Tatar

A language of Russian Federation

Tartar

татар теле‎ (tatar tele), татарча‎ (tatarça)

4,280,000 in Russian Federation (2010 census). Population may include L2 speakers. Ethnic population: 5,310,000 (2010 census). Total users in all countries: 5,315,550.

Location

Bashkortostan republic, Tatarstan republic, Saint Petersburg, Moscow.

Language Maps

China

Western Russian Federation

Language Status

2 (Provincial). Statutory provincial language in Tatarstan Republic (1992, Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan, Article 8).

Classification

Turkic, Western, Uralian

Dialects

Middle Tatar (Kazan, Kazan Tatar), Western Tatar (Mishari, Misher). Tobol-Irtysh is divided into 5: Tyumen, Tobol, Zabolotny, Tevriz, and Tara (Tumasheva). Mixed dialects are: Astrakhan, Kasimov, Tepter, and Ural (Poppe). 43,000 Astrakhan (L1 speakers) have shifted to the Middle dialect. Kasim (5,000 L1 speakers) is between Middle and Western Tatar. Tepter (300,000 L1 speakers) is reportedly between the Tatar and Bashkort [bak] languages.

Typology

SOV; case-marking (6 cases); verb affixes mark person, number; passives; tense; causatives; 21 consonant and 12 vowel phonemes; non-tonal; stress on final syllable; vowel harmony; evidentiality.

Language Use

Also used by the Karatai (different from Karata [kpt]), ethnically Erzya people who speak Tatar. All domains. Used by all. Positive attitudes. Also use Russian [rus]. Used as L2 by Bashkort [bak], Eastern Yiddish [ydd].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L2: High. Taught as subject in primary and secondary schools. Taught as subject in tertiary schools. Literature. Newspapers. Periodicals. Radio. TV. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 2016.

Language Resources

OLAC resources in and about Tatar

Writing

Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab], used prior to 1928. Cyrillic script [Cyrl]. Latin script [Latn].

Other Comments

Different from Crimean Tatar (Crimean Turkish [crh]) and Siberian Tatar [sty]. Muslim, Christian.

Also spoken in:

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Azerbaijan

Language NameTatar

User Population

24,100 in Azerbaijan (2011 UNSD).

Location

Baku district and scattered throughout the country.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Belarus

Language NameTatar

User Population

12,000 in Belarus.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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China

Language NameTatar

User Population

800 in China (1999 C. Zongzhen), decreasing. Ethnic population: 3,560 (2010 census).

Location

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region: Qvqek, Ürümqi, and Yining (Ghulja, Kulja).

Alternate Names

Tartar, Tata’er

Language Status

8a (Moribund). Language of recognized nationality: Tatar.

Language Use

Oral tradition, songs. Older adults only. Most shifted to Kazakh [kaz], as a literary language. Most shifted to Uyghur [uig], as a trade language.

Language Development

Literacy rate in L2: 98% literate in any language (2000 census, Tatar nationality).

Other Comments

Non-indigenous. Some speak only Kazakh. Speech in different areas is influenced by Uyghur and Kazakh. Muslim.

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Georgia

Language NameTatar

User Population

3,400 in Georgia (Leclerc 2015).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Kazakhstan

Language NameTatar

User Population

104,000 in Kazakhstan (2009 census). Ethnic population: 204,000 (2009 census).

Location

Scattered.

Language Status

5* (Dispersed).

Language Development

Found in minority schools.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Kyrgyzstan

Language NameTatar

User Population

20,900 in Kyrgyzstan (2009 census). Ethnic population: 31,400 (2009 census).

Location

Scattered, mostly northeast.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Latvia

Language NameTatar

User Population

2,850 in Latvia (2018).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Romania

Language NameTatar

User Population

17,700 in Romania (2011 census). Ethnic population: 20,300 (2011 census).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Tajikistan

Language NameTatar

User Population

4,200 in Tajikistan (2012 UNSD). Ethnic population: 107,000 (2017).

Location

Kuhistoni Badakhshon region: scattered.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Turkey

Language NameTatar

User Population

28,700 in Turkey (2019).

Location

Istanbul.

Language Status

5* (Dispersed).

Other Comments

Non-indigenous. Muslim.

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Turkmenistan

Language NameTatar

User Population

81,000 in Turkmenistan (Leclerc 2019b), based on ethnicity.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Ukraine

Language NameTatar

User Population

25,800 in Ukraine (2001 census). Ethnic population: 73,300 (2001 census).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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United States

Language NameTatar

User Population

7,000 in United States.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Uzbekistan

Language NameTatar

User Population

702,000 in Uzbekistan (2017). Ethnic population: 479,000 (2017).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

View other languages of Uzbekistan

Tatar

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A language of Russian Federation

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