Ili Turki is an endangered[2] Turkic language spoken primarily in China. In 2007, it was reported that there were around 30 families using it in China.

Ili Turki
İlı turkeşi
И̇лı туркес̧и
ي̇لي تۋركەسي
Native toXinjiang, China; Kazakhstan
EthnicityIli Turks
Native speakers
30 families in China (2007); moribund in Kazakhstan[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3ili
Glottologilit1241
ELPIli Turki
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Geographic distribution

edit

Ili Turki is spoken in China's Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture along the Ili River and its tributaries and in Yining. There may be some speakers in Kazakhstan. Ili Turki has no official status in either country.

Classification

edit

Ili Turki appears to belong to the Karluk group of Turkic languages, although it exhibits a number of features that suggest a Kipchak substratum.[3][4]

A comparison of Ili Turki's Karluk and Kipchak features is shown below:

Kipchak & Chagatay features in Ili Turki
  Kazakh (Kipchak) Ili Turki Uzbek (Karluk) English
*G > w after low vowels taw taw tɒɣ mountain
Genitive assimilation tyje+niŋ / et+tiŋ tʉjæ+nin / et+tin tʉjæ+niŋ / et+niŋ of the camel / of the meat
*G > w > Ø after high vowels sarɨ sarɨq sarɨq yellow
Loss of geminate consonants seɡiz sekkiz sækkiz eight

Phonology

edit

Consonants

edit
Consonants of Ili Turki
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ  
Plosive voiceless p t k q  
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative voiceless s ʃ χ h
voiced z ʁ
Tap ɾ
Approximant l j w

Vowels

edit
Vowels of Ili Turki
Front Central/Back
unrounded rounded
Close i ɨ ʉ
Mid e ɵ
Open æ ɑ

Vocabulary

edit
No. Ili Turki
1 bir
2 ekki
3 ʉtʃ
4 tɵrt
5 beʃ
6 altə
7 jetti
8 sekkiz
9 tɵqqʉz
10 ɵn

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Ili Turki at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  2. ^ Moseley, Christopher, ed. (2007). Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages. London: Routledge.
  3. ^ Zhào, Xiāngrú; Hahn, Reinhard F. (1989). "The Ili Turk People and Their Language". Central Asiatic Journal. 33 (3/4): 261–285. JSTOR 41927706.
  4. ^ Hahn, Reinhard F. (1991). "An Annotated Sample of Ili Turki". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 45 (1): 31–53. JSTOR 23658071.
edit