Mordovians, Mari, Udmurts, Besermyans, Komi, Komi-Permians, Khanty, Mansi, Hungarians.
The Samoyed branch includes the Nenets, Emts, Nganasans and Selkups.
Two peoples can be attributed to the Yukaghir language branch: the Yukaghirs and the Chuvans.

Altai language family

Bashkirs. Fig. from the book of GF Pauli "Peoples of Russia". 1862 g.

This family is divided into five branches: Turkic, Mongolian, Tungus-Manchu, Korean, and Japanese.
The Turkic branch in Russia includes: Chuvash, Tatars, Kryashens, Nagaybaks, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Nogais, Kumyks, Karachais, Balkars, Crimean Tatars, Krymchaks, Karaites, Azerbaijanis, Turks, Meskhetian Turks, Gagmenauzes, Uzbeks Uyghurs, Kyrgyz, Altai, Telengits, Teleuts, Tubalars, Chelkans, Kumandins, Chulyms, Shors, Khakases, Tuvinians, Tofalars, Soyots, Yakuts, Dolgans.

Armed Yakut. Lithography. 1803 g.

The Mongolian branch of the Altai language family is represented in Russia by Buryats, Kalmyks and Mongols.
The Tungus-Manchu branch of the Altai language family in the Russian Federation includes the Evenks, Evens, Negidal, Nanai, Ulchi, Uilta, Orochi, Udege and Tazy.
The Japanese and Koreans form separate branches of the Altai language family.

North Caucasian language family

Chechen. Lezgin. Fig. from the book of GF Pauli "Peoples of Russia". 1862 g.

The North Caucasian language family is divided into two branches: Abkhazian-Adyghe and Nakh-Dagestan.
The Abkhazian-Adyghe branch unites Abkhazians, Abazins, Kabardians, Circassians, Adyghes and Shapsugs.
The second branch of the North Caucasian language family - Nakh-Dagestan - unites Chechens, Ingush, Avars, 13 Ando-Tsez peoples, as well as Archins, Laks, Dargins, Kubachins, Kaitags, Tabasaran, Lezgins, Aguls, Rutuls, Tsakhurs, Udins.

Paleoasian peoples

Aleuts. Fig. from the book of GF Pauli "Peoples of Russia". 1862 g.

Scientists conventionally call 10 peoples of Russia Paleo-Asian. These are probably the descendants of the most ancient, Dotungus, population of Eastern Eurasia. Of these, only 5 peoples of the Chukchi-Kamchatka language family speak related languages.

Reindeer Chukchi. Fig. from the book of GF Pauli "Peoples of Russia". 1862 g.

Some linguists also distinguish the Yenisei and Eskimo-Aleutian language families, but this division is not generally accepted.
The Chukchi-Kamchatka family includes the Chukchi, Koryaks, Kereks, which make up the Chukchi-Koryak language branch, and Itelmen with Kamchadals, which form the Itelmen language branch. Among the Koryaks, a group of Alyutors is distinguished, who are sometimes considered an independent people.
The peoples of this group also include the Eskimos, Aleuts, Kets and Nivkhs.

Kartvelian language family

Georgians and Georgian Jews form the Kartvelian language family. The Georgians also include a number of groups that some researchers consider to be separate peoples - these are Mingrelians, Lazes, Svans, Adjarians, Ingiloys.

Afrasian language family

Arabs, Central Asian Arabs and Assyrians belong to the Afrasian (Semitic-Hamitic) language family.

Sino-Tibetan language family

The Sino-Tibetan language family is represented in Russia by the Chinese and Dungans.

Austroasian language family

There are also representatives of the Austro-Asian family in Russia, these are Vietnamese living in our country.

The Altai language family is a macrofamily of languages ​​spoken by different peoples living in western, central and northern Asia, as well as in Eastern Europe. 39 Altai languages ​​are spoken in total approx. 200 million people. The macrofamily includes three commonly distinguished families: Tungus-Manchu (9 languages, less than 200 thousand speakers), Mongolian (8 languages, about 6 million speakers) and Turkic (21 languages, about 115 million speakers). At present, it has also been proven that it belongs to the Altai family of the Korean and Japanese languages. The Altai language family is part of the Nostratic macrofamily, within which it is characterized by a special closeness to the Uralic and Dravidian families.

The emergence of scientific altaistics is associated with the names of B. Ya. Vladimirtsov, G. J. Ramstedt and N. N. Poppe. G. Ramstedt substantiated the kinship of not only Turkic, Mongolian and Tungus-Manchu languages, but also Korean. Subsequently, R. Miller put forward, and S. A. Starostin finally substantiated belonging to the same family of the Japanese language. A number of researchers (G. D. Sanzheev, A. M. Shcherbak, J. Clawson, A. Rona-Tash, A. Vovin, S. Georg, G. Dörfer, J. Yanhunen, V. L. Kotvich, D. Nemeth , L. Ligeti, D. Sinor) consider the kinship of the Altai languages ​​unproven, deny the previous theory of a single Altai proto-language, explain the external kinship of the Turkic, Mongolian and Tungusic languages ​​on the basis of their convergence (convergence), and not divergence from one root, leaving behind the Altai community only areal and typological status.

GRAMMATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE Phonology Phonological systems sovr. Altaic languages ​​have a number of common properties. Consonantism: restrictions on the occurrence of phonemes in the position of the beginning of a word, a tendency to weakening in the initial position, restrictions on the compatibility of phonemes, a tendency to an open syllable. Noisy explosives are usually opposed by strength-weakness or voiced-deafness; glottalisation does not occur. These systems are the development of the system of phonemes restored for the Pra-Altai language.

Morphology In the area of ​​typology, the Altaic languages ​​are characterized by agglutination of the suf of the fixed type. There are also certain typological differences: if Western Türkic languages ​​are a classical example of lutinative languages ​​and have almost no fusion, then in Mongolian morphology we find a number of fusional processes, as well as not only morphological, but also morphological distributions affixes, that is, a clear movement in the direction of inflection. Eastern Turkic languages, which fell into the sphere of Mongolian influence, also develop a powerful fusion. The grammatical categories of a name in the Altai languages ​​of the mainland branch - number, belonging, where; in Japanese and Korean - case. A great variety and a tendency to stringing several indices of the plural number within the limits of one word form are characteristic of the number affixes with their subsequent gluing into one; many indications show material similarities to the collective name suffixes from which they seem to derive. The easy transition of the meaning of the affix a from the derivative to the grammatical plurality is associated with the nature of its use plural in Altai languages: it is expressed only in the marked case, sometimes only lexically. For the Proto-Altaic, a large number of affixes of collectivity with various shades of meanings are restored.

Syntax Altai languages ​​are nominative languages ​​with a predominant SOV word order and definition preposition. In the Türkic, Mongolian and Tungus-Manchu languages, there are izafetny constructions with a possessive indicator for the word being defined. Basically, the existential way of expressing possession is used (that is, “I have”, not “I have”), except for Mongolian, where possession is expressed using a special adjective in -taj (like “I am a horse”; the adjectives of possession and non-possession are and in other mainland Altai languages). In the Japanese and Korean proposals, the actual division is necessarily formally expressed. The term "Altai type of complex sentence" is associated with the preference given by the Altai languages ​​to absolute constructions with a verb in a non-finite form before subordinate clauses.

TURKIC BRANCH The area of ​​distribution of the Turkic languages ​​extends from the basin of the Kolyma River in Siberia to the southwest to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Total number speakers - more than 167.4 million people.

The earliest deciphered written monuments of the Türks date back to the 7th century. n. NS. (steles written in runic script, found on the Orkhon River in northern Mongolia). Throughout their history, the Turks used the Türkic runic (apparently ascending to the Sogdian script), the Uyghur script (which later passed from them to the Mongols), Brahmi, Manichean script, and Arabic script. At present, scripts based on Arabic, Latin and Cyrillic are common.

MONGOLIAN BRANCH A family within the Altai macrofamily, which includes several rather closely related languages ​​of Mongolia, China, Russia and Afghanistan. According to lexicostatistical data, they disintegrated around the 5th century AD. NS. The speakers are Mongolian peoples, united by cultural community and linguistic identity. In addition, Classical Mongolian served as the written language of Tuvans until 1940. Characteristic feature Mongolian languages ​​is a significant number of Turkic borrowings, which, with the influence of the Mongolian language on the Turkic in historical time significantly complicates the problem of studying linguistic connections. To this day, a number of ethnic groups of Turkomongol bilinguals (khotons, yellow Uighurs) exist in Mongolia and China. Such bilingualism was probably more widespread earlier.

TUNGUSO-MANCHZHUR BRANCH A family of related languages ​​of the Altai macrofamily in Siberia (including the Far East), Mongolia and northern China. Usually they are attributed to the Altaic linguistic family of the Nostratic macrofamily, but there is also a point of view explaining the similarities between the Tungus-Manchu and Altai languages, their geographical proximity and mutual influence. The Tungus-Manchu languages ​​include: Manchu; Nanai; Negidal; Oroch; Orok; solonsky; Ulchi; Udege; Jurchen (was close to the Manchu language); Evenk; Even.

Within Siberia, 72,058 people classified themselves as Tungus-Manchus (2002 census). In particular: Evenks - 34 989 people. Evens - 18,886 people. Nanai - 11 947 people. Ulchi - 2852 people. Udege - 1622 people. Orochi - 644 people. Negidal - 527 people. Oroks - 327 people. tazy - 276 people The number of speakers of the languages ​​of the Tungus-Manchurian group is much smaller, since they are mainly owned by the older generation.

VALENTIN ALEXANDROVICH AVRORIN December 10 (23), 1907, Tambov - February 26, 1977, Leningrad) - Soviet linguist, specialist in the Tungus-Manchu languages, including the Nanai language, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Researcher of problems of typology, comparative historical linguistics, sociolinguistics. In 1930 he graduated from the Faculty of History and Ethnology of the Leningrad State University. Doctor of Philology (1956). On June 26, 1964, he was elected a Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Professor of the Department of General Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities Novosibirsk University, the first dean of the faculty. Major works: Grammar of the Nanai language (v. 1-2, 1959-1961); Languages ​​and folklore of the peoples of the Siberian North (1966), Essays on the syntax of the Nanai language (edited by Academician II Meshchaninov, L., 1948); On the classification of the Tungus-Manchu languages ​​(XXV International Congress of Orientalists. Reports of the USSR delegation. M., 1960); Nanai language (Languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR. Mongolian, Tungus-Manchu and Paleo-Asian languages, v. 5, L., 1968) Grammar of the Manchu written language. SPB 2000

JAPAN-RYUKYU BRANCH A family of languages ​​in the Japanese archipelago and on the Ryukyu Islands. Genetic links with other language families have not been conclusively elucidated. There is a hypothesis about the belonging of the Japanese languages ​​to the Altai family. Descended from a common ancestor, the Pro-Japanese language. The number of speakers is about 125 million.

The family includes: Japanese (日本語) § § § Hokkaido dialect Kansai dialect Eastern dialects - the northeastern part of Fr. Honshu western dialects - western part of Fr. Honshu and Fr. Shikoku southern dialects - about. Kyushu Ryukyu languages ​​(琉球 語) § Amami-Okinawan language § Amami dialect - Amami Islands § Okinawan dialect - Okinawa Islands § Sakishim language - Sakishima Islands § Miyako dialect - Miyako Islands § Yaeyam dialect - o- wa Yaeyama § Yonagun language (Yonaguni) - Fr. Yonaguni Controversial is the question of belonging to the Japanese branch of the extinct Goguryeo language (it was distributed in the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo (37 BC - 668 AD), one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea). Sometimes included in the Korean branch.

KOREAN BRANCH Korean has several dialects throughout the Korean Peninsula. The relief of the peninsula is predominantly mountainous, and the "territory" of each of the dialects roughly corresponds to the geographical regions. Most of the dialects are named after the Eight Provinces of Korea.

DIALECTS WITH STATE STATUS The Seoul dialect is the official language of South Korea. It is spoken in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province in South Korea, as well as in the Kaesong region of North Korea. Pyongyang is the official language of North Korea. It is spoken in Pyongyang, Gwangso region and Chagando province. In addition to these dialects, there are many more regional ones. The breadth of their use varies from one settlement to a province.

THE DEAD LANGUAGES OF MEDIEVAL KOREA The languages ​​of the medieval kingdoms of Korea (Silla, Baekje and Goguryeo), apparently, were closely related to modern Korean, but the question of the degree of relationship of each of these languages ​​remains a subject of debate. Goguryeo has defended the most from the Korean language, which is sometimes brought closer to the Japanese language.

Altai family

The most numerous in the Altai family Turkic group(11.2 million people out of 12), which includes Tatars, Chuvash, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Yakuts, Tuvinians, Karachais, Khakases, Balkars, Altai, Shors, Dolgans, Azerbaijanis, Uzbeks, etc. Representatives of this group - Tatars are the second by the number of the people of Russia after the Russians.

The largest Turkic peoples (Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvash) are concentrated in the Ural-Volga region.

Other Turkic peoples are settled in the south of Siberia (Altai, Shors, Khakass, Tuvans) up to Of the Far East(Yakuts).

The third area of ​​settlement of the Turkic peoples is the North Caucasus (Nogais, Karachais, Balkars).

Also, the Altai family includes: Mongolian group(Buryats, Kalmyks); Tungus-Manchu group(Evens, Evenks, Nanai, Ulchi, Udege, Orochi),

Ural family

The largest of this family Finno-Ugric group, which includes Mordovians, Udmurts, Mari, Komi, Komi-Perm, Karelians, Finns, Khanty, Mansi, Estonians, Hungarians, Sami. In addition, this family includes samoyed group(Nenets, Selkups, Nganasans), Yukaghir group(Yukaghirs). The main area of ​​residence of the peoples of the Uralic language family is the Ural-Volga region and the north of the European part of the country.

North Caucasian family represented mainly by peoples Nakh-Dagestan group(Chechens, Avars, Dargins, Lezgins, Ingush, etc.) and Abkhazian-Adyghe group(Kabardians, Adyghes, Circassians, Abazins). The peoples of this family live more compactly, mainly in the North Caucasus.

Also representatives of Chukotka-Kamchatka family (Chukchi, Koryak, Itelmen); Eskimo-Aleutian family (Eskimos, Aleuts); Kartvelian family (Georgians) and peoples of other language families and peoples (Chinese, Arabs, Vietnamese, etc.).

The languages ​​of all peoples of Russia are equal, but the language interethnic communication is Russian.

Russia being multinational republic in their own way state structure , is an federation , built according to the national-territorial principle.
The federal structure of the Russian Federation is based on its state integrity, the unity of the system of state power, the delimitation of subjects of jurisdiction and powers between the state authorities of the Russian Federation and the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, equality and self-determination of peoples in the Russian Federation (Constitution of the Russian Federation, 1993).
The Russian Federation includes 88 subjects, of which 31 are national entities (republics, autonomous okrugs, autonomous oblast). The total area of ​​national formations is 53% of the territory of the Russian Federation. At the same time, only about 26 million people live here, of which almost 12 million are Russians. At the same time, many peoples of Russia are scattered across various regions of Russia. As a result, a situation has arisen when, on the one hand, part of the peoples of Russia are settled outside their national formations, and on the other hand, within the limits of many national formations, the share of the main or "titular" (which gave the name to the corresponding formation) nation is relatively small. So, of the 21 republics of the Russian Federation, only eight of the main peoples make up the majority (Chechen Republic, Ingushetia, Tyva, Chuvashia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Tatarstan and Kalmykia. In multi-ethnic Dagestan, ten local peoples (Avars, Dargins, Kumyks, Lezgins, Laks , Tabasaran, Nogais, Rutuls, Aguls, Tsakhurs) make up 80% of the total population (see table 11, page 37 Dronov) Karelia (10%) and Khakassia (11%) have the lowest share of "titular" peoples.

A peculiar picture of the settlement of peoples in the autonomous regions. They are inhabited very rarely and for many decades attracted migrants from all republics of the former USSR (Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, Belarusians, Chechens, etc.), who came to work - to develop the richest mineral deposits, build roads, industrial facilities and cities. As a result, the main peoples in most autonomous regions (and in the only autonomous region) make up only a small percentage of the total their population. For example, in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - 2%, in Yamalo-Nenets - 6%, Chukotka - about 9%, etc. Only in one Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug titular peoples make up the majority (62%).

The dispersal of many peoples and their intensive contacts with other peoples, especially with the Russians, contribute to their assimilation.