The two main dialects of Tatar are the Central Dialect (urta / qazan; most common), and the Western Dialect (könbatış / mişər). The literary Tatar language is based on the Central Dialect and on alocal variant of Türki. Tatar should not be confused withCrimean Tatar orSiberian Tatar, which are different languages, although also part of the Kipchak language group.
Like other Turkic languages, Tatar was traditionally written in theArabic script for most of its history. Since 1939, the alphabet has beenCyrillic, though a number of Latin-based versions have also been used over the years.
In the2010 census, 69% of Russian Tatars claimed at least some knowledge of the Tatar language.[6] In Tatarstan, 93% of Tatars and 3.6% ofRussians claimed to have at least some knowledge of the Tatar language. In neighbouringBashkortostan, 67% of Tatars, 27% ofBashkirs, and 1.3% of Russians claimed to understand basic Tatar language.[7]
The wordQazan – قازان is written in Arabic script in the semblance of aZilant.Bilingual guide inKazan MetroA subway sign in Tatar (top) and Russian
Tatar, along with Russian, is the official language of theRepublic of Tatarstan. Theofficial script of the Tatar language is based on theCyrillic script with some additional letters. The Republic of Tatarstan passed a law in 1999, which came into force in 2001, establishing an official Tatar Latin alphabet. A Russian federal law overrode it in 2002, making Cyrillic the sole official script in Tatarstan since. Unofficially, other scripts are used as well, mostly Latin and Arabic. All official sources in Tatarstan must use Cyrillic on their websites and in publishing. In other cases, where Tatar has no official status, the use of a specific alphabet depends on the preference of the author.
The usage of Tatar declined during the 20th century. By the 1980s, the study and teaching of Tatar in the public education system was limited to rural schools. However, Tatar-speaking pupils had little chance of entering university because higher education was available in Russian almost exclusively.
As of 2001, Tatar was considered a potentially endangered language while Siberian Tatar received "endangered" and "seriously endangered" statuses, respectively.[8] Higher education in Tatar can only be found inTatarstan, and is restricted to thehumanities. In other regions Tatar is primarily a spoken language and the number of speakers as well as their proficiency tends to decrease. Tatar is popular as a written language only in Tatar-speaking areas where schools with Tatar language lessons are situated. On the other hand, Tatar is the only language in use in ruraldistricts of Tatarstan.
Since 2017, Tatar language classes are no longer mandatory in the schools of Tatarstan.[9] According to the opponents of this change, it will further endanger the Tatar language and is a violation of the Tatarstan Constitution which stipulates the equality of Russian and Tatar languages in the republic.[10][11]
These dialects also have subdivisions. Significant contributions to the study of the Tatar language and its dialects, were made by a scientistGabdulkhay Akhatov, who is considered to be the founder of the modern Tatar dialectological school.
Spoken idioms of Siberian Tatars, which differ significantly from the above two, are often considered as the third dialect group of Tatar by some, but as an independent language on its own by others.
The Central or Middle dialectal group is spoken in Kazan and most of Tatarstan and is the basis of the standard literary Tatar language. Middle Tatar includes theNagaibak dialect.
The Western (Mishar) dialect is distinguished from the Central dialect most clearly by the absence of the uvularq andğ and the roundedå of the first syllable. Lettersç andc are pronounced asaffricates.[12] Regional differences exist also.[13]
Mishar Dialect, and especially its regional variant inSergachsky district (Nizhny Novgorod), is said to be "faithfully close" to the ancient Kipchak language.[14] Some linguists, such asRadlov,Samoylovich, think that Mishar traditionally belongs to the Kipchak-Cuman group of languages, rather than to the Kipchak-Bulgar group.[15]
Two main isoglosses that characterize Siberian Tatar areç as[ts] andc as[j], corresponding to standard[ɕ] and[ʑ]. There are also grammatical differences within the dialect, scattered across Siberia.[17]
Many linguists claim the origins of Siberian Tatar dialects are actually independent of Volga–Ural Tatar; these dialects are quite remote both from Standard Tatar and from each other, often preventing mutual comprehension. The claim that this language is part of the modern Tatar language is typically supported by linguists in Kazan, Moscow[18] and by Siberian Tatar linguists[19][20][21] and denounced by some Russian and Tatar[22] ethnographs.
Over time, some of these dialects were given distinct names and recognized as separate languages (e.g. theChulym language) after detailed linguistic study. However, the Chulym language was never classified as a dialect of Tatar language. Confusion arose because of the endoethnonym "Tatars" used by the Chulyms. The question of classifying the Chulym language as a dialect of the Khakass language was debatable. A brief linguistic analysis shows that many of these dialects exhibit features which are quite different from the Volga–Ural Tatar varieties, and should be classified as Turkic varieties belonging to several sub-groups of the Turkic languages, distinct fromKipchak languages to which Volga–Ural Tatar belongs.[citation needed]
Tatar vowel formants F1 and F2 (in the picture, "F1" and "F2" labels are mistakenly transposed)[citation needed]
There exist several interpretations of the Tatar vowel phonemic inventory. In total Tatar has nine or ten native vowels, and three or four loaned vowels (mainly in Russian loanwords).[23][24]
According toBaskakov (1988) Tatar has only two vowel heights,high andlow. There are two low vowels,front andback, while there are eight high vowels: front and back,round (R+) and unround (R−), normal and short (or reduced).[23]
Front
Back
R−
R+
R−
R+
High
Normal
i
ü
ï
u
Short
e
ö
ë
o
Low
ä
a
Poppe (1963) proposed a similar yet slightly different scheme with a third, higher mid, height, and with nine vowels.[23]
Front
Back
R−
R+
R−
R+
High
i
ü
u
Higher Mid
e
ö
ï
o
Low
ä
a
According to Makhmutova (1969) Tatar has three vowel heights:high,mid andlow, and four tongue positions: front, front-central, back-central and back (as they are named when cited).[23]
Front
Central
Back
Front
Back
R−
R+
R−
R+
R−
R+
R−
R+
High
i
ü
ï
u
Mid
e
ö
ë
o
Low
ä
a
The mid back unrounded vowel ''ë is usually transcribed ası, though it differs from the corresponding Turkish vowel.
The tenth vowelï is realized as the diphthongëy (IPA:[ɯɪ]), which only occurs word-finally, but it has been argued to be an independent phoneme.[23][24]
Phonetically, the native vowels are approximately thus (with the Cyrillic letters and the usual Latin romanization in angle brackets):
In polysyllabic words, the front-back distinction is lost in reduced vowels: all become mid-central.[23] The mid reduced vowels in an unstressed position are frequently elided, as in кешеkeşe[kĕˈʃĕ] >[kʃĕ] 'person', or кышыqışı[qɤ̆ˈʃɤ̆] >[qʃɤ̆] '(his) winter'.[24] Low back/ɑ/ is rounded[ɒ] in the first syllable and after[ɒ], but not in the last, as in балаbala[bɒˈlɑ] 'child', балаларгаbalalarğa[bɒlɒlɒrˈʁɑ] 'to children'.[24] In Russian loans there are also[ɨ],[ɛ],[ɔ], and[ä], written the same as the native vowels:ы, е/э, о, а respectively.[24]
Historically, the Old Turkic mid vowels haveraised from mid to high, whereas the Old Turkic high vowels have become the Tatar reduced mid series. (The same shifts have also happened inBashkir.)[25]
^* The phonemes/v/,/ts/,/tɕ/,/ʒ/,/h/,/ʔ/ are only found in loanwords./f/ occurs more commonly in loanwords, but is also found in native words, e.g.yafraq 'leaf'.[24]/v/,/ts/,/tɕ/,/ʒ/ may be substituted with the corresponding native consonants/w/,/s/,/ɕ/,/ʑ/ by some Tatars.
^†/dʑ/ and/tɕ/ are the dialectal Western (Mişär) pronunciations ofҗ⟨c⟩/ʑ/ andч⟨ç⟩/ɕ/, the latter are in the literary standard and in the Central (Kazan) dialect./ts/ is the variant ofч⟨ç⟩/ɕ/ as pronounced in the Eastern (Siberian) dialects and some Western (Mişär) dialects. Both/tɕ/ and/ts/ are also used in Russian loanwords (the latter writtenц).
^‡/q/ and/ʁ/ are usually considered allophones of/k/ and/ɡ/ in the environment of back vowels, so they are never written in the Tatar Cyrillic orthography in native words, and only rarely in loanwords withкъ andгъ. However,/q/ and/ʁ/ also appear before front/æ/ in Perso-Arabic loanwords which may indicate the phonemic status of these uvular consonants.
Tatar consonants usually undergo slightpalatalization before front vowels. However, thisallophony is not significant and does not constitute a phonemic status. This differs from Russian where palatalized consonants are notallophones butphonemes on their own. There are a number of Russian loanwords which have palatalized consonants in Russian and are thus written the same in Tatar (often with the "soft sign"ь). The Tatar standard pronunciation also requires palatalization in such loanwords; however, some Tatar may pronounce them non-palatalized.
Stress is usually on the final syllable. However, some suffixes cannot be stressed, so the stress shifts to the syllable before that suffix, even if the stressed syllable is the third or fourth from the end. A number of Tatar words and grammatical forms have the natural stress on the first syllable. Loanwords, mainly from Russian, usually preserve their original stress (unless the original stress is on the last syllable, in such a case the stress in Tatar shifts to suffixes as usual, e.g.sovét >sovetlár >sovetlarğá).
Tatar nouns are inflected for cases and numbers. Case suffixes change depending on the last consonants of the noun, while nouns ending in for example p/k (п/к) are voiced to b/g (б/г) when a possessive suffix is added (kitap –> kitabım / китабым, "my book"). Suffixes below are in back vowel, with front variant can be seen at#Phonology section.
The declension of possessive suffixes is even more irregular, with the dative suffix -а used in 1st singular and 2nd singular suffixes, and the accusative, dative, locative, and ablative endings -н, -на, -нда, -ннан is used after 3rd person possessive suffix. Nouns ending in -и, -у, or -ү, although phonologically vowels, take consonantic endings.[27]
The distribution of present tense suffixes is complicated, with the former (also with vowel harmony) is used with verb stems ending in consonants, and the latter is used with verb stem ending in vowels (with the last vowel being deleted, eşläw / эшләү – eşli / эшли; compareTurkishişlemek – continuousişliyor). The distribution of indefinite future tense is more complicated in consonant-ending stems, it is resolved by -арга/-ырга infinitives (yazarga / язарга – yazar / язар). However, because some have verb citation forms in verbal noun (-у), this rule becomes somewhat unpredictable.
Tenses are negated with -ма, however in the indefinite future tense and the verbal participle they become -mas / -мас and -mıyça / -мыйча instead, respectively. Alongside vowel-ending stems, the suffix also becomes -мый when negates the present tense. To form interrogatives, the suffix -мы is used.
Personal inflections
Type
1st singular
2nd singular
3rd singular
1st plural
2nd plural
3rd plural
I
-мын/-м-mın/-m
-сың-sıñ
-∅
-быз-bız
-сыз-sız
-лар/-нар-lar/-nar
II
-м-m
-ң-ñ
-∅
-к-q, -k
-гыз-ğız
-лар/-нар-lar/-nar
Imperative
-ыйм-ıym
-∅
-сын-sın
-ыйк-ıyq
-(ы)гыз-ığız
-сыннар-sınnar
Definite past and conditional tenses use type II personal inflections instead. When in the case of present tense, short ending (-м) is used. After vowels, the first person imperative forms deletes the last vowel, similar to the present tense does (eşläw – eşlim). Like plurals of nouns, the suffix -лар change depending the preceding consonants (-alar, but -ğannar).
Some verbs, however, fall into this category. Dozens of them have irregular stems with a final mid vowel, but obscured on the infinitive (uqu – uqı, uqıy; tözü – töze, tözi). The verbs qoru / кору "to build", tanu / тану "to disclaim", taşu / ташу "to spill" have contrastive meanings with verbs with their final vowelled counterparts, meaning "to dry", "to know", "to carry".
The verbдию (diyu) "to say" is significantly more irregular than any other verbs: its 2nd person singular imperative is digen (диген), while its expected regular form is repurposed as the present tense forms (dim, diñ, di…).[27]
Tatar Latin (Jaꞑalif) and Arabic scripts, 1927Some guides inKazan are inLatin script, especially in fashion boutiquesTatar sign on amadrasah inNizhny Novgorod, written in both Arabic and Cyrillic Tatar scripts
Before 1928, Tatar was mostly written in Arabic script (Иске имля/İske imlâ, "Old orthography", to 1920; Яңа имла/Yaña imlâ, "New orthography", 1920–1928).
During the 19th century, Russian Christian missionaryNikolay Ilminsky devised the first Cyrillic alphabet for Tatar. This alphabet is still used by Christian Tatars (Kryashens).
In 1939, inTatarstan and all other parts of the Soviet Union, aCyrillic script was adopted and is still used to write Tatar. It is also used inKazakhstan.
The Republic of Tatarstan passed a law in 1999 that came into force in 2001 establishing an official Tatar Latin alphabet. A Russian federal law overrode it in 2002, making Cyrillic the sole official script in Tatarstan since. In 2004, an attempt to introduce a Latin-based alphabet for Tatar was further abandoned when theConstitutional Court ruled that the federal law of 15 November 2002 mandating the use of Cyrillic for the state languages of the republics of the Russian Federation[29] does not contradict theRussian constitution.[30] In accordance with this Constitutional Court ruling, on 28 December 2004, the Tatar Supreme Court overturned the Tatarstani law that made the Latin alphabet official.[31]
In 2012 the Tatarstan government adopted a new Latin alphabet but with limited usage (mostly for Romanization).
In 2024, the modifiedCommon Turkic Alphabet replaced letter ä with ə, which was already in use inAzerbaijani, as well as among Tatar activists using the Latin alphabet.[32][33][34]
The literary Tatar language is based on the Central Tatar (Kazan) dialect and onTürki, also known asOld Tatar Language. Both are members of the Volga-Ural subgroup of theKipchak group ofTurkic languages, although they also partly derive from the ancient VolgaBulgar language.
Crimean Tatar, although similar by name, belongs to another subgroup of the Kipchak languages. Unlike Kazan Tatar, Crimean Tatar is heavily influenced byTurkish (mostly itsOttoman variety withArabic andPersian influences) andNogai languages.
The Arabic and Persian influence on Tatar can be seen most clearly in loan words but also in specific sounds. For example, Tatar ğ / г is the Arabicghayn غ. However, in Arabic words and names where there's anayin ع, Tatar adds the ghayn instead (عبد الله,’Abdullah; Tatar:Ğabdulla /Габдулла;Yaña imlâ: غابدوللا /ʁabdulla/).[38][39][40][41] In the Mishar Tatar Dialect, ğ is not pronounced, and thus, a word likeşiğır (شعر, шигыр, "poem") isşigır orşiyır for Mishars (who in Finland use the Latin alphabet).[42][43]
When it comes to Arabic and Persian loanwords, in the Tatar Latin script,alif is realised as the letter a, and when there's no alif, it is ä (ə) (عيسى, Ğəysə; آزاد,Azat). When the alif hashamza on top (أ), it is also ä (ə), but Tatarİske imlâ spells it without (امين / أمين,Əmin). Vowel harmony as well is a deciding factor (عبد الله, Ğabdulla; عبد الرشيد, Ğəbderrəşit). Similarly with ö/o (عمر, Ğömər; عثمان, Ğosman). However, this rule is often inconsistent when transliterating from Cyrillic to Latin.[44][45][40][46][47][48][49][50]
During the Golden Horde (1242–1502), the ancestors of modern Tatars used Persian in addition to their Turkic language to a relatively significant extent, especially in poetry and even after the Golden Horde. For example, the long-serving Khan of the Kazan Khanate (1438–1552),Möxəmməd-Əmin, wrote poetry in Persian. In religious and legal matters Arabic was used.[51][52] Many Persian and Arabic works are considered part of Tatar literature today.[53]
Барлык кешеләр дә азат һәм үз абруйлары һәм хокуклары ягыннан тиң булып туалар. Аларга акыл һәм вөҗдан бирелгән, һәм алар бер-берсенә карата туганнарча мөнасәбәттә булырга тиешләр.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Tatar (Latin):
Barlıq keşelər də azat həm üz abruyları həm xoquqları yağınnan tiñ bulıp tuwalar. Alarğa aqıl həm wöcdan birelgən, həm alar ber-bersenə qarata tuğannarça mönəsəbəttə bulırğa tiyeşlər.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights inEnglish:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
^Ethnic Groups and Religious department, Fujian Provincial Government (13 September 2022)."少数民族的语言文字有哪些？".fujian.gov.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved28 October 2022.
^Baskakov, Nikolai (1960). Санжеев, Г. Д. (ed.).Тюркские языки [Turkic languages]. Moscow, Russia: Издательство восточной литературы. p. 248.
^Утяшева, Гузель Чахваровна (2006).Русские заимствования в тоболо-иртышском диалекте сибирских татар [Russian borrowings in the Tobol-Irtysh dialect of the Siberian Tatars]. Tobolsk, Russia: Казанский федеральный университет.OCLC1042797537.
^Рахимова, Роза Нуретдиновна (2007).Тюменский говор в системе диалектов сибирских татар: фонетико-морфологическая характеристика [Tyumen dialect in the system of dialects of the Siberian Tatars: phonetic and morphological characteristics]. Tyumen, Russia: Казанский федеральный университет.OCLC1042799247.
^Рамазанова, Д. Б. (2006)."Сибирско-татарские диалекты и говоры татарского языка" [Materials of the IX All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "Suleiman Readings – 2006"](PDF).Материалы IX Всероссийской научно-практической конференции "Сулеймановские чтения – 2006". Tyumen, Russia: Казанский федеральный университет. pp. 89–90.
^Валеев, Фоат Тач-Ахметович (1980).Западносибирские татары во второй половине XIX – начале XX в. (Историко-этнографические очерки) [West Siberian Tatars in the second half of the 19th to early 20th centuries. (Historical and ethnographic essays)]. Kazan', Tatarstan, Russia: Татарское книжное изд-во.OCLC63230819.
Bukharaev, Ravilʹ; Matthews, D. J.; Matthews, David John (29 November 2023).Historical anthology of Kazan Tatar verse: voices of eternity. Psychology Press.ISBN978-0-7007-1077-5.
Gilmetdinova, Alsu; Malova, Irina (2018). "Language education for glocal interaction: English and Tatar".World Englishes.37 (4):624–634.doi:10.1111/weng.12324.S2CID149975557.
PEN (Organization). (1998).Tatar literature today. Kazan: Magarif Publishers.
Poppe, N. N. (1963).Tatar manual: descriptive grammar and texts with a Tatar-English glossary. Bloomington: Indiana University.
(in Russian) Ахатов Г. Х. Татарская диалектология (учебник для студентов вузов). – Казань, 1984.
(in Russian) Татарская грамматика. В 3-х т. / Гл. ред. М. З. Закиев. – Казань, 1993.
