Tatar

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A language of Russian Federation

ISO 639-3
tat
Alternate Names
Tartar
Population

4,280,000 in Russian Federation (2010 census). 24,700 Kreshen (Kryashen) Tatars, who are traditionally Russian Orthodox. Population total all countries: 5,407,550. Ethnic population: 5,550,000 (2002 census).

Location

Tatarstan and Bashkortostan republics; Saint Petersburg and Moscow to eastern Siberia. Also in Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan.

Language Maps
Language Status

2 (Provincial). Statutory provincial language in Tatarstan Republic (1993, Constitution, Article 68(2)).

Classification
Altaic, Turkic, Western, Uralian
Dialects

Eastern Tatar (Siberian Tatar), Middle Tatar (Kazan), Western Tatar (Misher). Eastern Tatar is divided into 3: Tobol-Irtysh, Baraba, and Tom. Tobol-Irtysh is divided into 5: Tyumen, Tobol, Zabolotny, Tevriz, and Tara (Tumasheva). Mixed dialects are: Astrakhan, Kasimov, Tepter, and Ural (Poppe). 43,000 Astrakhan (L1 speakers) have shifted to the Middle dialect. Kasim (5,000 L1 speakers) is between Middle and Western Tatar. Tepter (300,000 L1 speakers) is reportedly between the Tatar and Bashkort [bak] languages.

Typology

SOV

Language Use

Also used by the Karatai (different from Karata [kpt]), ethnically Erzya people who speak Tatar. All domains. All ages. Positive attitudes. Also use Russian [rus].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: High. Taught in primary schools. Taught in secondary schools and university. Magazines. Newspapers. New media. Radio programs. TV. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 1820–2005.
Writing
Cyrillic script. Latin script.
Other Comments

Different from Crimean Tatar (Crimean Turkish [crh]). Muslim (Sunni), Christian.

Also spoken in:

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