# Karachay-Balkar

Karachay–Balkar (Къарачай-Малкъар тил, Qaraçay-Malqar til), often referred to as the "mountaineer language" (Таулу тил, Tawlu til) by its speakers, is a Turkic language spoken by the Karachays and Balkars in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay–Cherkessia, European Russia, as well as by an immigrant population in Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey. It is divided into two dialects: Karachay-Baksan-Chegem, which pronounces two phonemes as /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ and Malkar, which pronounces the corresponding phonemes as /ts/ and /z/. The modern Karachay–Balkar written language is based on the Karachay–Baksan–Chegem dialect. The language is closely related to Kumyk.

## Phonology

Vowels :
| | Front | Back |
| Close | i y | ɯ u |
| Mid | e ø | o |
| Open | | ɑ |
Consonants :
| | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal |
| Plosive | p b | t d | | k ɡ | (q) (ɢ) | |
| Fricative | [f] | s z | ʃ | x (ɣ) | | h |
| Affricate | | [ts] | tʃ dʒ | | | |
| Nasal | m | n | | ŋ | | |
| Liquid | | l r | | | | |
| Approximant | w | | j | | | |
Parentheses indicate allophones, brackets indicate phonemes from loanwords.

## Orthography

Historically, the Arabic alphabet had been used by first writers until 1924. Handwritten manuscripts of the Balkar poet Kazim Mechiev and other examples of literature have been preserved to this day. The first printed books in Karachay–Balkar were published in the beginning of the 20th century. In 1910, the prominent educator and the father of literary Karachay-Balkar, Ismail Akbaev, based in Temir-Khan-Shura (Buynaksk), first standardized the Karachay-Balkar Arabic alphabet and published a book titled "A teaching aid for initial teaching of children to write and read". In 1915, a syndicate of teachers from the religious and secular schools of Karachay commissioned Akbaev to develop a national script. The result of this was a primer published in 1916, titled "Ana tili" (آنا تیلی).
After the October Revolution, initially as part of the soviet policy of standardization of school curicculum and public education, the standard Arabic alphabet for Karachay-Balkar was refined once more, in the 2nd edition of "Ana tili" (آنا تیلی) being published by Ismail Akbaev in 1921.
Later, as part of a new state campaign of Latinisation Karachay and Balkar educators developed a new alphabet based on Latin letters, being officially adopted in 1924.
In the 1930s, the official Soviet policy was revised and the process of Cyrillization of Soviet languages was started. In 1937–38 the new alphabet based on Cyrillic letters was officially adopted, which remains the official alphabet for Karachay-Balkar up till today.

### Cyrillic alphabet

Modern Karachay–Balkar Cyrillic alphabet:
| А а [a] | Б б [b] | В в [v] | Г г [g] | Гъ гъ [ʁ] | Д д [d] | Дж дж $^{(1)}$ [dʒ] | Е е $^{(2)}$ [je]/[e] |
| Ё ё $^{(3)}$ [ø]/[jo] | Ж ж $^{(1)}$ [ʒ] | З з [z] | И и [i] | Й й [j] | К к [k] | Къ къ [q]/[ɢ] | Л л [l] |
| М м [m] | Н н [n] | Нг нг $^{(4)}$ [ŋ] | О о [o] | П п [p] | Р р [r] | С с [s] | Т т [t] |
| У у $^{(5)}$ [u]/[w] | Ф ф [f] | Х х $^{(6)}$ [x]/[χ]/[h] | Ц ц [ts] | Ч ч [tʃ] | Ш ш [ʃ] | Щ щ [ɕː] | Ъ ъ [∅] |
| Ы ы [ɯ] | Ь ь [◌ʲ] | Э э $^{(2)}$ [e] | Ю ю $^{(3)}$ [y]/[ju] | Я я $^{(3)}$ [æ]/[ja] |

#### Notes

* In Kabardino-Balkaria, ж is written instead of дж, corresponding to the dialectical variation in the pronunciation.
* Word-initially, the letter е would be pronounced as [je], whereas the letter э would be pronounced as e. The letter э is not used in the middle or end of words, in native Karachay-Balkar words.
* The letters ё, ю, and я are pronounced as vowels [ø], [y], and [æ] respectively in native Karachay-Balkar words, but are pronounced as [jo], [ju], and [ja] in Russian loanwords.
* Karachay-Cherkessia, they write нъ instead of нг.
* In some publications, especially during the Soviet period, the letter у́ or ў is used for the sound [w].
* The letter х can have a variety of pronunciations. In native Karachay-Balkar words, it is pronounced as [χ]. In Russian loanwords, as [x], and in loanwords of Arabic or Persian origin, as either [x] or [h].
In a new project approved in May 1961, the alphabet was modified to reduce the use of digraphs and non-orthodox usage of Russian letters, featuring the unique letters Ғ ғ, Җ җ, Қ қ, Ң ң, Ө ө, Ў ў, Ү ү. It was nullified and the normal Cyrillic alphabet was restored in 1964.

### Latin alphabet

Karachay–Balkar Latin alphabet:
| A a [a] | B в [b] | C c [dʒ] | Ç ç [tʃ] | D d [d] | E e [e] | F f [f] | G g [g] |
| Ƣ ƣ [ʁ] | H h $^{(1)}$ [h] | I i [i] | J j [j] | K k [k] | Q q [q]/[ɢ] | L l [l] | M m [m] |
| N n [n] | Ꞑ ꞑ [ŋ] | O o [o] | Ө ө $^{(2)}$ [ø] | P p [p] | R r [r] | S s [s] | Ş ş $^{(3)}$ [ʃ] |
| Ꞩ ꞩ $^{(4)}$ [ts] | T t [t] | Ь ь [ɯ] | U u [u] | V v [v] | W w $^{(4)}$ [w] | Y y [y] | X x $^{(1)}$ [x]/[χ]/[h] |
| Xh xh $^{(1)}$ [χ] | Z z [z] | Ƶ ƶ [ʒ] |

#### Notes

* The letter h was included at first to represent loanwords of Arabic and Persian origin containing the letters 'ھ and ح, having the sound [h]. The letter x initially represented the sound [x], either Arabic and Persian loanwords containing the letter خ or Russian loanwords containing the letter х. The digraph xh was included to represent native Karachay-Balkar sound [χ], which was occasionally written in Karachay Arabic alphabet as حۤ. These letters were merged into the single letter x in 1924. The letter h was added again in 1924, but removed again in 1934.
* The letter ө was initially proposed to be œ.
* The sound [ʃ] was initially to be written as sh.
* The letters ꞩ and w were added in 1934.
In the 1990s, with the fall of the Soviet Union, efforts were made to revert Karachay-Balkar to the Latin alphabet. Specifically, a newspaper named "Üyge igikik" was published during the 1990s. The alphabet of the publication was very similar to modern Turkish and it contained the following letters:
* A a, B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, F f, G g, Ğ ğ, H h, İ i, I ı, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ö ö, P p, Q q, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, Ü ü, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

### Arabic alphabet

Prior to 1925, for centuries, the Perso-Arabic script was the basis of the literary language among Karachay-Balkar. Be it in he form of Ottoman Turkish in the Caucasus and among the diaspora in Turkey, or be it the Cuman language, the Turkic lingua franca of the Caucasus and Southern Russia for a few centuries, and more closely related to Karachay-Balkar itself.
From the early 20th century, there was attempts to bring the writing closer to the spoken dialects and languages among the Karachay and Balkar. As mentioned, the first successful national attempt at standadization of the alphabet was done in 1916. The second and final attempt was done in 1921, in a published primer, both done by Islael Akbaev.
In the first iteration, Arabic maintained the original spelling, with homphone letters continued being used and vowels not fully shown, just as in Arabic orthography. In the second attempt, the use of vowels became more consistent and fully-encompassing, the initial alef letter was dropped (similar to Kazakh Arabic alphabet in the same era. Furthermore, the Arabic letters that had the same pronunciation in Karachay-Balkar were dropped and consolidated (For example the letters ث and ص were dropped in favour of the letter س);with the exception of the letter ع representing a glottal stop [ʔ], and the letters that represent the sounds [h~χ].
Below table lists the 1921 iteration of the Karachay-Balkar Arabic Alphabet, containing 34 letters.
| ا ـا‎ [a] | ب‎ [b] | پ‎ [p] | ت‎ [t] | ج‎ [dʒ] | ح‎ $^{(1)}$ [h] | خ‎ [x] |
| چ‎ [tʃ] | حۤ‎ $^{(1)}$ [χ] | د‎ [d] | ر‎ [r] | ز‎ [z] | ژ‎ [ʒ] | س‎ [s] |
| ش‎ [ʃ] | ع‎ [ʔ] | غ‎ [ʁ] | ف‎ [f] | ق‎ [q]/[ɢ] | ك‎ [k] | ڭ‎ [ŋ] |
| گ‎ [g] | ل‎ [l] | م‎ [m] | ن‎ [n] | و‎ [v]/[w]/[u] | وٓ‎ [o] | ۆ‎ [ø] |
| ۉ‎ [y] | یـ ی‎ [j]/[i] | ىٕـ ىٕ‎ [ɯ] | ھ‎ $^{(1)}$ [h] | ئە ـە ە‎ [e] | ئ‎ [ʔ] |

#### Note

* In this iteration of the Arabic alphabet, the letter ح was split into two, an unmarked letter, and one that is marked with maddah or tilde, حۤ. The letter ح was to be used for writing Arabic loanwords and the letter ھ for writing foreign loanwords (Arabic, and also Persian and other foreign languages), representing the sound [h]. The letter حۤ was used for writing of native Karachay-Balkar words, and it was to distinguish the [χ] pronunciation of the letter ح in these words with the pronunciation of this letter in Arabic loanwords.

### Comparison chart

| Perso-Arabic (1920–1924) | Latin (1924–1938) | Cyrillic (1961–1964) | Cyrillic (1937–1961), (1964–present) |
| ا | A a | А а | А а |
| ب | B в | Б б | Б б |
| و | V v | В в | В в |
| گ | G g | Г г | Г г |
| غ | Ƣ ƣ | Ғ ғ | Гъ гъ |
| د | D d | Д д | Д д |
| ە | E e | Е е | Е е |
| ۆ | Ө ө | Ө ө, Ё ё | Ё ё |
| ژ | Ƶ ƶ | Ж ж | Ж ж |
| ج | Ç ç | Җ җ | Дж дж (Ж ж) |
| ز | Z z | З з | З з |
| ی | I i | И и | И и |
| ی | J j | Й й | Й й |
| ك, ک | K k | К к | К к |
| ق | Q q | Қ қ | Къ къ |
| ل | L l | Л л | Л л |
| م | M m | М м | М м |
| ن | N n | Н н | Н н |
| ڭ, ݣ | Ꞑ ꞑ | Ң ң | Нг нг (Нъ нъ) |
| وٓ | O o | О о | О о |
| پ | P p | П п | П п |
| ر | R r | Р р | Р р |
| س | S s | С с | С с |
| ت | T t | Т т | Т т |
| و | U u | У у | У у |
| و | W w | Ў ў | У у (Ў ў, У́ у́) |
| ف | F f | Ф ф | Ф ф |
| خ | X x | Х х | Х х |
| ح | H h | Һ һ | - |
| — | S̷ s̷ | Ц ц | Ц ц |
| چ | C c | Ч ч | Ч ч |
| ش | Ş ş | Ш ш | Ш ш |
| — | — | Щ щ | Щ щ |
| — | — | ъ | ъ |
| ىٕ | | Ы ы | Ы ы |
| — | — | ь | ь |
| ئە (اە) | E e | Э э | Э э |
| ۉ | Y y | Ү ү, Ю ю | Ю ю |
| - | - | Я я | Я я |

## Grammar
### Nominals
#### Cases

| Case | Suffix |
| Nominative | -ø |
| Accusative | -НИ |
| Genitive | -НИ |
| Dative | -ГА |
| Locative | -ДА |
| Ablative | -дан |

#### Possessive suffixes

| | Singular | Plural |
| 1st person | -им | -ибиз |
| 2nd person | -инг | -игиз |
| 3rd person | -(s)I(n) | -(s)I(n) |

## Vocabulary
### Numerals

| Numeral | Karachay–Balkar | Kumyk | Nogay |
| 0 | ноль | ноль | ноль |
| 1 | бир | бир | бир |
| 2 | эки | эки | эки |
| 3 | юч | уьч | уьш |
| 4 | тёрт | дёрт | доьрт |
| 5 | беш | беш | бес |
| 6 | алты | алты | алты |
| 7 | джети | етти | йети |
| 8 | сегиз | сегиз | сегиз |
| 9 | тогъуз | тогъуз | тогыз |
| 10 | он | он | он |
| 100 | бир джюз | бир юз | бир юз |

### Loanwords

Loanwords from Russian, Ossetian, Kabardian, Arabic, and Persian are fairly numerous.

## In popular culture

Russian filmmaker Andrei Proshkin used Karachay–Balkar for The Horde, believing that it might be the closest language to the original Kipchak language which was spoken during the Golden Horde.

## Sample text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Karachay–Balkar:
| In Cyrillic | Transliteration | Translation |
| Бютеу адамла эркин болуб эмда сыйлары бла хакълары тенг болуб тууадыла. Алагъа акъыл бла намыс берилгенди эмда бир-бирлерине къарнашлыкъ халда къараргъа керекдиле. | Bütew adamla erkin bolub emda sıyları bla haqları teñ bolub tuwadıla. Alağa aqıl bla namıs berilgendi emda bir-birlerine qarnaşlıq halda qararğa kerekdile. | All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. |
| In Cyrillic (1961-1964) | Yañalif | Perso-Arabic script(Before 1926) |
| Бүтеу адамла эркин болуб эмда сыйлары бла хақлары тең болуб туўадыла. Алаға ақыл бла намыс берилгенди эмда бир-бирлерине қарнашлық халда қарарға керекдиле. | Byteu adamla erkin ʙoluʙ emda sьjlarь ʙla xalqlarь teꞑ ʙoluʙ tuuadьla. Alaƣa aqьl ʙla namьs ʙerilgendi emda ʙir-ʙirlerine qarnaşlьq xalda qararƣa kerekdile. | بۉتەو اداملا‌ ئەركین بوۤلوب ئەمدا سىٕیلارىٕ بلا حاقلارىٕ تەڭ بوۤلوب تووادىٕلا. الاغا عاقىٕل بلا نامىٕس بەریلگەندی ئەمدا بیر-بیرلەرینە قارناشلىٕق حالدا قارارغا كەرەكدیلە.‎ |