List of Turkic languages

The Turkic languages are a group of languages spoken across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, East Asia and Siberia. Turkic languages are spoken as native languages by some 200 million people.

Turkic languages by subfamily
The number of speakers derived from statistics or estimates (2022) and were rounded:

Turkic languages by the number of speakers
The Turkic languages are a language family of at least 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples. The number of speakers derived from statistics or estimates (2019) and were rounded:

Endangered Turkic languages
An endangered language, or moribund language, is a language that is at risk of falling out of use as its speakers die out or shift to speaking another language. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead language".

26 endangered Turkic languages exist in World. The number of speakers derived from statistics or estimates (2019) and were rounded:

Hypothetical ancestors
Hypothetical relation to other language families and their proto-languages


 * Proto-Human (?)
 * Several unknown language families and links (?)
 * Borean/Boreal (?)
 * Nostratic (?)
 * Eurasiatic (?)
 * Ural-Altaic (?)
 * Altaic (?)
 * Pre-Proto-Turkic (?)

Ancestral

 * Proto-Turkic

Siberian Turkic



 * South Siberian
 * Altai Turkic
 * Northern Altai
 * Tuba
 * Kumandy/Qumanda
 * Turachak
 * Solton
 * Starobardinian
 * Chalkan (Kuu/Qu, Lebedin)
 * Chulym Turkic
 * Chulym
 * Lower Chulym (Küerik) (now believed extinct)
 * Middle Chulym
 * Upper Chulym
 * Sayan Turkic (dialect continuum)
 * Tofa
 * Tuha
 * Tsengel Tuvan
 * Tuvan
 * Western/Khemchik River (It is influenced by Altai)
 * Central (the geographical centrality of this dialect meant it was similar to the language spoken by most Tuvans, whether or not exactly the same). Forms the basis of the standard and literary language and includes:
 * Ovyur
 * Bii-Khem
 * Northeastern/Todzhi (it is spoken near the upper course of the Bii-Khem River by the Tozhu Tuvans. The speakers of this dialect utilize nasalization. It contains a large vocabulary related to hunting and reindeer breeding not found in the other dialects).
 * Southeastern (shows the most influence from the Mongolian language).
 * Taiga
 * Dukha or Tsaatan - spoken by the Dukha people of Tsagaan-Nuur county of Khövsgöl Province (nearly extinct)
 * Soyot-Tsaatan language spoken in the Okinsky District in Buryatia; now they speak the Buryat language) (Samoyedic Uralic substrate; people shifted first to a Turkic language and after to a Mongolian one - Buryat) (extinct)
 * Orkhon Turkic / Old Turkic / Old Uyghur (extinct) (not a direct ancestor of Uyghur, that descends from Karluk) (not synonymous with Proto-Turkic)
 * Yenisei Turkic
 * Khakas (Xakas tili)
 * Sagay/Saghay
 * Kacha/Qaça
 * Koybal (Samoyedic Uralic substrate; people shifted to a Turkic language)
 * Beltir
 * Kyzyl/Qizil
 * Fuyu Kyrgyz (could be a dialect of Khakas)
 * Shor
 * Mrassu (basis for literary and standard Shor)
 * Upper Mrassu
 * Kondoma
 * Upper-Kondoma
 * Western Yugur or "Yellow Uighur" (direct descendant of Old Uyghur)
 * North Siberian
 * Yakut language
 * Central
 * Western Lena
 * Eastern Lena
 * Aldan
 * Peripheral
 * Northwestern
 * Northeastern
 * Dolgan (Dulğan) (Samoyed Uralic and Evenki Tungusic substrates)
 * Eastern – Khatanga
 * Central – Avam
 * Western – Yenisei, Norilsk

Karluk (Southeastern)


Historically in Central Asia there was a distinction between sedentary, called Sart or Taranchi, and nomadic peoples (regardless of the ethnic group and language). Many times it was used confusingly because it was a generic word for several peoples and their languages (mainly Iranians or Turkics) and also because it had different meanings at different historical times (had shifting meanings over the centuries). Strictly it was not an ethnic or linguistic definition but one of a lifestyle. (strong Iranian substrate)


 * Chagatai or Turki (Jağatāy) (literary language of medieval Golden Horde in much of Central Asia) (extinct)
 * Pre-classical Chagatai (1400–1465)
 * Classical Chagatai (1465–1600)
 * Post-classical Chagatai (1600–1921)
 * Khorezmian Turkic (it was a literary language of the medieval Golden Horde of Central Asia and parts of Eastern Europe) (extinct)
 * East
 * Uyghur (not a direct descendant of the language called Old Uyghur, Old Turkic or Orkhon Turkic)
 * Eastern: Spoken in an area stretching from Qarkilik towards north to Qongköl
 * Central: Spoken in an area stretching from Kumul towards south to Yarkand
 * Southern: Spoken in an area stretching from Guma towards east to Qarkilik
 * Lop (Ľor télé) (could be a distinct language)
 * Ili Turki (Kipchak substrate) (extinct)
 * West
 * Uzbek (Karluk Uzbek, Sart Uzbek – Sedentary and Urban Uzbek, “Modern Uzbek”) (strong Iranian substrate from Sogdian and Persian languages)
 * Northern Uzbek (Oʻzbekcha / Oʻzbek tili)
 * Ferghana Uzbek (not the same as Kipchak Uzbek)
 * Tashkent Uzbek
 * Chimkent/Shymkent-Turkestan Uzbek
 * Surkhandarya Uzbek
 * Khorezm Uzbek
 * Southern Uzbek / Afghan Uzbek (strong Iranian substrate from Bactrian language and heavily Persianized) (many are bilingual in Dari / Dari Persian / East Persian / Afghan Persian)

Kipchak (Northwestern)



 * Kipchak (extinct)
 * South Kipchak (Aralo-Caspian Turkic)
 * Kipchak-Nogai
 * Dobrujan Tatar (Tatarşa / Tatar tílí)
 * Şól
 * Nogay
 * Yalîbolu
 * Fergana Kipchak (Kipchak Uzbek / ”Old Uzbek”) (nomadic and semi-nomadic Turkic of the regions of Fergana, Samarkand, Bukhara and Turkistan) (extinct)
 * Kazakh (Qazaqsha / Qazaq tili)
 * Eastern Kazakh
 * Southern Kazakh
 * Northern Kazakh
 * Western Kazakh
 * Karakalpak (Qaraqalpaq tili) (closer to Kazakh) (Iranian Kwarazmian and Turkic Kwarazmian substrates)
 * Northeastern Karakalpak
 * Southwestern Karakalpak
 * Fergana Valley Karakalpak?
 * Nogai
 * Karanogay-Nogai Proper
 * Karanogay or Qara-Nogai (literally "Black Nogai"; "Northern Nogai"), spoken in Dagestan
 * Central Nogai or Nogai Proper, in Stavropol
 * Aqnogai (White or Western Nogai), by the Kuban River, its tributaries in Karachay–Cherkessia, and in the Mineralnye Vody District. Qara-Nogai and Nogai Proper are very close linguistically, whereas Aqnogai is more different.
 * Kyrgyz-Kypchak
 * Kyrgyz (Kyrgyzcha / Kyrgyz tili)
 * Northern Kyrgyz (basis of standard Kyrgyz)
 * Southern Kyrgyz
 * Southern Altai
 * Altai proper
 * Mayma
 * Telengit
 * Tölös
 * Chuy
 * Teleut
 * Siberian Tatar (Sıbır tel)
 * East Siberian Tatar
 * Tom
 * Baraba
 * West Siberian Tatar
 * Tobol-Irtysh
 * North Kipchak (Uralo-Caspian/Volga-Ural Turkic) (has some Uralic substrate)
 * Old Tatar / Old Bashkir (Volga Turki) (extinct)
 * Bashkir (Bashqortsa / Bashqort tele)
 * Southern
 * Dim
 * Egän (Zigan)
 * Eyek-Haqmar
 * Middle
 * Örşäk (Urshak)
 * Eastern
 * Arğayaş
 * Qyźyl
 * Meyäs
 * Halyot (Salyoğot)
 * Northwestern
 * Tanyp
 * Ğäynä (dialect of Perm Bashkirs)
 * Qariźel
 * Lower Ağiźel
 * Middle Ural
 * Tatar (Tatarça / Tatar Tele)
 * Central/Middle (Kazan) (basis of the standard literary Tatar)
 * Western (Mişär or Mishar)
 * West Kipchak (Kipchak-Cuman/Ponto-Caspian Turkic)
 * Cuman (Polovtsian/Folban/Vallany/Kun) (extinct)
 * Karachay-Balkar - Kumyk
 * Karachay-Balkar (Qaraçay-Malqar til / Tawlu til)
 * Karachay-Baksan-Chegem (basis of the standard language)
 * Balkar (Malqar)
 * Kumyk (“Caucasian Tatar”) (Qumuq til) (Oghur Turkic substrate – Khazar and Bulgar)
 * Terek
 * Khasavyurt
 * Buynaksk
 * Khaitag
 * Podgorniy
 * Crimean Tatar (Qırımtatar tili / Qırım tili) (Scytho-Sarmatian and Crimean Gothic substrates)
 * Northern (Steppe Crimean Tatar/Nogay Steppe) (should not be confused with Nogai people of the Northern Caucasus and the Lower Volga)
 * Middle (more Cuman type characteristics) (basis of the standard Crimean Tatar)
 * Southern/Coastal Crimean Tatar (Oghuz Turkic influence)
 * Krymchak (Judeo-Crimean Tatar) (Qrımçah tılyı) (a different language from Karaim, not confuse with Karaim)
 * Urum (closely related to Crimean Tatar and spoken by Turkish-speaking Greeks of Southeastern Ukraine and Georgia, etymological related to the Turkish name for Rome - Rûm / Urum, associated with the name of the East Roman Empire, mainly Greek in language) (Greek substrate)
 * North Azovian (in Ukraine)
 * Tsalka (in Georgia)
 * Karaim (Judeo-Crimean) (Qaray tili / Karaj tili) (a different language from Krymchak, not confuse with Krymchak)
 * Crimean (in Crimea)
 * Trakai-Vilnius (in Lithuania)
 * Lutsk-Halych (in Ukraine)

Oghuz (Southwestern Turkic)



 * East Oghuz (Eastern)
 * Salar, an Oghuz language outlier strongly influenced by Karluk and Kipchak languages and also by non-Turkic languages like Tibetan and Chinese
 * Qinghai (Amdo) Salar
 * Ili Salar
 * Turkmen
 * Teke (Tekke) (basis of the standard Turkmen)
 * Nohurly
 * Ýomud
 * Änewli
 * Hasarly
 * Nerezim
 * Gökleň
 * Salyr
 * Saryk
 * Ärsary
 * Çowdur
 * Trukhmen
 * Transitional East-West Oghuz
 * Khorasani Turkic
 * North
 * South/Razavi
 * West
 * West Oghuz (Western)
 * Azerbaijani (Azeri Turkic, has an Iranian substrate from the Old Azeri language, an Indo-European language
 * South Azerbaijani
 * Qarapapaq
 * Shahsavani (Shahseven)
 * Muqaddam
 * Baharlu (Kamesh)
 * Nafar
 * Qaragözlü
 * Pishaqchi
 * Bayatlu
 * Qajar
 * Tabrizi (basis of Standard South Azerbaijani but not identical)
 * Iraqi Turkmen (South Turkmen)
 * North Azerbaijani
 * Salyan
 * Lenkaran
 * Qazakh
 * Airym
 * Borcala
 * Terekeme
 * Qyzylbash
 * Nukha
 * Zaqatala (Mugaly)
 * Qabala
 * Yerevan
 * Ordubad
 * Ganja
 * Shusha (Karabakh)
 * Karapapak
 * Shirvan dialect
 * Baku dialect (basis of Standard North Azerbaijani, but not identical)
 * Shamakhi
 * Quba
 * Derbend
 * Nakhchivan
 * Transitional Turkish Azerbaijani-Turkish
 * Eastern Anatolian Turkish
 * Meskhetian Turkish
 * Hemshen Turkish
 * Eastern Anatolian Turkish Proper (Kars, Erzurum, other regions)
 * Zaza Turkish (Turkish spoken by Zazas, not to be confused with Zaza, which is an Iranian language, Zaza substrate)
 * Kurdish Turkish (Turkish spoken by Kurds, not to be confused with Kurdish which is an Iranian language, Kurdish substrate)
 * Northeastern Anatolian Turkish (Kuzeydoğu Anadolu Ağızları)
 * Laz Turkish (Turkish spoken by Laz, do not confuse with Laz which is a Kartvelian language)
 * Trebizond (Trabzon) Turkish
 * Old Anatolian Turkish (extinct)
 * Turkish
 * Anatolian dialects (Anadolu Ağızları)
 * Western Anatolian (Batı Anadolu Ağızları)
 * Central (Orta Anadolu)
 * East central
 * West Central
 * Mediterranean (Akdeniz)/South (Güney)
 * Southwest (Güneybatı)
 * Southeast (Güneydoğu)
 * Black Sea (Karadeniz)/North (Kuzey)
 * Çorum, Çankırı
 * East Black Sea Coast
 * West Black Sea Coast
 * Sakarya-Izmit
 * Aegean (Ege)/West (Batı)
 * Yörük (Nomadic Anatolian Turkish)
 * Istanbul dialect (İstanbul Türkçesi) (basis of Modern Standard Turkish but not identical)
 * Syrian Turkmen (Syrian Turkish)
 * Cypriot Turkish
 * Balkanic/Rumelian/Danubian
 * East Balkanic/East Rumelian/East Danubian
 * Edirne
 * West Balkanic/West Rumelian/West Danubian
 * Karamanli Turkish (Turkish of the Karamanlides, Turkish-speaking Greeks, Greek language substrate, not confuse with Cappadocian Greek, a mixed language, or the Cappadocian Greeks, although they are related) (almost extinct)
 * Balkan Gagauz Turkish (Balkan Turkic) (Rumeli Türkçesi)
 * Gajal
 * Gerlovo Turk
 * Karamanli
 * Kyzylbash
 * Surguch
 * Tozluk Turk
 * Yuruk
 * Macedonian Gagauz
 * Gagauz
 * Bulgar Gagauzi
 * Maritime Gagauzi
 * Ottoman Turkish(extinct) (not a direct ancestor of Anatolian Turkish but a heavily Persianized and Arabized Turkic language)
 * Fasih Türkçe (Eloquent Turkish): the language of poetry and administration, Ottoman Turkish in its strict sense
 * Orta Türkçe (Middle Turkish): the language of higher classes and trade
 * Kaba Türkçe (Rough Turkish): the language of lower classes.
 * South Oghuz
 * Afshar (could be a dialect of South Azerbaijani language)
 * Aynallu (could be a dialect of South Azerbaijani language)
 * Qashqai (closely related to Azerbaijani)
 * Sonqori (could be a dialect of South Azerbaijani)
 * Pecheneg
 * Pecheneg (Peçenek) (extinct)

Arghu

 * Khalaj (a divergent member of the Common Turkic languages, not an Oghuz language) (heavily Persianized) (many are bilingual in Persian / Iranian Persian / Western Persian)
 * Northern
 * Southern

Oghur (Lir Turkic / R Turkic)

 * Proto-Oghur
 * Bulgar/Bolgar (extinct) (had a Uralic substrate)
 * Volga Bulgar (extinct)
 * Chuvash (Căvašla / Çovaşla)
 * Anatri, or Lower
 * Viryal, or Upper
 * Danube Bulgar (extinct in the 10th c. AD assimilated by the Slavic language of the Seven Slavic Tribes, that was close to Old Church Slavonic, but they chose the name Bulgarian as an ethnonym and also for their language because of the origins of much of their ruling class or political elite that was Turkic)
 * Khazar (extinct) (the language of the Khazars)

Possible Turkic languages (all extinct)
Unclassified languages that may have been Turkic or members of other language families
 * Hunnic / Xiongnu (?)
 * Hunnic / Hunnish - the language or languages of the Huns (there are several hypotheses about their language)
 * Xiongnu - the language or languages of the Xiongnu (may be the same as the Hunnic language, a closely related one, or not related at all) (there are several hypotheses about their language)
 * Jie - the language of the Jie (in today's Northern China), might be a dialect of the Xiongnu language. (possibly the earliest attested Turkic language, or a Yeniseian language)
 * Keraite - the language or languages of the Keraites (in today's Central Mongolia) (Mongolized after Temüjin, called Chinggis Khan, conquest in the 13th century) (Qarai Turks, the Kerey Kazakh group of the middle zhuz Argyns, the Kireis, a group of the Kyrgyz and many Torghut may descend from them) (there are several hypotheses about their language)
 * Old Naiman - the language or languages of the old Naimans (in today's Western and Southwestern Mongolia) (Mongolized after Temüjin, called Chinggis Khan, conquest in the 13th century) (Naiman, however, is the Mongol name for the numeral eight) (there are several hypotheses about their language)
 * Pannonian Avar - the language or languages of the Pannonian Avars (there are several hypotheses about their language)
 * Tuoba - the language of Tuoba and possible related to Turkic languages.

Possible Mixed languages

 * Äynu / Aini (Äynú) (could be a mixed language) (Turkic cryptolect with a mainly Iranian vocabulary and Turkic grammar, spoken by the Äynu people, a different people from the Uyghur)
 * Hezhou / Linxia (Uyghur-based creole, or Uyghur–Mandarin mixed language)

Constructed languages

 * Jalpi Türk language (crh) is a constructed language created by Ismail Gasprinsky in the 19th century.
 * Ortatürk (tt) is a constructed language created by Baxtiyar Kärimov between 1993-2008.
 * Öztürkçe is a semi-constructed, purified and controlled version of Turkish language.