TURKISH LANGUAGES & TRIBES
The Turks belong to the language family group known as the ALTAY family
which derives its name from the Altay mountain range. The Altay mountains
are presently in the occupied (1946) People's Republic of China's
northwest province of "Xin Jiang" or "New Frontier." Altay in itself
means Golden in the proto-Altaic languages. Linguistic and historic
scholars have discerned that the ALTAY family include the nations of the
TURK, MONGOL, & TUNGUS peoples.
The Turk peoples are further subdivided into three regional large groups
known as the: OGUZ, CHAGATAY, & KIPCHAK Turks. Within these three Turk
groups, modern nations have formed with their modern boundaries
arbitrarily set by the former Soviet Union. Some of this names may be more
familiar than others. They are listed below.
#1 Western = OGUZ Turks
Azerbaycan, Republic of Turkiye, Turkmen, Balkan Gagauz,
Khalaj, Khorasan Turkish, Kashkay, Salchuq
#2 Eastern = CHAGATAY Turks
Aynu, Uygur, Sari Uygur, Ozbek(Uzbek), Ili Turkish, Salar, Chagatay
#3 Central = KIPCHAK Turks
Kazak, Kirgiz, Crimean-Tatar Turkish, Karaim, Karachay-Balkar,
Kumuk, Nogay, Karakalpak
Finally, we have the more isolated Turks of West, North, and East Siberia
Siberian-Turks
Altai South, Altai North, Dolgan, Karagas, Khakas, Shor, Tuvin,
Yakut
Idil- Ural-Turks
Bashkir, Chulim, Chuvash, Tatar