LINGUIST List 5.741

Sun 26 Jun 1994

Sum: Turkic Vowels (corrected)

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1. , Turkic Vowels: summary (corrected)

SUMMARY: Sino-Turkic Vowels

I while ago I posted a request for comparative tables or studies of Turkic
vowels, especially those of Turkic languages spoken in Chinese Turkistan and
neighbouring regions. I received the following replies, and I would like to
supplement it with some Chinese references which I found very useful:

(1) The Chinese journal MINZU YUYAN (Minority Languages)
 has quite a few articles on Uyghur,
Kazhak, and Khirgiz. Especially useful is an acoustic study of Uyghur vowels.
Also, there are descriptions of the sound systems of Tuva and Saleq Yugur
(Yellow Uyghur), which are said to the most conservative of the Turkic
languages in terms of vocabulary, and still use many of the terms found in the
9th Cent Turkic manuscripts unearthed in the region.

(2) The entries under "Turkic" and "Altaic" in the Zhongguo Dabaikequanshu --
Yuyan (Great Chinese Encyclopaedia, Language Volume) give good summaries of the
sound systems of languages in each family, drawing on an abundance of material
published in Russian. A good alternative for those who read Chinese but not
Russian.

(3) The book "The Minorities of Northwest China" (can't remember the author
offhand) gives descriptions of the sound systems of a number of Altaic
languages found in NW China, but I have doubts about the accuracy of the
transcriptions, as many of them are not consistent with descriptions found in
later references.

Wen-Chao Li
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University

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The first person you should write for help is, perhaps,
Professor Ji Xianlin, or other professors of Oriental Languages Department,
Peking University.

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Good problem! I am working on the same problem as well, and
It is driving me crazy. There are no charts available. You know the book:
The Turkic Languages and Peoples by KM Menges, don't you? You can start from
 there.
You also know "Philologiae Turcicae Fundamenta" I am sure. Also try "Spoken
 Uyghur" by
Hahn. Do you know these works, if not let me know.
Be in touch, I'll let you know if anything interesting comes up.
Sincerely,

Dr Cigdem Balim Harding
University of Manchester

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These three books may provide some answers:

Gerard Clauson, An Etymological Dictionary of Pre-Thirteenth Century
Turkish. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1972

Karl Menges, The Turkic Languages and Peoples: An Introduction to Turkic
Studies (Ural-Altaische Bibliothek XV). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1968

Nicholas Poppe, Introduction to Altaic Linguistics (Ural-Altasische
Bibliothek XIV). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1965

Lance Eccles
School of Modern Languages
Macquarie University, Australia
lance.ecclesmq.edu.au

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