Nikolay Baskakov
Encyclopedia
Nikolay Aleksandrovich Baskakov was a Russian Turkologist, linguist, and ethnologist. He created a systematization model of the Turkic language family (Baskakov's classification), and studied Turkic-Russian contacts in the 10-11th centuries CE. During 64 years of scientific work (1930-1994), N.A.Baskakov published almost 640 works including 32 books. The main area of Baskakov's scientific interests was linguistics, but he also studied folklore and ethnography of the Turkic peoples, and also was a musician and composer.
in the Vologda province (now Arkhangelsk
) in a large family of a district government official. His father came from a family banished in the beginning of the 19th century from Saint Petersburg
to the Vologda
province, and mother was a daughter of an official and a teacher. In a book about Russian surnames of Turkic origin (1979) N.A.Baskakov gives the following comment about his surname: "Surname Baskakov comes from a Tatar baskak, Amragan (*Amyr-khan), a viceroy in the second half of the 13th century in Vladimir
. The Turkic origin of this surname is confirmed by the very root of the surname basqaq "the one who puts seal, a viceroy of the Khan of the Golden Horde
", and by the heraldic data: a curved sword in the center and an image of a Tatar over the crest who is holding a red curved saber" (p. 245).
As a young student, in 1916, Baskakov met an old friend of his father's, Bessonov, a Russian dragoman
or envoy to Jedda
(then part of the Ottoman Empire
). The Russian diplomat's stories about eastern countries affected young Baskakov's imagination. He took a great interest in the East, and Turkey in particular. He began reading about Turkey and even tried to study the Turkish language by himself. In N.Baskakov's words, "This pursuit probably affected choice of my speciality - Turkology, which my father later named "missionary work", or maybe my speciality was prompted by the genes of my ancestors, Turks or Mongols?".
In 1918, when Baskakov was attending the gymnasium in the town Gryazov, he took part in a piano class at Gryazov's musical school. From that time music accompanied him throughout his life. Post-revolutionary shocks of 1920s immediately tested the vicissitudes of life, from 1919 to 1922. While studying in a unified labor school reorganized from his gymnasium, N.Baskakov worked as an ordinary clerk, and as a draftsman in the public health department. In 1922 N.Baskakov graduated from high school and went to Gryazov pedagogical school, but the aspirations to become an Orientalist
did not leave him.
In 1923 Baskakov came to Moscow
to enter the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies
. He naively entered in a questionnaire that he sympathized with "anarchists-collectivists
" group that had just joined Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)
, and on the first interview was refused admittance. After that, without hesitation, he turned to a private Institute of the Word headed by Musin-Pushkin, now a Linguistics Institute of the Russian Academy of Science. But unable to meet the payments, he had to leave Moscow and to return to Vologda, to work in pedagogical school. And in the beginnings of 1924 N.Baskakov was booted first from his pedagogical school, and then from Vologda pedagogical school, for participation in an anti-religious dispute where he advocated that God is good, and the Satan is Evil, and that God always wins, and that people need religion.
Baskakov fled to Ukraine
, near Cherkassy, and earned living as a tutor. In 1924 Baskakov went to Leningrad
and attempted to enter the Oriental Institute, but failed again. A third attempt was a success, Baskakov was accepted to the San-Gali State Institute of People's Education. San-Gali State Institute was a two-year educational institution that was preparing teachers for high school. A number of prominent "former people" found shelter there.
In 1925 Baskakov was admitted to the Moscow State University Ethnographic branch of the Historical Ethnological faculty. During his study Baskakov traveled to Karakalpak ASSR, Kazakhstan
, Kirgizia, and Khorezm
area of Uzbekistan
to gather material on Uigurs
, Kirghiz
, and Kazakh
languages, ethnography, language and folklore of Karakalpaks
and Khorezm
Uzbeks
. His instructors were A.N. Maksimov, P.F. Preobrajensky, V.K. Trutovsky, M.N. Peterson, V.A. Gordlevsky, folklore also the literature, N.K. Dmitriev, and Vasily Bartold
lectured on history of Central Asia
and Jeti-su Türks.
In 1929 N.Baskakov graduated from the University with a degree in history, archeology, ethnography, languages, folklore and literature of Türkic peoples. Baskakov was retained by the faculty of Türkic philology, with additional duties at the Central Ethnographical Museum, and continued expeditions to the Karakalpak ASSR, and Khorezm
. In 1930 Baskakov was sent to Karakalpak ASSR regional department of national education to chair a committee to institute a transitional Latin alphabet
for the Karakalpak people, to substitute for their traditional Arabic alphabet. In 1930-1931 N.Baskakov helped to organize the Karakalpak Regional Museum and a Scientific Institute.
In 1931 N.Baskakov returned to Moscow and joined Linguistic Commission of Research Association for National (ethnic) and Colonial problems at the Communist University of Eastern Workers (CUEW), and became a docent of CUEW. In 1934 askakov was appointed to the Russian SFSR Central Committee of New Alphabet (CCNA) and sent to Kazakhstan
, Kirgizia and Oirot
(present Mountain Altai) to study problems of "language construction" in the native schools. N.Baskakov was sent to all territories populated by Nogais
(Astrakhan
, Dagestan ASSR, Krasnodar
, Crimea ASSR
) with an aim to "create" a "Nogai literary language" with a new quasi-Cyrillic alphabet.
In 1936 Baskakov became a docent of Uigur language faculty in the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies
, later a Language and Literacy Institute of USSR peoples. In 1938 in reward for his publications Baskakov became a Phd in Philology without writing a thesis dissertation. In 1939-1940 askakov worked on country-wide transitioning of the Türkic peoples from the Arabic to a slew of quasi-Cyrrilic alphabets, visiting Kazan, Ufa, Tashkent, and Alma-Ata. During World War II N.Baskakov was sent to Oirot
(Altaians). Living in Altai enabled askakov to collect rich material on dialects and folklore of Altaians across their land. In 1943 N.Baskakov returned to Moscow to work in N. Ya. Marr Institute of Language and Thinking of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In that institution, under its many different names, Baskakov worked for almost 50 years. He visited Lithuania, Northern Caucasus, Turkmenia and Khakassia helping to establish new scientific institutions. In 1950 Baskakov wrote a dissertation themed "Karakalpak language. Parts of speech and word-formation" for Doctor of Philology degree. In 1989 Baskakov was retired from active work, but continued voluntary work, and remained a chief scientist in the Karakalpak branch of the Uzbek SSR Academy of Sciences.
Baskakov was an honorary member of the Great Britain Royal Asian society, Turkish linguistic society, International Uralo-Altai society (Hamburg), Scientific organization of Polish Orientalists, Scientific organization of Hungarian Orientalists Kereshi-Choma, a corresponding member of Finno-Ugric society (Helsinki).
Studying a number of Türkic languages simultaneously, Baskakov evaluated the degree of their genetic affinity, and learned the principles of Türkic typology, which eventually resulted in creation of a synthesizing concept, a new classification of Türkic languages. First published in 1952, the Baskakov taxonomical classification, unlike the previous classifications built on limited number of linguistic attributes, accounted for grammatical system and lexical structure of the Türkic languages as a whole, coordinating formation of separate language groups with the history of their peoples.
Baskakov's classification of Türkic languages was published twice as a textbook Introduction to study of Türkic languages (1962 and 1969), and is well known to the Türkologists of the world. Baskakov's classification remains the only classification built with understanding of the history of the Türkic peoples known at the time.
From the end of the 1970s Baskakov developed a typological model of the grammatical system of Türkic languages. Baskakov developed a complete concept of Türkic language type, described in three monographs, "Historical structural typology of Türkic languages" (1975), "Historical typological morphology of Türkic languages" (1979), and "Historical typological phonology of Türkic languages" (1988). Baskakov's concept recognized isomorphism of all language levels, from the top syntax level.
From the end of the 1970s Baskakov developed a typological model of the grammatical system of Türkic languages. Baskakov's concept on the most ancient typological structure of Türkic languages found "hypothetically initial pre-agglutinative form of Türkic, where abstract grammatical constructions were formed from main roots in postposition, and were gradually transformed to analytical elements, and then to affixes of the synthetic form".
Even though typologically the languages of the Altai family are related, their genetic relationship is contested. Baskakov advocated a genetic relationship of Türkic, Mongolian, Tunguso-Manchurian, Korean and Japanese languages.
By the end of the 1930s were published N.Baskakov's works on Karakalpak, Uigur, and Nogai
languages. N.Baskakov participated in creation of the first bilingual Türkic-Russian and Russian-Türkic dictionaries for Uigur (1939), Altay
(1947), and Khakass (1953), and headed creation of Russian-Uigur (1941), Nogai-Russian (1963), Russian-Altai (1964), Russian-Karakalpak ( 1967), and Turkmen-Russian (1968) dictionaries. Baskakov participated in creation of first trilingual dictionaries for Türkic languages, Gagauz
-Russian-Moldavian (1973), Karaim
-Russian-Polish (1974). Publication of trilingual dictionaries was preceded by two his publications that established main principles of composing trilingual dictionaries (1968, 1971). The Uigur, Altai, Khakass, and Nogai dictionaries had brief grammatical descriptions of the languages.
Baskakov's first description of grammar in Türkic languages was published in "Brief grammar of Karkalpak language" (Turtkul
, 1932). It was continued in subsequent works "Nogai language and its dialects" (1940) and "Karakalpak language, vol. 2. Phonetics and morphology" (1952). Baskakov continues traditions of Türkic grammar represented in popular Altai grammar and in grammatical works of P.L. Melioransky and V.L. Gordlevsky. Baskakov published dialectal material, a series "Northern dialects of Altai (Oirot) language" of three parts, "Dialect of taiga Tatars (Tuba-Kiji)" (1966), "Dialect of Kumandy-kiji) " (1972), "Dialect of Kuu Tatars-Chelkans (Kuu-kiji)" (1985) (Türkic "kiji" = "people", a frequent ethnonym-forming suffix). The descriptions have shown full linguistic independence of these little-known languages.
N.Baskakov wrote a series of historical etymological works about the names of the Türkic peoples and tribes (Kypchaks, Kirghizes, Bashkirs, Kumans, Badjanks, Tuvinians, Khakases), edited epic publications of Türkic peoples (Altai heroic epos "Madai-kara", Khakass heroic epos "Altyn-Aryg"). In 1991 N.Baskakov composed the national hymn of republic Karakalpakistan and hymn of Mountain Altai republic.
, Chuvash
and Sakha
(Yakut), while the others are not languages, but dialects with very close affinity, artificially divided and segregated into languages, splitting the uniform Türkic world. Baskakov position was that the Türkic world is not divided, but consist of live languages that develop into independent vernaculars. In the beginning of the 20th century the majority of Türkic peoples had their individuality, in addition to the territory each ethnos had its history, consciousness and self-name, culture, folklore, and language, some peoples had their own literary form, with rich old tradition of literature, and a system of their subordinated dialects, and the affinity among them is not dialectal, but linguistical.
The process of separation of Türkic languages also continues now in different conditions, in 1978 was introduced literacy at Dolgans
, in 1989 introduced at Tofalars, Siberian Tatars
are on the way to introduce their literacy. Each people resolves this subject for themselves. In these conditions the existing peoples and languages of Türkic family should be carefully preserved as rare gifts of the nature, and should be given full opportunity to develop, while Turkish language, the largest language of the Türkic family with immense literature and long history, can be used as a language of interethnic dialogue.
Biography outline
N.A. Baskakov was born in 1905 in SolvychegodskSolvychegodsk
Solvychegodsk is a town in the southern part of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right-hand bank of the Vychegda River northeast of Kotlas. Administratively, it is a part of Kotlassky District. Municipally, it is incorporated as Solvychegodskoye Urban Settlement of Kotlassky Municipal...
in the Vologda province (now Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
) in a large family of a district government official. His father came from a family banished in the beginning of the 19th century from Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
to the Vologda
Vologda
Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city is a major transport knot of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda is among the Russian cities possessing an especially valuable historical heritage...
province, and mother was a daughter of an official and a teacher. In a book about Russian surnames of Turkic origin (1979) N.A.Baskakov gives the following comment about his surname: "Surname Baskakov comes from a Tatar baskak, Amragan (*Amyr-khan), a viceroy in the second half of the 13th century in Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...
. The Turkic origin of this surname is confirmed by the very root of the surname basqaq "the one who puts seal, a viceroy of the Khan of the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
", and by the heraldic data: a curved sword in the center and an image of a Tatar over the crest who is holding a red curved saber" (p. 245).
As a young student, in 1916, Baskakov met an old friend of his father's, Bessonov, a Russian dragoman
Dragoman
A dragoman was an interpreter, translator and official guide between Turkish, Arabic, and Persian-speaking countries and polities of the Middle East and European embassies, consulates, vice-consulates and trading posts...
or envoy to Jedda
Jedda
Jedda was the last movie made by the Australian filmmaker Charles Chauvel. The film is most notable for being the first to star two Aboriginal actors in the leading roles, and also to be the first Australian film shot in colour...
(then part of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
). The Russian diplomat's stories about eastern countries affected young Baskakov's imagination. He took a great interest in the East, and Turkey in particular. He began reading about Turkey and even tried to study the Turkish language by himself. In N.Baskakov's words, "This pursuit probably affected choice of my speciality - Turkology, which my father later named "missionary work", or maybe my speciality was prompted by the genes of my ancestors, Turks or Mongols?".
In 1918, when Baskakov was attending the gymnasium in the town Gryazov, he took part in a piano class at Gryazov's musical school. From that time music accompanied him throughout his life. Post-revolutionary shocks of 1920s immediately tested the vicissitudes of life, from 1919 to 1922. While studying in a unified labor school reorganized from his gymnasium, N.Baskakov worked as an ordinary clerk, and as a draftsman in the public health department. In 1922 N.Baskakov graduated from high school and went to Gryazov pedagogical school, but the aspirations to become an Orientalist
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
did not leave him.
In 1923 Baskakov came to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
to enter the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies
Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies
Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies ) was a university-level educational institution that operated in Moscow, Russia, in 1920-1954. It was created as a result of merging Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages and the Oriental studies departments in Moscow's other higher educational...
. He naively entered in a questionnaire that he sympathized with "anarchists-collectivists
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
" group that had just joined Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
, and on the first interview was refused admittance. After that, without hesitation, he turned to a private Institute of the Word headed by Musin-Pushkin, now a Linguistics Institute of the Russian Academy of Science. But unable to meet the payments, he had to leave Moscow and to return to Vologda, to work in pedagogical school. And in the beginnings of 1924 N.Baskakov was booted first from his pedagogical school, and then from Vologda pedagogical school, for participation in an anti-religious dispute where he advocated that God is good, and the Satan is Evil, and that God always wins, and that people need religion.
Baskakov fled to Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, near Cherkassy, and earned living as a tutor. In 1924 Baskakov went to Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
and attempted to enter the Oriental Institute, but failed again. A third attempt was a success, Baskakov was accepted to the San-Gali State Institute of People's Education. San-Gali State Institute was a two-year educational institution that was preparing teachers for high school. A number of prominent "former people" found shelter there.
In 1925 Baskakov was admitted to the Moscow State University Ethnographic branch of the Historical Ethnological faculty. During his study Baskakov traveled to Karakalpak ASSR, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Kirgizia, and Khorezm
Khwarezm
Khwarezm, or Chorasmia, is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, which borders to the north the Aral Sea, to the east the Kyzylkum desert, to the south the Karakum desert and to the west the Ustyurt Plateau...
area of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
to gather material on Uigurs
Uyghur language
Uyghur , formerly known as Eastern Turk, is a Turkic language with 8 to 11 million speakers, spoken primarily by the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China. Significant communities of Uyghur-speakers are located in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and various other...
, Kirghiz
Kyrgyz language
Kyrgyz or Kirgiz, also Kirghiz, Kyrghiz, Qyrghiz is a Turkic language and, together with Russian, an official language of Kyrgyzstan...
, and Kazakh
Kazakh language
Kazakh is a Turkic language which belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic languages, closely related to Nogai and Karakalpak....
languages, ethnography, language and folklore of Karakalpaks
Karakalpaks
The Karakalpaks are a Turkic speaking people. They mainly live in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya and in the delta of Amu Darya on the southern shore of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan. The name "Karakalpak" comes from two words: "qara" meaning black, and "qalpaq" meaning hat...
and Khorezm
Khwarezm
Khwarezm, or Chorasmia, is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, which borders to the north the Aral Sea, to the east the Kyzylkum desert, to the south the Karakum desert and to the west the Ustyurt Plateau...
Uzbeks
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
. His instructors were A.N. Maksimov, P.F. Preobrajensky, V.K. Trutovsky, M.N. Peterson, V.A. Gordlevsky, folklore also the literature, N.K. Dmitriev, and Vasily Bartold
Vasily Bartold
Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold was a Russian and Soviet historian and turcologist.-Biography:Bartold was born in Saint Petersburg.Bartold's lectures at the University of Saint Petersburg were annually interrupted by extended field trips to Muslim countries...
lectured on history of Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and Jeti-su Türks.
In 1929 N.Baskakov graduated from the University with a degree in history, archeology, ethnography, languages, folklore and literature of Türkic peoples. Baskakov was retained by the faculty of Türkic philology, with additional duties at the Central Ethnographical Museum, and continued expeditions to the Karakalpak ASSR, and Khorezm
Khwarezm
Khwarezm, or Chorasmia, is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, which borders to the north the Aral Sea, to the east the Kyzylkum desert, to the south the Karakum desert and to the west the Ustyurt Plateau...
. In 1930 Baskakov was sent to Karakalpak ASSR regional department of national education to chair a committee to institute a transitional Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
for the Karakalpak people, to substitute for their traditional Arabic alphabet. In 1930-1931 N.Baskakov helped to organize the Karakalpak Regional Museum and a Scientific Institute.
In 1931 N.Baskakov returned to Moscow and joined Linguistic Commission of Research Association for National (ethnic) and Colonial problems at the Communist University of Eastern Workers (CUEW), and became a docent of CUEW. In 1934 askakov was appointed to the Russian SFSR Central Committee of New Alphabet (CCNA) and sent to Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Kirgizia and Oirot
Altay people
The Altay or Altai are an ethnic group of Turkic people living in the Siberian Altai Republic and Altai Krai and surrounding areas of Tuva and Mongolia. For alternative ethnonyms see also Teleut, Tele, Telengit, Mountain Kalmuck, White Kalmuck, Black Tatar, Oirat/Oirot.The Uriankhai people were...
(present Mountain Altai) to study problems of "language construction" in the native schools. N.Baskakov was sent to all territories populated by Nogais
Nogais
The Nogai people are a Turkic ethnic group in Southern Russia: northern Dagestan and Stavropol Krai, as well as in Karachay-Cherkessia and the Astrakhan Oblast; undefined number live in Chechnya...
(Astrakhan
Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
, Dagestan ASSR, Krasnodar
Krasnodar
Krasnodar is a city in Southern Russia, located on the Kuban River about northeast of the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. It is the administrative center of Krasnodar Krai . Population: -Name:...
, Crimea ASSR
Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created on October 18, 1921 as Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic of RSFSR in place of Taurida Governorate and within the Crimean Peninsula,...
) with an aim to "create" a "Nogai literary language" with a new quasi-Cyrillic alphabet.
In 1936 Baskakov became a docent of Uigur language faculty in the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies
Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies
Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies ) was a university-level educational institution that operated in Moscow, Russia, in 1920-1954. It was created as a result of merging Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages and the Oriental studies departments in Moscow's other higher educational...
, later a Language and Literacy Institute of USSR peoples. In 1938 in reward for his publications Baskakov became a Phd in Philology without writing a thesis dissertation. In 1939-1940 askakov worked on country-wide transitioning of the Türkic peoples from the Arabic to a slew of quasi-Cyrrilic alphabets, visiting Kazan, Ufa, Tashkent, and Alma-Ata. During World War II N.Baskakov was sent to Oirot
Altay people
The Altay or Altai are an ethnic group of Turkic people living in the Siberian Altai Republic and Altai Krai and surrounding areas of Tuva and Mongolia. For alternative ethnonyms see also Teleut, Tele, Telengit, Mountain Kalmuck, White Kalmuck, Black Tatar, Oirat/Oirot.The Uriankhai people were...
(Altaians). Living in Altai enabled askakov to collect rich material on dialects and folklore of Altaians across their land. In 1943 N.Baskakov returned to Moscow to work in N. Ya. Marr Institute of Language and Thinking of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In that institution, under its many different names, Baskakov worked for almost 50 years. He visited Lithuania, Northern Caucasus, Turkmenia and Khakassia helping to establish new scientific institutions. In 1950 Baskakov wrote a dissertation themed "Karakalpak language. Parts of speech and word-formation" for Doctor of Philology degree. In 1989 Baskakov was retired from active work, but continued voluntary work, and remained a chief scientist in the Karakalpak branch of the Uzbek SSR Academy of Sciences.
Baskakov was an honorary member of the Great Britain Royal Asian society, Turkish linguistic society, International Uralo-Altai society (Hamburg), Scientific organization of Polish Orientalists, Scientific organization of Hungarian Orientalists Kereshi-Choma, a corresponding member of Finno-Ugric society (Helsinki).
Scientific contribution
Retirement allowed Baskakov to work on collected material and publications. Prior to the beginning of the 20th century, few Türkic languages were studied and reflected in dictionaries and grammar books, without which was impossible to teach languages or conduct constructive research. Baskakov actively joined in creation of lexicographical and grammatical works for poorly studied and totally unknown major Türkic languages.Studying a number of Türkic languages simultaneously, Baskakov evaluated the degree of their genetic affinity, and learned the principles of Türkic typology, which eventually resulted in creation of a synthesizing concept, a new classification of Türkic languages. First published in 1952, the Baskakov taxonomical classification, unlike the previous classifications built on limited number of linguistic attributes, accounted for grammatical system and lexical structure of the Türkic languages as a whole, coordinating formation of separate language groups with the history of their peoples.
Baskakov's classification of Türkic languages was published twice as a textbook Introduction to study of Türkic languages (1962 and 1969), and is well known to the Türkologists of the world. Baskakov's classification remains the only classification built with understanding of the history of the Türkic peoples known at the time.
From the end of the 1970s Baskakov developed a typological model of the grammatical system of Türkic languages. Baskakov developed a complete concept of Türkic language type, described in three monographs, "Historical structural typology of Türkic languages" (1975), "Historical typological morphology of Türkic languages" (1979), and "Historical typological phonology of Türkic languages" (1988). Baskakov's concept recognized isomorphism of all language levels, from the top syntax level.
From the end of the 1970s Baskakov developed a typological model of the grammatical system of Türkic languages. Baskakov's concept on the most ancient typological structure of Türkic languages found "hypothetically initial pre-agglutinative form of Türkic, where abstract grammatical constructions were formed from main roots in postposition, and were gradually transformed to analytical elements, and then to affixes of the synthetic form".
Even though typologically the languages of the Altai family are related, their genetic relationship is contested. Baskakov advocated a genetic relationship of Türkic, Mongolian, Tunguso-Manchurian, Korean and Japanese languages.
Major publications
This is a stub. You can help writing itBy the end of the 1930s were published N.Baskakov's works on Karakalpak, Uigur, and Nogai
Nogai language
Nogai , is a Turkic language spoken in southwestern Russia. Three distinct dialects are recognized: Qara-Nogay , spoken in Dagestan; Nogai Proper, in Stavropol; and Aqnogay , by the Kuban River, its tributaries in Karachay-Cherkessia, and in the Mineralnye Vody District...
languages. N.Baskakov participated in creation of the first bilingual Türkic-Russian and Russian-Türkic dictionaries for Uigur (1939), Altay
Altay language
Altay is a language of the Turkic group of languages. It is an official language of Altai Republic, Russia. The language was called Oyrot prior to 1948. There were ca...
(1947), and Khakass (1953), and headed creation of Russian-Uigur (1941), Nogai-Russian (1963), Russian-Altai (1964), Russian-Karakalpak ( 1967), and Turkmen-Russian (1968) dictionaries. Baskakov participated in creation of first trilingual dictionaries for Türkic languages, Gagauz
Gagauz
Gagauz may refer to:* Gagauz people* Gagauz language* Gagauzia...
-Russian-Moldavian (1973), Karaim
Karaim
Karaim may refer to:*Crimean Karaites, the article about this group, and*Karaim language, the article about their language.*Karaite Judaism, a Jewish movement....
-Russian-Polish (1974). Publication of trilingual dictionaries was preceded by two his publications that established main principles of composing trilingual dictionaries (1968, 1971). The Uigur, Altai, Khakass, and Nogai dictionaries had brief grammatical descriptions of the languages.
Baskakov's first description of grammar in Türkic languages was published in "Brief grammar of Karkalpak language" (Turtkul
Turtkul
Turtkul is a city in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan. It is an administrative center of To‘rtko‘l District.-History:The city was founded in 1873 and before 1920 was known as Petroaleksandrovsk . It was then a major jewelry producing center of Uzbekistan, and was equipped with telegraph in 1913 and with...
, 1932). It was continued in subsequent works "Nogai language and its dialects" (1940) and "Karakalpak language, vol. 2. Phonetics and morphology" (1952). Baskakov continues traditions of Türkic grammar represented in popular Altai grammar and in grammatical works of P.L. Melioransky and V.L. Gordlevsky. Baskakov published dialectal material, a series "Northern dialects of Altai (Oirot) language" of three parts, "Dialect of taiga Tatars (Tuba-Kiji)" (1966), "Dialect of Kumandy-kiji) " (1972), "Dialect of Kuu Tatars-Chelkans (Kuu-kiji)" (1985) (Türkic "kiji" = "people", a frequent ethnonym-forming suffix). The descriptions have shown full linguistic independence of these little-known languages.
N.Baskakov wrote a series of historical etymological works about the names of the Türkic peoples and tribes (Kypchaks, Kirghizes, Bashkirs, Kumans, Badjanks, Tuvinians, Khakases), edited epic publications of Türkic peoples (Altai heroic epos "Madai-kara", Khakass heroic epos "Altyn-Aryg"). In 1991 N.Baskakov composed the national hymn of republic Karakalpakistan and hymn of Mountain Altai republic.
Linguistical controversies
In the 1990s, after the fall of the former USSR and opening communication channels from it to the word, surfaced criticism from the Turkish scholars, who advocated existence of only three languages inside Türkic family: TurkishTurkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, Chuvash
Chuvash language
Chuvash is a Turkic language spoken in central Russia, primarily in the Chuvash Republic and adjacent areas. It is the only surviving member of the Oghur branch of Turkic languages....
and Sakha
Sakha language
Sakha, or Yakut, is a Turkic language with around 360,000 native speakers spoken in the Sakha Republic in the Russian Federation by the Sakha or Yakuts.Sakha is an agglutinative language, and it employs vowel harmony.-Classification:...
(Yakut), while the others are not languages, but dialects with very close affinity, artificially divided and segregated into languages, splitting the uniform Türkic world. Baskakov position was that the Türkic world is not divided, but consist of live languages that develop into independent vernaculars. In the beginning of the 20th century the majority of Türkic peoples had their individuality, in addition to the territory each ethnos had its history, consciousness and self-name, culture, folklore, and language, some peoples had their own literary form, with rich old tradition of literature, and a system of their subordinated dialects, and the affinity among them is not dialectal, but linguistical.
The process of separation of Türkic languages also continues now in different conditions, in 1978 was introduced literacy at Dolgans
Dolgans
Dolgans are a Turkic-speaking people, who mostly inhabit Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. The 2002 Census counted 7,261 Dolgans. This number includes 5,517 in former Taymyr Autonomous Okrug. There are 26 Dolgans in Ukraine, four of whom speak Dolgan .Dolgans speak Dolgan language. Some believe that it is...
, in 1989 introduced at Tofalars, Siberian Tatars
Siberian Tatars
Siberian Tatars refers to the indigenous Siberian population of the forests and steppes of South Siberia stretching from somewhat east of the Ural Mountains to the Yenisey river...
are on the way to introduce their literacy. Each people resolves this subject for themselves. In these conditions the existing peoples and languages of Türkic family should be carefully preserved as rare gifts of the nature, and should be given full opportunity to develop, while Turkish language, the largest language of the Türkic family with immense literature and long history, can be used as a language of interethnic dialogue.