Karaim Language Website Links For
Karaim
 

Information About

Karaim Language




  nativename къарай тили, karaj tili
  states Crimea
  speakers about 100
  familycolor Altaic
  fam1 )
  fam2 Turkic
  fam3 Kypchak
  fam4 Kypchak-Cuman
  iso2 tut
  iso3 kdr


The Karaim language (Crimean dialect: къарай тили, Trakai dialect: karaj tili) is a Turkic Language with Hebrew influences, in a similar manner to Yiddish or Ladino . It is spoken by Crimean Karaites (also known as Karaims and Qarays) - ethnic Turkic adherents of Karaite Judaism in Crimea , Lithuania , Poland and western Ukraine . It has very few remaining active speakers. The three main dialects are those of Crimea, Trakai - Vilnius and Lutsk - Halych .

In Crimea Karaim is written in Cyrillic Script , while in Trakai a variant of the Latin Alphabet is in use.

The Lithuanian dialect of Karaim is spoken mainly in the town of Trakai (also known as Troki) by a small community. Trakai is a former capital of Lithuania, and Crimean Karaites were brought there by Grand Duke Vytautas in 1397 - 1398 to defend the castle. There is a chance the language will survive in Trakai as a result of official support as well as its appeal to tourists. Currently in Trakai there is a museum about the Karaite community, as well as Karaite cuisine restaurants. People from the community take part in some special holidays held in Trakai, and sometimes it is interpreted that the new coat of arms of Trakai depicts a Karaite.


FURTHER READING

  • Csató, E. A., Nathan, D., & Firkavičiūtė, K. (2003). ''Spoken Karaim''. School of Oriental and African Studies .

  • Kocaoğlu, T., & Firkovičius, M. (2006). ''Karay: the Trakai dialect''. Languages of the world, 458. Muenchen: Lincom Europa. ISBN 3895864900



SEE ALSO