A REVIEW OF ERCAN ALKAYA"S MONOGRAPH THE MISHAR DIALECT OF THE TATAR LANGUAGE (ERCAN ALKAYA. MIŞER TATAR TÜRKÇESİ. ISTANBUL: KESİT YAYINLARI, 2014. 671 P.)
Ferits YusufovichYusupov,
Kazan Federal university,
18 Kremlyovskaya Str., Kazan, 420008, Russia,
ferits@yandex.ru.
The review analyzes the monograph “Mişer tatar türkçesi” by the Associate Professor of Elazig University (Turkey) Yerzhan Alkaya, who is well-known in the scientific community of Tatarstan owing to his works on the Tatar language and Tatar dialectology, published in Istanbul, in the Kesit Yayınlar publishing house. The young talented Turkish scholar made a major contribution to Tatar dialectological research with this work. The book is based on the systemic and synchronous method which allows the author to highlight all levels of the Mishar dialect. The author of the monograph also reveals the complicated history of Tatar-Mishars who played an important role in the formation of the Tatar nation. In his opinion, Mishars lived in close contact with future Kazan Tatars as early as the time of the Bulgar states. As a result of age-old communications, the two ethnic groups developed common features in language and life, which brought these related groups closer together. According to the author of the monograph, the phenomena, specific to the Mishar dialect, contribute to the variety and richness of the language palette inherited from the Old Turkic language, which is the common basis for all modern Turkic dialects.
The appendixof the book contains examples of folk literature and ethno-linguistic materials,which give an idea of the Tatar-Mishars’ rich spiritual culture. Scholars recognize Yerzhan Alkaya’s monograph as a major contribution to the evolution of the Tatar language.
Key words: the Tatar language, the Mishar dialect, Tatar speeches, history of the Mishar-Tatars, the Old Turkiclanguage, the Kipchaks.
