Mishar Tatar dialect


Mishar Tatar or Western Tatar is a dialect of Tatar spoken by Mishar Tatars, mainly in Penza, Ulyanovsk, Orenburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Volgograd, and Saratov oblasts of Russia, in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chuvashia and Mordovia, and also in Finland and Estonia.
Some linguists think that Mishar belongs to the Kipchak-Cuman group of languages rather than to the Kipchak-Bulgar group. Especially the regional dialect of Sergachsky district is said to be faithfully close to the ancient Kipchak language. Increased contacts with Kazan Tatars have lessened these differences.
Mishar is the dialect spoken by the Tatar minority of Finland. The origins of the Tatar community living in Finland rest upon the merchants coming from the villages of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.

Comparison to Kazan Tatar

Mishar Tatar Dialect is not a "corrupted version of Tatar, as thought by some, but rather an independently developed dialect with unique phonological and morphological features, influenced by ancient Kipchak tribes, Oghuz, and Finno-Ugric elements".
Compared to Standard Tatar, Mishar speakers use velar g and k instead of the uvular ğ and q, both c and ç are affricates and stays unrounded. In some words where there is letter c, Mishars pronounce it as y . Noticeable vocabulary differences also exist, like "sunflower", which is könbağış in Kazan Tatar, but aybagar in the Mishar Dialect. "Dog" is et in Kazan and kıçık / koçok in Mishar.
Ancient features, absent from the Kazan Dialect, are present in Mishar Tatar, like ul kilə, ul kiləder. Other affix differences can include kilgələ, kilgəklə, "come occasionally"; barasım kilə, barma kelim / bargım keli, "i want to go". Monophthongization of diphthongs exists also.

Sub dialects

Mishar Tatar dialects are according to Makhmutova two or according to Gabdulkhay Akhatov three groups.
In the Western dialect Ç is pronounced and as . C is pronounced. There are no differences between v and w, q and k, g and ğ in the Mişär dialect. The Cyrillic alphabet doesn't have special letters for q, ğ and w, so Mişär speakers have no difficulty reading Tatar written in Cyrillic.
Classification of Mishar Tatar dialects:
  • Ch-dialects or Southern Mishar: пытчак, pıtçak < Kazan пычак, pıçak
  • * Temnikovsky dialect — western rayons of Mordovia, south-eastern part of Penza oblast.
  • * Lyambirsky dialect — eastern part of Mordovia.
  • * Bashkortostan dialect — Birsk, Karaidelsky, Mishkinsky rayons of Bashkortostan.
  • * Sharlyk dialect — Sharlyk of Orenburg oblast.
  • * Orenburg dialect — Orenburg oblast.
  • * Dialects of Volgograd and Saratov oblasts.
  • * Kuznetsk dialect — Kuznetsk of Penza oblast. A mixed dialect by Akhatov.
  • * Khvalynsk dialect — south Ulyanovsk oblast. A mixed dialect by Akhatov.
  • Ts-dialects or Northern Mishar: пыцак, pıtsak < Kazan пычак, pıçak
  • * Sergachsky dialect — Sergachsky of Nizhny Novgorod oblast.
  • * Drozhzhanovsky dialect — Drozhzhanovsky rayon of Tatarstan and Chuvashia
  • * Chistopolsky dialect — Chistopolsky of Tatarstan and Samara oblast.
  • * Melekessky dialect — northern rayons of Ulyanovsk oblast.