The Old Tatar ( İske imlâ: يسكى تاتار تلى, translit. tt-Cyrl, иске татар теле, translit=İske Tatar Tele, Volga Turki; ba, Урал-Волга буйы төрки теле) was a literary language used by some ethnic groups of the

Volga-Ural Idel-Ural ( tt-Cyrl, Идел-Урал, translit=Idel-Üral, russian: Идель-Урал), literally Volga-Ural, is a historical region in Eastern Europe, in what is today Russia. The name literally means ''Volga-Urals'' in the Tatar language. T ...

region (

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

and others) from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

till the 19th century. Old Tatar is a member of the Kipchak (or Northwestern) group of

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia ( Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic l ...

, although it is partly derived from the ancient

Bulgar language Bulgar (also known as Bulghar, Bolgar, or Bolghar) is an extinct Oghur Turkic language spoken by the Bulgars. The name is derived from the Bulgars, a tribal association that established the Bulgar state known as Old Great Bulgaria in the mid- ...

(the first poem, considered to be written by Qol Ghali in Old Tatar dates back to

Volga Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state wi ...

's epoch). It included many

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

loans. In its written form the language was spelled uniformly among different ethnic groups, speaking different Turkic languages of the Kipchak group, but pronunciation differed from one people to another, approximating to the spoken language, making this written form universal for different languages. The main reason for this universal usage was that the principal differences between the languages of the Kipchak group are in the pronunciation of the vowels, which was not adequately represented by the Arabic script. The language formerly used the Arabic script and later its variant İske imlâ. The Old Tatar Language is a language of

Idel-Ural Idel-Ural ( tt-Cyrl, Идел-Урал, translit=Idel-Üral, russian: Идель-Урал), literally Volga-Ural, is a historical region in Eastern Europe, in what is today Russia. The name literally means ''Volga-Urals'' in the Tatar language. ...

poetry and literature. With the Ottoman Turkish,

Azeri Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most numer ...

, Kipchak, Khaqani TurkicOutstanding examples of the Uighur Middle Age literature are

Yusuf Balasaghuni Yusuf ( ar, يوسف ') is a male name of Arabic origin meaning " God increases" (in piety, power and influence).From the Hebrew יהוה להוסיף ''YHWH Lhosif'' meaning "YHWH will increase/add". It is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew nam ...

Qutatqu Bilik The ''Kutadgu Bilig'' or ''Qutadğu Bilig'' (; Middle Turkic: ), is an 11th century work written by Yūsuf Balasaguni for the prince of Kashgar. The text reflects the author's and his society's beliefs, feelings and practices with regard to quit ...

'' (''Wisdom Of Royal Glory'') (1069–70) and Mahmut Kashgari '' Divan-i Lugat-it Türk'' (''Dictionary of Turkic Dialects'') (1072) and Chagatai, they were the only Turkic literary languages used in the Middle Ages. It was actively used in publishing until 1905, when the first Tatar newspaper started being published in modern

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

, which until then had been used only in a spoken form.

References

Sources

See also