This article shouldspecify the language of its non-English content, using{{langx}},{{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and{{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriateISO 639 code. Wikipedia'smultilingual support templates may also be used - notablykum for Kumyk.See why.(January 2025)
Nikolay Baskakov, based on a 12th-century scripture namedCodex Cumanicus, included modern Kumyk, Karachai-Balkar, Crimean Tatar, Karaim, and the language ofMamluk Kipchaks in the linguistic family of theCuman-Kipchak language.Samoylovich also considered Cuman-Kipchak close to Kumyk and Karachai-Balkar.[9]
Kumyk had beena lingua-franca of the bigger part of the Northern Caucasus, from Dagestan toKabarda, until the 1930s[11][12][13] and was an official language of communication between the North-Eastern Caucasian nations and the Russian administration.[14] The language was known in Dagestan as simplyMuslim language (Kumyk:бусурман тил,busurman til, بوسورمان تیل) due to its dominant role as the intertribal language of communication among various Muslim communities of the region.[15]
The historianGeorgi Derluguian made the following analogy with regards to the role of Turkic languages in the Caucasus and beyond:[16]
“... For almost a thousand years, the Turkic languages that dominated the peoples of the steppe – Kumyk and Tatar – served, like Swahili in East Africa or French among the aristocracies of Europe, as a common lingua franca in the multinational North Caucasus...”
In 1848, a professor of the "Caucasian Tatar" (Kumyk)Timofey Makarov published the first ever grammatical book in theRussian language for one of the Northern Caucasian languages, which was international Kumyk. Makarov wrote:[17]
From the peoples speaking Tatar language I liked the most Kumyks, as for their language's distinction and precision, so for their closeness to the European civilization, but most importantly, I take in account that they live on the Left Flank of the Caucasian Front, where we're conducting military actions, and where all the peoples, apart from their own language, speak also Kumyk.
During the Soviet era, the role of Kumyk was consolidated when in 1923, it was declared to be the state language ofDagestan ASSR due to the fact that "the majority of the population of indigenous Dagestan speaks and understands the Turkic-Kumyk language... the experience of teaching the Turkic language in the schools of Mountainous Dagestan gave brilliant results... it was noted... that the “Turkic-Kumyk” language is the only language of communication of the citizens of indigenous Dagestan."[18]
Over the decades, this has changed, and Russian has displaced Kumyk as the language of education and inter-ethnic communication in Dagestan. Today, more than 90% of the Kumyks, according to 2010 census, also speak Russian, and those in Turkey and theLevant speakTurkish andArabic accordingly.[citation needed]
Kumyk has been used as a lingua franca in Dagestan and Caucasus for some time.
The historic literary culture of Kumyks and the entire region of Dagestan,North Caucasus, and Southern Ukraine was theCuman language. Kumyk is a direct descendant of Cuman, and its centuries-long literaray tradition was a direct continuation of Cuman.
The oldest record of Kumyk language being written in the Arabic script, goes back to the mid-17th century. From the beginning of the 19th century, Kumyk literary language began to expand and grow, with an increase in the number of publications and books.[20]
The orthography of Kumyk was derived from the Arabic script, although with minor modifications, only several additional letters, same as inPersian alphabet, to represent consonants. Vowels, of which there exists a relatively large number of them in Turkic languages, and in Kumyk in particular (8 or 9 vowels) were rarely and irregularly written in the Arabic script, with the use ofmatres lectionis, the three lettersʾalifا,wāwو andyāʾي. This meant that, overall, this script was far from being adapted to Kumyk phonology.
In the beginning of the 20th century, parallel with otherTurkic-Muslim minority ethnic groups within the Russian Empire, Kumyk speaking literaturists decided to undertake the task of standardization and improvement of the Arabic script. It was in this era that Kumyk literature flourished, and many poets, educators, and publishers rose. The first attempt at compiling an improved orthographic convention was done in 1915, by "Abdulhalim Jengutaevsky" in the preface of his Kumyk translation of the poemLayla and Majnun, published inTemir-Khan-Shura.
In the following years, vowel representations were standardized, and Arabic letters that had the same pronunciation in Karachay-Balkar were dropped and consolidated (For example, the lettersث andص were dropped in favour of the letterس).[20]
Later, as part of a new state campaign ofLatinisation, a Latin alphabet was developed for Kumyk, derived fromYañalif, being officially adopted in 1928.[20][21]
In the 1930s, the official Soviet policy was revised and the process ofCyrillization ofSoviet languages was started. In 1938 the new alphabet based on Cyrillic letters was officially adopted, which remains the official alphabet for Kumyk up till today.[20]
With the fall of the Soviet Union, with an increased prospect in international connection among Turkic peoples, a project to develop Latin alphabet again, but derived from modern Turkish orthograhpy was undertaken. Several online publications, as well as many individuals using social media, have adopted this script as well.[22]
In native Kumyk words, as well as in Arabic and Persian loanwords, for words starting with vowel [e], the letterэ is only used in word-initial position. In the middle of words, the letterе is used. If the letterе is used at the beginning of a word, it will have the sound [je].
The letterё:
if used at the beginning of a word, in which there are other front vowels, or eitherгorк, it will have a [jø] sound. In other cases, if in the beginning of a word, it will have a [jo] sound.
To represent the vowel [ø] at the beginning of the word, the digraphоь is used.
if used in the middle or end of a word, and following a front vowel, it will also make a [jø] sound, if following a back vowel, it will make a [jo] sound.
if used in the middle of the word and following a consonant, it will have a [ø] sound.
The letterю:
if used at the beginning of a word, in which there are other front vowels, or eitherгorк, it will have a [jy] sound. In other cases, if in the beginning of a word, it will have a [ju] sound.
To represent the vowel [y] at the beginning of the word, the digraphуь is used.
if used in the middle or end of a word, and following a front vowel, it will also make a [jy] sound, if following a back vowel, it will make a [ju] sound.
if used in the middle of the word and following a consonant, it will have a [y] sound.
Over the decades, proposals to further improve the Cyrillic script have been raised. For example, it was proposed to have the digraphsгъ,гь,къ,нг,оь/ё, andуь/ю with single lettersғ,һ,қ,ң,ө, andү respectively; it was also to introduce a letterў to represent the sound[β] and distinguish said sound with the sound[v] both written with the letterв; and to introduce a letterҗ to represent the sound[dʒ] and distinguish said sound with the sound[ʒ] both written with the letterж. None of these policies were adopted in Kumyk orthography.[20]
Below table is the last standard iteration of the Perso-Arabic alphabet for Kumyk language, being compiled in 1921, and being the official alphabet until 1928:[23]
The letterو has been used for representing a variety of vowel and consonant sounds in Kumyk. With the orthographic reforms in Kumyk, by 1921, 3 unique new letters had been created with the use of dots or diacritics, each representing a different vowel. An unmarked letterو continued to be used as well, representing either the vowel [u], or the consonants [v]/[w]. The correct pronunciation can be determined from context. If the letterو is before or after a vowel letter (as all vowels were to be written as per the 1921 orthographic conventions), then the letter would be a consonant. Otherwise it would've been a vowel.
The letterی has been used for representing a variety of vowel and consonant sounds in Kumyk. During the orthographic reforms in Kumyk, the letterی was left unmarked in all cases. Thus, this single letter could represent either a consonant [j], or either the front or the back vowels [i] and [ɯ] respectively.
If the letterی is before or after a vowel letter (as all vowels were to be written as per the 1921 orthographic conventions), then the letter would be a consonant.
Otherswise, the vowel pronunciation of the letterی can be determined by having an understanding of thevowel harmony andpalatal harmony rules that exist in Kumyk as typical of languages of the Turkic family. If the letterی is in a word with front vowelsاە ـە ە [e],اۏ / ۏ [y], orاۊ / ۊ [ø], or with the two corresponding consonantsك [k] orگ, the letterی will be a front vowel and pronounced as [i].
If the letterی' is in a word with back vowelsآ / ـا [a],او / و [u], orاوٓ / وٓ [o], or with the two corresponding consonantsق [ɢ~q] orغ [ʁ~ɣ], the letterی will be a back vowel and pronounced as [ɯ].
Irchi Kazak (Ийрчы КъазакъYırçı Qazaq; born 1839) is usually considered to be the greatest poet of the Kumyk language. The first regular Kumyk newspapers and magazines appeared in 1917–18 under the editorship of Kumyk poet, writer, translator, and theatre figure Temirbolat Biybolatov (Temirbolat Biybolat). Currently, the newspaper Ёлдаш (Yoldash, "Companion"), the successor of the Soviet-era Ленин ёлу (Lenin yolu, "Lenin's Path"), prints around 5,000 copies 3 times a week.[citation needed]
Гьей кёклердеги Атабыз! Инсанлар Сени сыйлы атынгны гьюрметлесин дагъы. Сени гьакимлигинг токъташсын дагъы. Кёкде йимик, ерде де Сени айтгъанынг болсун дагъы. Бугюн бизге гюнлюк азыгъыбызны бер. Бизин гюнагьларыбыздан геч! Бизге яманлыкъ этгенлерден барындан да биз де гечебиз. Бизин артыкъ сынавлагъа салма, иблисден де бизин сакъла. Амин!
Hej köklerdegi Atabyz! Insanlar Seni cyjly atyŋny hürmetlesin daǧy. Seni hakimligiŋ toqtašsyn daǧy. Kökde jimik, erde de seni ajtǧanyŋ bolsun daǧy. Bugün bizge günlük azyǧybyzny ber. Bizin günahlarybyzdan geč! Bizge jamanlyq etgenlerden baryndan da biz de gečbiz. Bizin artyq synawlarǧa salma, iblisden de bizin saqla. Amin!
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen!
Hey köklerdegi Atabız! İnsanlar Seni sıylı atıñnı hürmetlesin dağı. Seni hakimligiñ toqtaşsın dağı. Kökde yimik, erde de seni aytğanıñ bolsun dağı. Bugün bizge günlük azığıbıznı ber. Bizin günahlarıbızdan geç! Bizge yamanlıq etgenlerden barından da biz de geçebiz. Bizin artıq sınawlarğa salma, iblisden de bizin saqla. Amin!
Hej kөklerdegi Atabьz! Insanlar seni sьjlь atьꞑnь hyrmetlesin daƣь. Seni hakimligiꞑ toqtaşsьn daƣь. Kөkde jimik, erde de seni aytƣanьꞑ bolsun daƣь. Bugyn bizge gynlyk azьƣьbьznь ber. Bizin gynahlarьbьzdan gec! Bizge yamanlьq etgenlerden barьndan da biz de gecebiz. Bizin artьq sьnavlaƣa salma, iblisden de bizin saqla. Amin!
^abBaskakov, N.A. (1969).Vvedenie v izuchenie tyurkskikh yazykovВведение в изучение тюркских языков [Introduction to the study of Turkic languages]. Moscow: Vyssh. shkola. p. 236.OCLC642737.
^Aliev, K.M.-C., ed. (2012).Kumyksky entsiklopedichesky slovarКумыкский энциклопедический словарь [Kumyk encyclopedic dictionary] (in Russian). Makhachkala: Delta-press. p. 218.ISBN9785903454679.
^Ярцева В.Н. и др. (ред.) Языки Российской Федерации и соседних государств. Том 2. К-Р, стр. 183
^D. M. Khangishiev (Хангишиев). Editor-in-chief V. P. Neroznak (1995).Государственные языки Российской Федерации [Государственные языки Российской Федерации]. Moscow: Academia (Академия). p. 129.{{cite book}}:|author= has generic name (help)
"в пределах Дагестана кумыкский язык был известен также под названием «бумурман тил» "мусульманский язык", при этом данный лингвоним обозначал только кумыкский язык, в отличие от многочисленных народов, населявший горный Дагестан."["within Dagestan, the Kumyk language was also known under the name "бумурман тил" - "Muslim language", and this linguonym denoted only the Kumyk language, in contrast to the numerous peoples who inhabited mountainous Dagestan."]
^abМугумова, Анна Львовна. "К проблеме ориентального лексического влияния на язык русской художественной литературы 20-30-х годов XIX в.: На материале произведений М. Ю. Лермонтова" (диссертация ed.).
