Karaim language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Karaim къарай тили, karaj tili
Spoken in:	Crimea
Total speakers:	about 100
Language family:	Altaic[1] (controversial)  Turkic   Kypchak    Kypchak-Cuman     Karaim
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	tut
ISO/FDIS 639-3:	kdr
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

The Karaim language (Crimean dialect: къарай тили, Trakai dialect: karaj tili) is a Turkic language with Hebrew influences, in a similar manner to Yiddish or Ladino. It is spoken by Crimean Karaites (also known as Karaims and Qarays) - ethnic Turkic adherents of Karaite Judaism in Crimea, Lithuania, Poland and western Ukraine. It has very few remaining active speakers. The three main dialects are those of Crimea, Trakai-Vilnius and Lutsk-Halych.

In Crimea Karaim is written in Cyrillic script, while in Trakai a variant of the Latin alphabet is in use.

The Lithuanian dialect of Karaim is spoken mainly in the town of Trakai (also known as Troki) by a small community. Trakai is a former capital of Lithuania, and Crimean Karaites were brought there by Grand Duke Vytautas in 1397-1398 to defend the castle. There is a chance the language will survive in Trakai as a result of official support as well as its appeal to tourists. Currently in Trakai there is a museum about the Karaite community, as well as Karaite cuisine restaurants. People from the community take part in some special holidays held in Trakai, and sometimes it is interpreted that the new coat of arms of Trakai depicts a Karaite.

[edit] See also

• Krymchak language

[edit] External link

• Lithuanian Karaims: Language

Jewish Languages [edit]   Afro-Asiatic Hebrew eras: Biblical | Mishnaic | Medieval | Modern dialects: Ashkenazi | Sephardi | Yemenite | Sanaani | Tiberian | Mizrahi | Samaritan Hebrew Judeo-Aramaic (Aramaic): Biblical | Barzani | Hulaulá | Lishana Deni | Lishán Didán | Lishanid Noshan | Targum | Samaritan Aramaic Judeo-Arabic (Arabic): Judeo-Iraqi | Judeo-Moroccan | Judeo-Yemenite | Judeo-Libyan | Judeo-Algerian Other: Cushitic: Kayla | Qwara Berber: Judeo-Berber Indo-European Yiddish (Germanic) dialects: Eastern | Western | Litvish | Poylish | Ukrainish | Klezmer-loshn derivates: Yeshivish | Yinglish institutions: YIVO | Yiddish Theater | National Yiddish Book Center Judeo-Romance (Romance): Catalanic | Judeo-Italian | Ladino | Haketia | Tetuani | La‘az | Shuadit | Zarphatic | Lusitanic | Judeo-Aragonese Judeo-Persian (Aryan): Bukhori | Juhuri | Dzhidi | Judeo-Hamedani | Judeo-Shirazi | Judeo-Esfahani | Judeo-Kurdish | Judeo-Yazdi Judeo-Kermani | Judeo-Kashani | Judeo-Borujerdi | Judeo-Khunsari | Judeo-Golpaygani | Judeo-Nehevandi Other: Yevanic (Hellenic) | Knaanic (Slavic) | Judæo-Marathi (Indic) Turkic Dravidian Kartvelian Krymchak | Karaim Judeo-Malayalam Gruzinic

v • d • e Turkic languages
West Turkic
Bolgar	Bolgar* | Chuvash | Hunnic* | Khazar*
Chagatay	Aini2| Chagatay* | Ili Turki | Lop | Uyghur | Uzbek
Kypchak	Baraba | Bashkir | Crimean Tatar1 | Cuman* | Karachay-Balkar | Karaim | Karakalpak | Kazakh | Kipchak* | Krymchak | Kumyk | Nogay | Tatar | Urum1
Oghuz	Afshar | Azerbaijani | Crimean Tatar1 | Gagauz | Khorasani Turkish | Ottoman Turkish* | Pecheneg* | Qashqai | Salar | Turkish | Turkmen | Urum1
East Turkic
Khalaj	Khalaj
Kyrgyz-Kypchak	Altay | Kyrgyz
Uyghur	Chulym | Dolgan | Fuyü Gïrgïs | Khakas | Northern Altay | Shor | Tofa | Tuvan | Western Yugur | Sakha / Yakut
Old Turkic*
Notes: 1 Listed in more than one group, 2 Mixed language, * Extinct