The Oghuz languages are a sub-branch of the

Turkic language family Turkic may refer to: * anything related to the country of Turkey * Turkic languages, a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages ** Turkic alphabets (disambiguation) ** Turkish language, the most widely spoken Turkic language * ...

, spoken by approximately 108 million people. The three languages with the largest number of speakers are Turkish, Azerbaijani and Turkmen, which, combined, account for more than 95% of speakers.

Kara-Khanid 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 K ...

scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari, who lived in the 11th century, stated that the Oghuz language was the simplest among all Turkic languages. Swedish turcologist and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

Lars Johanson Lars Johanson (born 8 March 1936 in Köping, Sweden) is a Swedish Turcologist and linguist, an emeritus professor at the University of Mainz, and docent at the Department of Linguistics and Philology, University of Uppsala, Sweden. He has been ...

notes that Oghuz languages form a clearly discernible and closely related bloc within the Turkic language family as the cultural and political history of the speakers of Oghuz languages has linked them more closely up to the modern age.

History and terminology

The ancestor of Oghuz languages is a matter of debate. The language of the oldest stone monuments such as Orkhon inscriptions, and documents such as Old Uyghur manuscripts are rather the ancestor of Karluk and Kipchak Turkic languages. Oghuz languages apparently originate from the language of the people known as "Western Turgut" in Chinese annals. Old Anatolian and Old Ottoman languages, which are written Middle Turkic, would be the most ancient within the Oghuz group of Turkic languages. The term "Oghuz" is applied to the southwestern branch of the

Common Turkic languages Common Turkic, or Shaz Turkic, is a taxon in some classifications of the Turkic languages that includes all of them except the Oghuric languages The Oghuric, Onoguric or Oguric languages (also known as Bulgar, Pre-Proto-Bulgaric or Lir-Turkic ...

. It is in reference to the Oghuz Turks, who migrated from the

Altay Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The massif merges with the ...

"Historically, all of the Western or Oghuz Turks have been called Turkmen or Turkomen... In the 7th century C.E., they migrated from their ancestral homeland in the Altay mountains westward..." to

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

in the 8th century and further expanded to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and to the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

as separate tribes. An 11th-century

scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari stated in his work ''

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 ...

'' (Compendium of Turkic dialects) that the Oghuz language was the simplest among all Turkic languages.

Classification

The Oghuz languages currently spoken have been classified into three categories based on their features and geography: Western, Eastern, and Southern. Two further languages, Crimean Tatar and Urum, are

Kipchak languages The Kipchak languages (also known as the Kypchak, Qypchaq, Qypshaq or the Northwestern Turkic languages) are a sub-branch of the Turkic language family spoken by approximately 28 million people in much of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, spanni ...

, but have been heavily influenced by the Oghuz languages. The extinct

Pecheneg language Pecheneg is an extinct Turkic language spoken by the Pechenegs in Eastern Europe (parts of Southern Ukraine, Southern Russia, Moldova, Romania and Hungary) in the 7th–12th centuries. However, names in this language (Beke, Wochun, Lechk, etc) a ...

was probably Oghuz, but as it is poorly documented, it is difficult to further classify it within the Oghuz family; it is therefore usually excluded from classification.

Features

The Oghuz languages share a number of features that have led linguists to classify them together. Some of the features are shared with other Turkic languages, and others are unique to the Oghuz family. Swedish turcologist and

Shared features

*Loss of initial ''*h'' sound (shared with all Turkic languages but Khalaj) *Loss of

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...

of the original Turkic instrumental case ''-n'' (shared with all Turkic languages but Yakut and Khalaj)

Unique features

*Voicing of stops (e.g. Anatolian Turkish ''gök'' < Ottoman گوك ''gök'' <

Proto-Turkic Proto-Turkic is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Turkic languages that was spoken by the Proto-Turks before their divergence into the various Turkic peoples. Proto-Turkic separated into Oghur (western) and Common Turk ...

''kȫk'', "sky"; Anatolian ''dağ'' < Ottoman داغ ''dağ'' < PTrk ''tāg'' "mountain") *Loss of after (e.g. ''quru'' < ''quruq'', "dry", ''sarɯ'' < ''sarɯɣ'', "yellow") *Change in form of participial from -''gan'' to -''an''

Comparison

The remarkable similarity between Oghuz languages may be demonstrated through a sentence, which employs a

verbal noun A verbal noun or gerundial noun is a verb form that functions as a noun. An example of a verbal noun in English is 'sacking' as in the sentence "The sacking of the city was an epochal event" (''sacking'' is a noun formed from the verb ''sack''). ...

in the dative as a link between the

main verb A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual desc ...

and

auxiliary Auxiliary may refer to: * A backup site or system In language * Auxiliary language (disambiguation) * Auxiliary verb In military and law enforcement * Auxiliary police * Auxiliaries, civilians or quasi-military personnel who provide support of ...

. This feature is universally shared by all Oghuz languages. Turcologist Julian Rentzsch uses this particular sentence in his work titled "Uniformity and diversity in Turkic inceptive constructions":Julian Rentzsch, "Uniformity and diversity in Turkic inceptive constructions", Johannes Gutenberg University, pp. 270–271 ''

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ‘The dead man rose, sat down and began to speak.’'' * Turkish: Ölü doğrulup oturdu ve konuşmaya başladı. * Turkmen: Öli ýerinden galyp oturdy-da, geplemäge başlady. * Azerbaijani: Ölü durub oturdu və danışmağa başladı. * Gagauz: Ölü oturdu da bašladï lafetmää.

Literary works

* '' Book of Dede Korkut'' * ''

Epic of Köroğlu The ''Epic of Koroghlu'' ( az, , tr, ; tk, , uz, ) is a heroic legend prominent in the oral traditions of the Turkic peoples, mainly the Oghuz Turks. The legend typically describes a hero who seeks to avenge a wrong. It was often put to ...

'' * Târîh-i Âli Selçûk (History of the House of Seljuk) by Yazıcıoğlu Ali * Şikâyetnâme (شکايت نامه; "Complaint") by Fuzûlî * Dâstân-ı Leylî vü Mecnûn by Fuzûlî * Risâletü'n-Nushiyye by

Yunus Emre Yunus Emre () also known as Derviş Yunus (Yunus the Dervish) (1238–1328) (Old Anatolian Turkish: يونس امره) was a Turkish folk poet and Islamic Sufi mystic who greatly influenced Turkish culture. His name, ''Yunus'', is the Muslim ...

* Mârifetnâme (معرفت‌نامه; "Book of Gnosis") by İbrahim Hakkı Erzurumi