Back Kəraim dili Azerbaijani قارای تورکجه‌سی AZB Ҡараим теле Bashkir Karaimu kalba BAT-SMG Караімская мова Byelorussian কারায় ভাষা Bengali/Bangla Karaimeg Breton Karaïm Catalan Karaim-ngṳ̄ CDO Qaray tili CRH

Karaim language

Karaim
къарай тили
karaj tili
Karaim written in Cyrillic and Latin (Crimean dialect), Latin (Trakai dialect), along with Hebrew and Latin (Traditional)
Native toCrimea, Lithuania, Poland
EthnicityCrimean Karaites (2014)[1]
Native speakers
80 (2014)[2]
Turkic
Cyrillic script, Latin script, Hebrew alphabet
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3kdr
Glottologkara1464
ELPKaraim

The Karaim language (Crimean dialect: къарай тили, qaray tili; Trakai dialect: karaj tili), also known by its Hebrew name Lashon Kedar (Hebrew: לשון קדר‎, “language of the nomads"),[6] is a Turkic language belonging to the Kipchak group, with Hebrew influences, similarly to Yiddish or Judaeo-Spanish.[7] It is spoken by only a few dozen Crimean Karaites (Qrimqaraylar) in Lithuania, Poland, Crimea, and Galicia in Ukraine.[8] The three main dialects are those of Crimea, Trakai-Vilnius and Lutsk-Halych,[9] all of which are critically endangered. The Lithuanian dialect of Karaim is spoken mainly in the town of Trakai (also known as Troki) by a small community living there since the 14th century.

There is a chance the language will survive in Trakai as a result of official support and because of its appeal to tourists coming to the Trakai Island Castle, where Crimean Karaites are presented as the castle's ancient defenders.[10]

  1. ^ Karaim language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Karaim at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. ^ "Law of Ukraine "On Principles of State Language Policy")". Document 5029-17, Article 7: Regional or minority languages Ukraine, Paragraph 2. Verkhovna Rada. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  4. ^ "To which languages does the Charter apply?". European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Council of Europe. p. 3. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  5. ^ "Про затвердження переліку мов національних меншин (спільнот) та корінних народів України, яким загрожує зникнення". Official webportal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. 7 June 2024.
  6. ^ Schegoleva 2011.
  7. ^ Wexler, Paul (1983). "Is Karaite a Jewish language?". Mediterranean Language Review. 1: 27–54. JSTOR 10.13173/medilangrevi.1.1983.0027.
  8. ^ Brook, Kevin Alan (Summer 2014). "The Genetics of Crimean Karaites". Karadeniz Araştırmaları. 11 (42): 69–84. doi:10.12787/KARAM859.
  9. ^ Wexler 1980.
  10. ^ Napora 2018.

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