TURKISH LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE. The Turkish langUages form a particular family, which differs from the Arabic, the Persian, the Mongol, and the Chinese. The principal Turkish lan guages are the following : 1. Uighur. This language is considered the most ancient of all the Turkish dialects, and is still spoken in easteni Turkiatan, especially in the country between Kiislighar and Rainul. The Uighur was origin ally written with fourteen, and afterwards with sixteen letters, which, according to Abel Rdinusat, are an imitation of the Syriac alphabet, although there is some reason to believe that they have been invented by the Uightirs themselves. They were afterwards adopted by the Mongols, who however have modified them. The Uighur language was cultivated at a very early period, and, as it seems, has had con siderable influence on the Chinese literature. The number of foreign words introduced into the Uighur is not very considerable, and this language is consequently the purest of all the Turkish dialects. The Bodleian Library contains a beautiful Uighur manuscript, the '13akh liyar-Ntimeh; written in an. 838 (A.D. 1434). Two other Uighur manuscripts on Mohammedan divinity arc in the Royal Library at Paris, and a fourth, the' Kaudat-ku-bilik; or ' The Science of Goveru went,' was sent to Paris by Von Hammer PurgstalL This work was computed about A.D. 460 (A.D. 1069), during the reign of Alp-Arian, sultan of the Seljuks; but the copy of Von Hammer dates only from a-u. 843 (A.D. 1459). The Uighur language is very little known in Europe.
2. Jagatdi, in the greater part of independent Turkistin. This language, which was originally written with the Uighur characters, and which, in ancient times, greatly resembled the Uighur language, is remarkable for its strength, perspicuity, and simplicity. Turkistan, especially Samarkand and Bokhara, having been the centre of the power of the successors of Genghis-khan and Thnur, the Jagata7f was cultivated at an early period, and many Arabic and Persian words were introduced into it. The Arabic characters were aubstituted for the
Uighur letters, but not till a considerable time after the Moluitnineclan religion had been introduced into Turkistiu. The Jagatdi language has a valuable literature. The ' ' is an autobiography of Sultan Balser, the conqueror of Hindu-44u (A. II. 900 till 'J38; A.D. 1494 till 153]). It has been translated into English under the title ' Memoirs of Zehir-eddin Mull:mune] Emperor of Hindustan, written by himself ;' tranalated partly by the Late John Leyden. M.D., and partly by W. Erskine, Esq., 4to., London, 1826. It has also been translated into Persian. The famous ' Genealogical History of the Turks,' by 'Abfi-l-gluizi (Bahridiir ]Chaim, Sultan of Khowartann), was originally written in the Jagatili Language. The first manuscript of this work known to Europeans was discovered by Swedish officers, who, after the battle of Pultawa, were sent as priseuera to Siberia.
One of them translated it into French, from which language it was re translated into English, under the title The Genealogical History the Tatars,' which forms the first volume of ' A General History o, the Turks. Moguls, and Tatars,' 2 vols. 8vo., London, 1730. The text of 'Ata5-1-ghazi has been edited by Fralui. (Kazan, 1825.) 3. Kiptshak dialects, in the eastern part of European Russia and Western Siberia. The purest among these dialects is that of in which several books have lately been printed. Some of these are much mixed with Finnish words.
4. Kirghiz, the language of the Kiird Kirghiz, and the Kirghi2 KaIsik, who live a nomadic life between the Ural and the Chinese frontier.
5. Caucaso-Danubian, in several subordinate dialects spoken by the Noghais, the Kazi-Kumiiks, and other Turkish tribes in southern Russia.
6. Turkonidn.
7. Austro-Siberian dialects. They are very numerous, and more or less mixed with Mongol or Samoyede words. They are spoken by the Turkish tribes that live in the middle, eastern, and southern parts of Siberia.