Tat, an Endangered Language of Azerbaijan, and Its Speakers: A Historical and Sociolinguistic Overview

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 13 Sayı: 22, 185 - 196, 14.02.2023

Murad Suleymanov

Öz

This article offers a brief insight into the history of Tat, an Iranian language spoken mainly in Azerbaijan, and the sociolinguistic profile of its speakers, with emphasis on phenomena such as language identity and language shift. Despite the absence of reliable figures regarding the number of Tat speakers, field inquiries show that fluency in Tat decreases with each generation, a worrying trend considering that many Tat varieties still await their description and documentation.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Tat, Azerbaijan, minority languages, endangered languages, sociolinguistics, Iranian languages

Azerbaycan'ın Tehlikedeki Bir Dili Tatça ve Konuşurları Tarihsel ve Toplumdilbilimsel Bir Bakış

Öz

Bu makale, ağırlıklı olarak Azerbaycan'da konuşulan bir İrani dil olan Tatçanın tarihine ve konuşanlarının toplumdilbilimsel profiline, dil kimliği ve dil kayması gibi olgulara vurgu yaparak kısa bir bakış açısı sunmaktadır. Tatça konuşurlarının sayısına ilişkin güvenilir rakamlar olmamasına rağmen, saha araştırmaları, toplumda Tatçayı akıcı bir şekilde konuşabilenlerin sayısının her kuşakta azaldığını gösteriyor. Bu, Tatçanın pek çok varyantının hâlâ tanımlanmadığı ve belgelenmediği düşünüldüğünde endişe verici bir eğilimdir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Tat, Cuhuri, Dağ Yahudileri, Azerbaycan, toplum dil bilim, dil kayması, azınlık dilleri

Kaynakça

• Abelov, Nerses (1887). “Ėkonomičeskij byt gosudarstvennyx krest’jan Geokčajskogo i Šemaxinskogo uezdov Bakinskoj gubernii” [The Economic Life of the State Peasants of the Göyçay and Şamaxı Uyezds, Governorate of Baku]. In: Materialy dlja izučenija ėkonomičeskogo byta gosudarstvennyx krest’jan Zakavkazskogo kraja 6/II, pp. 1–334.
• Akopjan, Arsen (2006). “Tatojazyčnye armjane: 15 vekov ot ‘armjanstva’ k ‘armjanstvu’” [Tat-speaking Armenians: 15 Centuries from “Armenianness” to “Armenianness”]. In: Gerasimova, Ekaterina & Ležava, Nino, eds. Južnyj Kavkaz: Territorii. Istorii. Ljudi [The South Caucasus: Territories, stories and people]. Tbilisi: Heinrich Böll Stiftung / Diogene, pp. 190–210.
• Alikberov, Alikber (2003). Ėpoxa klassičeskogo islama na Kavkaze [Classical Islamic Era in the Caucasus]. Kul’tura narodov Vostoka. Moscow: Vostočnaja literatura.
• Authier, Gilles (2016). “Tat”. In: Müller, Peter O. & Ohnheiser, Ingeborg & Olsen, Susan & Rainer, Franz, eds. Word-Formation. An International Handbook of the Languages of Europe 5. Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science 40. Berlin / Boston: de Gruyter, pp. 3179–3196.
• Bakıxanov, Abbasqulu (1951 [1841]). Gülüstani-İrəm [The Heavenly Rose-Garden] (an Azeri translation by Mirzə Əsgərli of a 1844 Persian manuscript). Baku: Azərbaycan SSR Elmlər Akademiyası nəşriyyatı.
• Bəndəliyev, Nurəddin (2009). Dağlıq Şirvanın toponimləri [The Toponyms of Upper Şirvan]. Baku: Elm.
• Bunijatov, Zija (1986). “Neskol’ko zamečanij po povodu ėtničeskix processov v Širvane (do pervoj treti XIII veka)” [Some notes regarding the ethnic processes in Şirvan (until the first third of the thirteenth century)]. In: Doklady Akademii nauk Azerbajdžanskoj SSR XL/11/4, pp. 70–74.
• Clifton, John M. & Deckinga, Gabriela & Lucht, Laura & Tiessen, Calvin (2003). Sociolinguistic Situation of the Tat and Mountain Jews in Azerbaijan. Studies in Languages of Azerbaijan 2. Baku / Saint Petersburg: SIL International.
• Členov, Mixail (2000). “Meždu Scilloj deiudaizacii et Xaribdoj sionizma: Gorskie evrei v XX veke” [Between the Scylla of Dejudaisation and the Charybdis of Zionism: Mountain Jews in the Twentieth Century]. In: Diaspory 3, pp. 174–197.
• Eichwald, Carl Eduard von (1834). Reise auf dem Caspischen Meere und in den Caucasus: Unternommen in den Jahren 1825-1826. Stuttgart / Tübingen: J.G. Cotta.
• Əhmədov, Tofiq (1964). “Azəri dili ilə tat dilinin qarşılıqlı əlaqəlsinə aid bə’zi qeydlər (Tat dilinin Quba ləhcəsi üzrə)” [Some notes on mutual contacts between Azeri and Tat (using data from the Quba dialect)]. In: Azərbaycan Dövlət Universitenin elmi xəbərləri: Dil və ədəbiyyat seriyası 5, pp. 81–89.
• Gardanov, Valentin & Dolgix, Boris & Ždanko, Tat’jana (1961). “Osnovnye napravlenija ėtničeskix processov u narodov SSSR” [Main Directions of Ethnic Processes among the Peoples of the USSR]. In: Sovetskaja ėtnografija 4, pp. 3–29.
• Golden, Peter (2016). “Turks and Iranians: Aspects of Türk in Khazaro-Iranian interaction”. In: Csató, Éva Á. & Johanson, Lars & Róna-Tas, András & Utas, Bo, eds. Turks and Iranians: Interactions in Language and History. Turcologica 105. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 79–106.
• Grjunberg, Aleksandr (1963). Jazyk severoazerbajdžanskix tatov [The Language of the Tats of Northern Azerbaijan]. Leningrad: Izdatel’stvo Akademii nauk SSSR.
• Grjunberg, Aleksandr & Davydova, Lidija (1982). “Tatskij jazyk” [Tat]. In: Rastorgueva, Vera, ed. Osnovy iranskogo jazykoznanija: Novoiranskie jazyki: zapadnaja gruppa, prikaspijskie jazyki [Fundamentals of Iranian Linguistics: New Iranian languages, Western group, Caspian languages]. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 231–287.
• Ġalt‘axč‘yan, Sergey (1970). “Madrasac‘inneri t‘at‘eren lezun” [The Tat Language of the Residents of Mədrəsə]. Candidate of Sciences thesis defended at the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR Sector of Oriental Studies.
• Hacıyev, Maqsud (1971). Tat dilinin Qonaqkənd ləhcəsi [The Qonaqkənd Dialect of Tat]. Baku: Elm.
• Hacıyev, Maqsud (2009). Azərbaycan tatlarının dili / Tatların tarixi-etnoqrafik oçerki [The Language of Azerbaijani Tats / A Historical and Ethnographic Sketch of Tats]. Baku: Mütərcim.
• Kupoveckij, Mark (2010). “K istoričeskoj demografii ėtnoterritorial’nyx grupp gorskix evreev Azerbajdžana v XVII–XIX vv.” [On the Historical Demographics of the Ethnoterritorial Groups of the Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan from the 17th to 19th Centuries]. In: Fedorčuk, Artem & Členova, Svetlana, eds. Studia Anthropologica: Sbornik statej v čest’ M. A. Členova [Studia Anthropologica: A Collection of articles in honour of M. A. Chlenov]. Moscow / Jerusalem: Mosty Kul’tury / Gesharim, pp. 145–175.
• Lopatinskij, Lev, ed. (1894). “Armjano-tatskie teksty” [Armeno-Tat Texts]. In: Sbornik materialov dlja opisanija mestnostej i plemen Kavkaza 20, Section 2/2, pp. 25–32.
• Ljuškevič, Fanja (1971). “Termin ‘tat’ kak ėtnonim v Srednej Azii, Irane i Zakavkaz’e” [The Term “Tat” as an Ethnonym in Central Asia, Iran and the Transcaucasia]. Sovetskaja ėtnografija 3, pp. 25–32.
• Miller, Boris (1929). “Taty, ix rasselenie i govory (materialy i voprosy)” [The Tats, Their Settlement and Dialects (Materials and Issues)]. In: Azərbajcanь өqrənən Cəmijjətin Xəbərləri 8/7, pp. 3–33.
• Miller, Boris (1945). “Tatskie teksty: Materialy po govoram tatov Sovetskogo Azerbajdžana” [Tat Texts: Materials on the Dialects of the Tats of Soviet Azerbaijan]. In: Abaev, Vasilij & Meščaninov, Ivan, eds. Iranskie jazyki 1 [Iranian Languages 1]. Iranica 3. Moscow / Leningrad: Izdatel’stvo Akademii nauk SSSR, pp. 107–126.
• Miller, Vsevolod (1907). Tatskie ėtjudy II: Opyt grammatiki tatskogo jazyka [Tat Studies II: Towards a Grammar of Tat]. Trudy po vostokovedeniju 26 [Works on Oriental Studies 26]. Moscow: Tipografija Vjač. Al. Gatcuk.
• Minorskij, Vladimir (1963). Istorija Širvana i Derbenda X–XI vekov [History of Şirvan and Derbent in the 10th–11th centuries]. Moscow: Vostočnaja literatura.
• Minorsky, Vladimir (1936). “Tat”. In: Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 4, pp. 755–759.
• Nazarova, Evgenija (2020). “Terminologičeskaja situacija s nazvaniem jazyka gorskix evreev” [Terminological Situation with the Name of the Language of the Mountain Jews]. In: Judaic-Slavic Journal 2/4, pp. 60–85.
• Oranskij, Iosif (1979). Iranskie jazyki v istoričeskom osveščenii [Iranian Languages from the Historical Perspective]. Moscow: Nauka.
• Shalem, Vitaly (2018). “Judeo-Tat in the Eastern Caucasus”. In: Hary, Benjamin & Bunin Benor, Sarah. Languages in Jewish Communities, Past and Present. Contributions to the Sociology of Language 112. Berlin / Boston: de Gruyter, pp. 313–356.
• Sokolova, Valentina (1953). Očerki po fonetike iranskix jazykov: beludžskij, kurdskij, talyšskij, tatskij jazyki [Phonetic Sketches of Iranian Languages: Balochi, Kurdish, Talyshi, Tat]. Moscow / Leningrad: Izdatel’stvo Akademii nauk SSSR.
• Soltanov, Ağacamal & Soltanov, Məmmədxan (2013). Tati-türki, türki-tati lüğət – Tatca-azərbaycanca, azərbaycanca-tatca lüğət [Tat–Azeri, Azeri–Tat Dictionary]. Baku: Qanun.
• Statistika Komitəsi (2022). Azərbaycan Respublikasında Əhalinin Siyahıyaalınması. Statistik Məcmuə 2019-cu il, 21-ci Cild [The Republic of Azerbaijan Census: Statistical Digest 2019, Vol.21]. Bakı: Azərbaycan Respublikasının Dövlət Statistika Komitəsi.
• Stilo, Donald (2016). “On the non-Persian Iranian substratum of Azerbaijan”. In: Csató, Éva Á. & Johanson, Lars & Róna-Tas, András & Utas, Bo, eds. Turks and Iranians: Interactions in Language and History. Turcologica 105. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 185–234.
• Suleymanov, Murad (2020). A Grammar of Şirvan Tat. Beiträge zur Iranistik 46. Wiesbaden: Reichert.
• Viktorin, Viktor (2008). “Vostočnokavkazskie iranojazyčnye iudei (“taty-iudaisty”, “gorskie evrei”, ili “džuhury”): itogi perepisi 2002 g. i problemy ėtnolingvističeskoj identifikacii” [East Caucasian Iranian-Speaking Jews (“Jewish Tats”, “Mountain Jews”, or “Juhurs”): Results of the 2002 census and problems of ethnolinguistic identification]. In: Burmistrov, Konstantin & Vorob’ev Anatolij & Močalova, Viktorija & Petruxin, Vladimir & Rozenblat, Evgenij & Fedorčuk, Artem, eds. Problemy evrejskoj istorii: Materialy naučnyx konferencij centra “Sėfėr” po iudaike 2007 goda, vol. 2. Moscow: Knižniki, pp. 430–439. Volkova, Natal’ja (1969). “Ėtničeskie processy v Zakavkaz’e v XIX–XX vv.” [Ethnic Processes in the Transcaucasia in the 19th–20th cc.]. In: Kavkazskij ėtnografičeskij sbornik IV, pp. 3–70.
• Volkova, Natal’ja (1984). “Materialy ėkonomičeskix obsledovanij Kavkaza 1880-x godov kak ėtnografičeskij istočnik” [Materials of the 1880s economic observations of the Caucasus as an ethnographic source]. In: Kavkazskij ėtnografičeskij sbornik VIII, pp. 206–266.
• Windfuhr, Gernot (1979). Persian Grammar: History and state of its study. Trends in Linguistics, State-of-the-Art Reports 12. The Hague / Paris / New York: de Gruyter.
• Windfuhr, Gernot & Perry, John R. (2009). “Persian and Tajik”. In: Windfuhr, Gernot, ed. The Iranian Languages. Routledge Language Families. London / New York: Routledge, pp. 416–544.
• Zand, Michael (1985). “The literature of the Mountain Jews of the Caucasus (Part 1)”. In: Soviet Jewish Affairs 15/2, pp. 3–22.
• Zand, Michael (1986). “The literature of the Mountain Jews of the Caucasus (Part 2)”. In: Soviet Jewish Affairs 16/1, pp. 35–51.
• Žuze, Pantelejmon (1930). “K vyjasneniju značenija slova ‘tat’” [On Determining the Meaning of the Word “Tat”]. In: Izvestija Azerbajdžanskogo gosudarstvennogo naučno-issledovalel’skogo instituta I/3, pp. 11–15.