Middle Turkic languages

Classification

Middle Turkic can be divided into eastern and western branches.

Eastern Middle Turkic consists of Karakhanid (also called Khaqani Turkic), a literary language which was spoken in Kashgar, Balasaghun and other cities along the Silk Road and its later descendants such as Khorezmian Turkic and Chagatai.

The western branch consists of Kipchak languages documented in Codex Cumanicus and various Mamluk Kipchak texts from Egypt and Syria, and Oghuz Turkic represented by Old Anatolian Turkish. Old Anatolian Turkish was noted to be initially influenced by Eastern Middle Turkic traditions.

Karluk and Oghuz "Middle Turkic" period overlaps with the East Old Turkic period, which covers the 8th to 13th centuries, thus sometimes Karakhanid language is categorized under the "Old Turkic" period.

Literary works

• Book of Wisdom (ديوان حكمت) (Dīvān-i Ḥikmet) by Khoja Akhmet Yassawi. (in Karakhanid)
• Mahmud al-Kashgari's Divânü Lügati't-Türk (in Karakhanid and Arabic)
• Yusuf Balasaghuni's Kutadgu Bilig (in Karakhanid)
• Ahmad bin Mahmud Yukenaki (Ahmed bin Mahmud Yükneki) (Ahmet ibn Mahmut Yükneki) (Yazan Edib Ahmed b. Mahmud Yükneki) (w:tr:Edip Ahmet Yükneki) wrote the Hibet-ül hakayik (Hibet ül-hakayık) (Hibbetü'l-Hakaik) (Atebetüʼl-hakayik) (Hibat al-ḥaqāyiq) (هبة الحقايق) (w:tr:Atabetü'l-Hakayık)
• The works of Ali-Shir Nava'i (in Chagatai), including (titles in Arabic)
  • Gharā’ib al-Ṣighār ("Wonders of Childhood")
  • Nawādir al-Shabāb ("Witticisms of Youth")
  • Badā’i‘ al-Wasaṭ ("Marvels of Middle Age")
  • Fawā’id al-Kibār ("Advantages of Old Age")
  • Muḥākamat al-Lughatayn ("Judgment between the Two Languages")
• The Mughal Emperor Babur's Baburnama (in Chagatai)
• The ‘Pagan’ Oɣuz-namä — date and place of composition is unknown.

References

• Sinor, Dennis. "Old Turkic and Middle Turkic Languages." History of the Civilizations of Central Asia, vol. IV, 2 (2000), pp. 331–334.
• Boeschoten, Hendrik. "A Dictionary of Early Middle Turkic." Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East, Volume: 169

References

1. Mary Beth Norton. (1995). "The American Historical Association's guide to historical literature". Oxford University Press.
2. Peter B. Golden. (2010). "Turks and Khazars: Origins, Institutions, and Interactions in Pre-Mongol Eurasia". Ashgate/Variorum.
3. Bill Hickman, Gary Leiser, (2015), ''Turkish Language, Literature, and History. Travelers' Tales, Sultans, and Scholars Since the Eighth Century'', p. 139
4. (2015-04-29). "The Turkic Languages". Routledge.
5. (1904). "Book of Wisdom". Lithographic Printing House of the Kazan Imperial University.
6. "Divan-i Khikmet".