Preservation of the native language in the context of the problem  of vulnerable and endangered Turkic languages of Kazakhstan

Meruyert Konkal

doi:10.32523/2664-5157-2022-1-47-57

Authors

Meruyert Konkal L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32523/2664-5157-2022-1-47-57

Keywords:

language loss, causes, Turkic peoples of Kazakhstan, migration, preservation of culture and native language, conversation, interview, audio recordings of authentic texts, language analysis

Abstract

Throughout the development of human civilization, there has always

existed a problem of extinction of certain languages. Along with the peoples

that have sunk into history, languages have disappeared either becoming dead

or solely written languages. Therefore, Old Turkic, Old Uyghur, Pecheneg,

Polovtsian, Chagatai, Sanskrit, Vedic, Ancient Greek, Latin, Old Slavonic,

Gothic, Polabian, Tocharian and many other languages of the world are now

dead. There is a variety of reasons for extinction of languages and historically

they have manifested themselves in different ways. Among the main causes

there are social factors, state’s language policy, areal-cultural interactions,

linguistic expansion of the dominant language and a consequent loss of native

speakers. All of these apply to the vulnerable and endangered Turkic languages

of Kazakhstan, the study of which is presented in this article. In addition,

the article draws attention to preservation of native languages of the Turkic

peoples living in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Most of the Turkic-speaking peoples migrated to Kazakhstan during the

Stalinist repressions, the Great Patriotic War and the development of virgin

lands. According to official statistics, more than twenty representatives of

the Turkic ethnic groups live in the Republic of Kazakhstan including Tatars,

Bashkirs, Turkish, Kumyks, Kyrgyz, Uighurs, Karachais, Uzbeks, Azerbaijanis,

Nogais, etc. Many of minor Turkic peoples of Kazakhstan have retained their

traditions, customs and native languages.

In the course of this study, along with meetings and conversations,

interviews with representatives of Kumyk, Nogai and Karachay ethnic groups

were held and audio recordings of oral folk texts were made. The article

presents a linguistic analysis of these audio recordings in terms of phonetic,

lexical-semantic investigation as well as an analysis of some grammatical

forms and categories. As a result of the study, it was revealed that the native

language is mainly used in the family and household whereas oral folk art and

literary works are mostly known by representatives of the older generation.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Meruyert Konkal, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

PhD Doctoral student of the Department of Turkology

Reference

Fierman W. Language and Education in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan: Kazakh-Medium Instruction in Urban Schools. The Russian Review. 2006. P. 98-116.

Feyzyiev J. Turkі memleketterіnіn odagy [Union of Turkic states]. Astana, Pub. Science, 2016. 312 p. [in Kazakh].

Austin P., Simpson A. Endangered Languages. Hamburg, 2007. 280 p.

Brenzinger M. Language vitality and endangerment. Paris, UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on endangered languages, 2003. 25 p.

Dorian N. Investigating Obsolescence: Studies in Language Contraction and Death. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989 (ed.). P. 291-293.

Lenore A. Grenoble, Lindsay J. Whaley. Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2006. 245 p.

Shaimerdinova N., Tazhibayeva S., Nevskaya I., Schonig C. Tatarskaya diaspora Kazahstana: pervye rezul’taty sociokul’turnogo analiza. – Qazaq leksikografiyasy: tarihy, tazhіrbesі, bolashagy. Halyqaralyq gylymi teoriyalyq konferenciya materialdary [Tatar diaspora of Kazakhstan: the first results of socio-cultural analysis. – Kazakh lexicography: history, experience, prospects. Materials of the international scientific and theoretical conference]. Almaty, 2015. P. 199-203. [in Russian].

Nevskaya I., Tazhibayeva S., Kozyrev Т. Tyurkskie etnosy Kazahstana: tekushchee sostoyanie i dinamika razvitiya [Turkic ethnic groups of Kazakhstan: current state and dynamics of development]. Global-Turk, 2017. No1-2. P. 106-125. [in Russian].

Suer E. Book Reviews. Lars Johansson (2002). On the Turkish Language Map Discoveries. Bilig, 2014. No68. P. 297-302. [in Turkish].

Crystal D. Language Death. Cambridge, Cambridge univ. press, 2000. 198 p.

Mongush М. Tuvincy Mongolii i Kitaya: Etnodispersnye gruppy (Istoriya i sovremennost’) [Tuvans of Mongolia and China: Ethnodisperse groups (History and modernity)]. Novosibirsk, Science, 2002. 123 p. [in Russian].

Robins R., Uhlenbeck E. Languages under threat of extinction. Oxford, Berg, 1992. 273 p.

Baskakov N. Karakalpakskij yazyk. Tom II. Fonetika i morfologiya. Chast’ pervaya. Chasti rechi i slovoobrazovanie [Karakalpak language. Volume II. Phonetics and morphology. Part one. Parts of speech and word formation]. Мoscow, Pub.house USSR Academy of Sciences, 1952. 544 p. [in Russian].

Turkі tіlderі. Uzhymdyq monografiya. «Sh. Shayahmetov atyndagy tіlderdі damytudyn respublikalyq uĭlestіru-adіstemelіk ortalygy» RMQK [Turkic languages. Collective monograph. RSE «Republican coordination and methodological Center for the development of languages named after Sh. Shayakhmetov»]. Astana, 2015. 456 p. [in Kazakh].

Khasanov B. Yazyki narodov Kazahstana i ih vzaimodejstvie [Languages of the peoples of Kazakhstan and their interaction]. Almaty, Science, 1976. 216 p. [in Russian].

Agency for Strategic planning and reforms of the Republic of the Kazakhstan Bureau of National Satistics. [Electron. resource] – 2010. – Available at: https://stat.gov.kz/official/industry/61/ statistic/5. (Accessed: 20.01.2022). [in Kazakh].

Otarbayeva R. Karachaevo-balkarskie narodnye pesni [Karachay-Balkar folk songs]. Cherkessk, 1977. 152 p. [in Russian].

Gadjiakhmedov N. Kumyksko-russkij slovar’ poslovic i pogovorok [Kumyk-Russian Dictionary of proverbs and sayings]. Makhachkala, 2015. 351 p. [in Russian].

Semenova A. Ideal i cel’ vospitaniya zhenshchiny v tradicionnoj pedagogicheskoj kul’ture karachaevcev [The ideal and purpose of educating a woman in the traditional pedagogical culture of the Karachai people]. In: Kul’turnaya zhizn’ Yuga Rossii [Cultural life of the South of Russia]. 2007. Ed. 25. N6. P. 31-34. [in Russian].

N.Shaimerdinova. «Kyrgyz-Russian dictionary» of 1897: cultural and linguistic explications. – Turkic Studies Journal. – Number 1, Volume 1. – 2019. – 73-88 p.

Zholdasbekov M., Shaimerdinova N., Kaldybaev M., Kalikov R., Zhiembai B., Dikhanbayeva A. Istoriya, yazyk i etnokul’tura tyurkskih narodov Kazahstana [History, language and ethnoculture of the Turkic peoples of Kazakhstan]. Nur-Sultan, Free flight, 2020. 237 p. [in Russian].