Karakhanid Turkic, also known as Khaqani Turkic, was a historical

Turkic language 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 languag ...

developed in the 11th century during the Middle Turkic period under the

Kara-Khanid Khanate The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek ...

. It has been described as the first

literary Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

Islamic Turkic language. It is sometimes classified under the

Old Turkic Old Turkic (also East Old Turkic, Orkhon Turkic language, Old Uyghur) is the earliest attested form of the Turkic languages, found in Göktürks, Göktürk and Uyghur Khaganate inscriptions dating from about the eighth to the 13th century. It ...

category, rather than Middle Turkic, as it is contemporary to the East Old Turkic languages of Orkhon and

Old Uyghur Old Uyghur () was a Turkic language which was spoken in Qocho from the 9th–14th centuries and in Gansu. History The Old Uyghur language evolved from Old Turkic after the Uyghur Khaganate broke up and remnants of it migrated to Turfan, Qomu ...

. Eastern Middle Turkic languages, namely Khorezmian and later Chagatai are descendents of the Karakhanid language. Karakhanid vocabulary was influenced by

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, 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 ...

and

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 ...

loanwords, but the language itself was still noted to be similar to the Old Uyghur language. The language was written using the

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and the ...

Mahmud al-Kashgari Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammed al-Kashgari, ''Maḥmūd ibnu 'l-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Kāšġarī'', , tr, Kaşgarlı Mahmûd, ug, مەھمۇد قەشقىرى, ''Mehmud Qeshqiri'' / Мәһмуд Қәшқири uz, Mahmud Qashg'ariy / М ...

's ''

Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk The ' ( ar, ديوان لغات الترك, lit=Compendium of the languages of the Turks) is the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, compiled in 1072–74 by the Turkic scholar Mahmud Kashgari who extensively studied the Turkic ...

'' and

Yūsuf Balasaguni Yusuf Khass Hajib; kk, Жүсіп Баласағұни, Jüsip Balasağunï; ug, يۈسۈپ خاس ھاجىپ; ky, Жусуп Баласагын, Jusup Balasagın; uz, Yusuf Xos Hojib was an 11th-century Central Asian Turkic poet, statesman ...

's ''

Kutadgu Bilig 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 ...

'' are considered to be important literary works written in Karakhanid language.

References

{{Turkic-lang-stub Extinct languages of Asia