Uluslararası Türk Lehçe Araştırmaları Dergisi (Jun 2017)
ON THE INITIAL y-/c- IN TATAR TURKISH WRITTEN LANGUAGE
Abstract
In turkish, the preservation of initial y- or its alteration with c-, j- expopses an interesting feature. The alteration of y->c-/j- is accepted to be an Kipchak feature and seen in the modern representatives of Kipchak Turkish. But, initial y-, while seen as c- in Kirghiz and Karachay- Balkar and as j- in Kazakh and Karakalpak, doesnt not change in Bashkir, Noghai, Crimea-Tatar, Kumyk and Karai Turkish. Initial y- is also preserved in Oghuz (Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkoman and Gagauz) and Karluk (Uzbek, Uighur) language groups. In Northeastern language group, initial y- is ç- in Tuva and Khakas and c in Altai Turkish; in Yakutian s- and in Chuvash -. Tatar Turkish has a different feature in terms of the situation of the initial y-/c-. Eventhough the number of the words which preserved initial y- (yafrak “leaf”, yakın “near, close”, yıl “year”, yalkın “fire”, yat- “to sleep, to lie down”) are the majority, the number of which changed it into c- are substantial. There are 450 headwords with intial c- in the forms of base, derived, intensive, compound, mimetic, handiadyoin (cidº “seven”, cidºgen “heptagon”, cidºyıllık “for seven years”, ciŋel “slight, light”, ciŋºley- “to get light-”, cir “ground, place”, cir-kük “ground-sky”, cirlº “landholder”, cilbºr-cilbºr “puffy”, ceyºn-kışın “summertime-wintertime” vb.) in the Tatar Language Descriptive Dictionary (V. III, Kazan 1981). In Tatar written language the above-cited differential alteration of y-/c- occurs specially when preceding /i/ like in cil “wind”, cir “ground, place” and this change is considered to occur as a consequence of the effect of the other Kipchak dialetcs. Considering historical periods and sub-dialects of Tatar Turkish, initial y-/c- alteration in Tatar Turkish should be examined by taking into account its own structure and circumstances rather than the influence of Kipchak dialects. In this context, by giving examples from three major subdialetcs of Tatar Turkish, Center (Kazan), West (Misher), East (Siberia), and Tatar written language, the preservation and alterqation of initial y- will be eloborated.
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