10. Words were monosyllabic.
Words could be formed by linking root words and
suffixes. (agglutinative)
Made out of strong velar and dental consonants joined to
8 different vowels. The vowels were grouped into two
groups of 4, according to an internal sound harmony.
The thick vowels are a , ı, o, u. Thin vowels are e, i, ö, ü.
Vowels and consonants can be transferred: k => g, d =>
t, u => a etc.
Some Characteristics of Proto-Altaic Language:
11. Examples
Okhuz is formed of a root “Okh” and a suffix –
uz. “Ok” (h can be omitted) means an arrow.
So Ok(g)uz means : “We are the arrow
people and move as fast as an arrow”
Oghlan, meaning “acquire an arrow” or
equivalently “become an adult” and that’s
why “Oksuz” (öksüz-in Turkish) means an
orphan, a young one who has no adult
person for protection.
12. Azeri Turkish
ayaq ayak
yarpaq yaprak
buynuz boynuz
ulduz yıldız
Turkmen
ayag
yaprag
buynuð
yïldïð
65-90% 72%
Gagauz
ayaq
yapraq
buynus
yïldïs
Mutual Intelligibility
Dialects of Azeri Turkic:
1. Seljuk, Gashgai (both are spoken in Iran)
2. Kumyk (spoken in Dagestan)
13.
14. Alphabetical Reform
• After Arabian Occupation till the end of
1920s (Arabian)
• From 1928 to 1939 (Old Latin)
• From 1940 to 1991 ( Cyrillic)
• From 1991- nowadays (New Latin)
15. Changes in Language
First Period (XIII-XVIII centuries)
1. Vocabulary was rich with loan words:
Persian and Arabic words
Ottoman Turkish words (şu, şöyle, kendi etc.)
2. Changings in affixes:
from -is rə to -acaq, - c kə ə
accusative case -yi, -yı, -yu, -yü to -ni, -nı, -nu, -nü
3. Defining word comes not first but last:
(daxili- hli-kamalə , f sli-gülə ) Example:
Gül-i ruxsârına qarşı gözümdən qanlı axar su,
Həbîbim fəsli-güldür bu axar sular bulanmazmı? (M.Fuzuli)
16. Second Period (XVIII- nowadays)
1. Nationalisation of language- (XVIII century)
2. Formation and development of the national language- (beginning of
XIX-XX centuries) There were 3 movements from the beginning of XX
till 1930:
Creating a simple, understandable language based on dialect. (Followers of
the magazine “Molla Nasraddin”: J. Mammadguluzadeh- “The Postbox”,
“Gurban Ali bey”, M.A.Sabir “Plougher”etc.)
Creating a complicated, literary language (Followers of the magazine
“Fuyuzat”: A. Huseynzade- “Concern of Motherland”)
Creating a simple but dialect-free language (A.Shaig- “Undelivered Letter”,
“Heroes of Our Century”, A.Sahhat- “Poverty is not Shameful”, J.Jabbarly- “Sevil”,
“Almas”)
3. New period:
Azerbaijani was an official language from 1969 till 1977
Official Language of The Republic of Azerbaijan from 1995 till now.
22. Haputs- Haput Language
• Belongs to Northeast
Caucasian language
family, Dagestan
group, Lezgin
subgroup
(“Shahdagh Group”)
• Spoken in the village
of Mollaisaglı (Kuba)
23. Khinalug- Khinalug Language
• Northeast
Caucasian
language family,
Dagestan group,
Lezgin subgroup
• Users- more than
1500
• Spoken in the
village Khinalug
(Kuba)
25. Udis- Udi Language
• Northeast
Caucasian
language family,
Dagestan group,
Lezgin subgroup
• Users - about
5,000 people
• Spoken in the
village of Nij
(Kabala), Oghuz
27. The Village of Jek (Kuba)
• Belongs to Northeast
Caucasian language
family, Dagestan group,
Lezgin subgroup
• Users11,000 people
• Spoken in The Village
of Jek (Kuba)
28. Avars- Avar Language
• Belongs to the Avar–
Andic group of the
Northeast Caucasian
language family.
• Spoken in Balaken,
Zaqatala
29. Tats- Tat Language
• Belongs to
Southwestern Iranian
language family
• Three group- Moslem
Tats, Christian Tats and
Jewish Tats (or Mountain
Jews)
• Users in Azerbaijan-
18,000 people
• Spoken in some villages
of Absheron, Khızı,
Siyezen, Devechi and
Kuba
30. References
PhD. Haluk Berkmen, Diversification of Languages
Robert Lindsay, Mutual Intelligibility Among the Turkic Languages
The Turkic Languages in a Nutshell
http://turkiclanguages.scienceontheweb.net
A Brief Exploration of the Altaic Hypothesis
http://linguistics.byu.edu/classes/ling450ch
Presidental Library of the Administrative Department of the President of the
Republic of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan National Encyclopedia. 25 volumes. "Azerbaijan". Baku, 2007, pages
147, 150, 151, 152.