Khazar language
| Khazar | |
|---|---|
| Region | Khazar Khanate |
| Extinct | by the 13th century |
| Old Turkic | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
|
Linguist list
|
zkz |
| Glottolog | None |
Khazar, also known as Khazaric or Khazaris, was the dialect spoken by the Khazars, a group of semi-nomadic Turkic originating from Central Asia. There are few written records of the language, and it is regarded as extinct. Khazar was a Turkic language; however, there is a dispute among scholars as to which branch of the Turkic language family it belongs. One consideration believes it belongs to the Oghur ("lir") branch of the Turkic language family, while another consideration is that it belongs to the Oghuz ("shaz") branch.
There are many problems with exact classification of the Khazar language. One of the basic issues is the vague nature of the name Khazar itself. It has not yet been determined whether it refers to a specific Turkish tribe, or if it had a political and geographical origin that was not ethnolinguistic. The Khazar realm was a polyglot (multi lingual ) and polyethnic (multicultural) state, with Iranian, Finnic, Ugric, Slavic, and North Caucasian languages. According to anthropological data, it was ruled by Inner Asian Mongoloid (with some Europoid somatic elements) core tribes that accompanied the dynasty. The Turkic tribes probably spoke a number of Turkic languages. Scholars considered it a possibility that the term Khazar denoted one or even several languages; however, the sources cannot determine the extent of its use.
Chronicles of the time are unclear on Khazar's linguistic affiliation. The tenth century Al-Istakhri wrote two conflicting notices: "the language of the Khazars is different than the language of the Turks and the Persians, nor does a tongue of (any) group of humanity have anything in common with it and the language of the Bulgars is like the language of the Khazars, but the Burtas have another language." Al-Istakhri mentioned that population of Darband spoke Khazar along with other languages of their mountains.Al-Masudi listed Khazars among types of the Turks, and noted they are called Sabir in Turkic and Xazar in Persian.Al-Biruni, while discussing the Volga Bulgars and Sawars (Sabirs), noted their language was a "mixture of Turkic and Khazar."Al-Muqaddasi described the Khazar language as "very incomprehensible."
...
Wikipedia