Bulgar (also known as Bulghar, Bolgar, or Bolghar) is the extinct Oghur Turkic language spoken by the Bulgars.
The name is derived from the Bulgars, a tribal association that established the Bulgar state known as Old Great Bulgaria in the mid-7th century, giving rise to the Danubian Bulgaria by the 680s.Encyclopædia Britannica Online – Bolgar Turkic Campbell, George L. Compendium of the World's Languages. Routledge, 2000. page 274Marcantonio, Angela. The Uralic Language Family: Facts, Myths and Statistics. Blackwell Publishing Limited, 2002. page 25 While the language initially went extinct in Danubian Bulgaria (in favour of Old Bulgarian), it persisted in Volga Bulgaria, but even there it was eventually replaced by the modern Chuvash language. Other than Chuvash, Bulgar is the only language to be definitively classified as an Oghur Turkic language.
The inclusion of other languages such as Hunnish language, Khazar language and Sabir people within Oghur Turkic remains speculative owing to the paucity of historical records. Some scholars suggest Hunnic language had strong ties with Bulgar and to modern Chuvash and refer to this extended grouping as separate Hunno-Bulgar languages. However, such speculations are not based on proper linguistic evidence, since the language of the Huns is almost unknown except for a few attested words, which are Indo-European in origin, and personal names. Thus, scholars generally consider Hunnish as unclassifiable.
The only surviving language from this linguistic group is Chuvash language. He concludes that the language of the Bulgars was from the family of the Hunnic languages, as he calls the Oghur languages.The Turks: Early ages, Vol. 1 , Cem Oğuz, , Author Murat Ocak, Redactors: Hasan Celāl Güzel, Cem Oğuz, Osman Karatay, Publisher: Yeni Türkiye, 2002, p. 535. According to the Bulgarian Antoaneta Granberg, the Hunno-Bulgar linguistic situation is further complicated by the extensive migration of nomadic communities of Hunnic language and Oghuric peoples from East to West. This migration brought them into contact with a variety of different lands, neighbors, cultures, and languages, including China and Rome. Linguistic individuation of the Hunno-Bulgaric language family has yet to be conclusively established. A Hunno-Bulgar language is believed to have formed on the North-Western borders of China in the 3rd-5th c. BC.The Hunno-Bulgar language, Antoaneta Granberg,
The language of the Danubian Bulgars is also known from a small number of loanwords in the Old Bulgarian language, as well as terms occurring in Bulgar Greek-language inscriptions, contemporary Byzantine texts,Rance, Philip, "Photios and the Bulgar Language (τῶγα, tuğ)" Byzantinoslavica 79 (2021) 41–58 and later Slavonic Old Bulgarian texts. Most of these words designate titles and other concepts concerning the affairs of state, including the official Bulgar calendar (as used in the Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans). The language became extinct in Danubian Bulgaria in the ninth century as the Bulgar nobility became gradually Slavicisation after the Old Bulgarian tongue was declared as official in 893.
+Numbers and Vocabulary in Volga BulgarHAKIMZJANOV, F. S. "NEW VOLGA BULGARIAN INSCRIPTIONS." Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, vol. 40, no. 1, Akadémiai Kiadó, 1986, pp. 173–77, [5].A Volga Bulgarıan Inscription From 1307 A. Róna-tasUnpublished Volga Bulgarian inscriptions A. H. Khalikov and J. G. Muhametshin ! !Volga Bulgar – البلغَاڔِى !Chuvash – Чӑвашла !Proto-Turkic ! !Volga Bulgar – البلغَاڔِى !Chuvash – Чӑвашла !Proto-Turkic | |||||||
one | بیر (bīr) | пӗр (pĕr) | *bīr | monument | بَلُو (belüv) | палӑк (palăk) | *belig |
two | اَكِ (eki) | иккӗ (ikkĕ) | *ẹki | water | شِو (šïv) | шыв (šyv) | *sub |
three | وج (več) | виççӗ (viśśĕ) | *üč | son | اَول (avïl) | ывӑл (yvăl) | *ogul |
four | تُوات (tüvet) | тăваттă (tăvattă) | *tȫrt | daughter | هِير (hīr) | хӗр (hĕr) | *kï̄ŕ |
five | بيال (biyel) | пиллӗк (pillĕk) | *bẹ̄ĺ(k) | day | كُوَان (küven or kön) | кун (kun) | *kün |
six | اَلطِ (altï) | улттӑ (ulttă) | *altï | week | ايرنى (ērne) | эрне (erne) | (from Persian آدینه (âdine)) |
seven | جیَاتِ (čyeti) | ҫиччӗ (śiččĕ) | *yẹti | month | اَيخ (ayïx) | уйӑх (ujăh) | *āń(k) |
eight | سَكِر (sekir) | саккӑр (sakkăr) | *sekiŕ | year | جال (čal) | ҫул (śul) | *yāĺ |
nine | طُخِر (tuxïr) | тӑххӑр (tăhhăr) | *tokuŕ | history | تَارِيخ (tārix) | истори (istori) | (from Arabic تَارِيخ (tārīḵ)) |
ten | وان (van) | вуннӑ (vunnă) | *ōn | to become | بَل (bal) | пул (pul) | *bōl- |
twenty | جِيِرم (čiyirim) | ҫирӗм (śirĕm) | *yẹgirmi | to do, make | طَن (ta-n) | ту (tu) | - |
thirty | وطر (vutur) | вӑтӑр (vătăr) | *otuŕ | to go | بَر (bar) | пыр (pyr) | *bar- |
forty | حرح (xïrïx) | хӗрӗх (hĕrĕh) | *kïrk | to love | سَو (sev) | сав (sav) | *seb- |
fifty | الو (ellüv), اَلُّ (ellü) | аллӑ (allă) | *ellig | to die | وَل (vel) | вил (vil) | *öl- |
hundred | جُور (čǖr) | ҫӗр (śĕr) | *yǖŕ | to migrate | كُوَج (küveč or köč) | куҫ (kuś) | *köč- |
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