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Trakai Karaims

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lightbulbAbout this topic
Trakai Karaims are a small ethnic group in Lithuania, descendants of the Karaim people who migrated from the Crimean Peninsula. They are known for their unique language, culture, and religious practices, which blend elements of Judaism and local traditions, reflecting their historical ties to both Jewish and Turkic heritages.
lightbulbAbout this topic
Trakai Karaims are a small ethnic group in Lithuania, descendants of the Karaim people who migrated from the Crimean Peninsula. They are known for their unique language, culture, and religious practices, which blend elements of Judaism and local traditions, reflecting their historical ties to both Jewish and Turkic heritages.

Key research themes

1. What are the linguistic and historical characteristics of the Karaim Bible translation tradition and its role in preserving Karaim language and identity?

This research theme investigates the emergence, evolution, and linguistic features of Karaim Bible translations, which represent some of the oldest texts in the endangered Karaim language. It explores the manuscript traditions, translation techniques, the biographies of translators and copyists, and the textual relationships across different Karaim communities. The study is vital for understanding how biblical translation has contributed to language maintenance, religious identity preservation, and the interrelation between dialects within the Karaim speech community.

Key finding: The paper uncovers approximately 150 Karaim biblical manuscripts, identifying a shared tradition of Bible translation across geographically dispersed Karaim communities (Crimea, Lithuania, Volhynia, Galicia). It shows the... Read more
Key finding: This work synthesizes recent discoveries of Karaim Tanakh translations, broadening knowledge of Karaim biblical manuscripts. It emphasizes the endangered status of Northwest Karaim, details the historical context for Bible... Read more
Key finding: This paper conducts a comparative linguistic analysis between the 1720 manuscript (III-73) containing the earliest known Western Karaim Torah translation and the 1841 Eupatorian Crimean Karaim print. It elucidates dialectal... Read more
Key finding: The study critically editions and comments on Peringer's 1691 Western Karaim transcription of Genesis 1–3, noting multiple printing errors and the loss of original manuscripts. It provides philological and linguistic insights... Read more
Key finding: By presenting the oldest known Eastern Karaim biblical text alongside the oldest Western Karaim translation, this article offers a comparative analysis that contextualizes the Eupatorian print edition of 1841. It provides... Read more

2. How has Slavic and contact influence shaped the linguistic features and dialectal diversification of Western Karaim?

This theme addresses the impact of Slavic languages on Western Karaim phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics resulting from geographical and sociolinguistic contact. It includes investigations into dialectal splits (North-Western vs. South-Western Karaim), contact-induced grammatical categories such as verbal tenses, and the integration of Slavic lexical and phonetic elements. Understanding these influences is crucial for reconstructing Karaim language evolution and language contact dynamics in Eastern Europe.

Key finding: Provides a comprehensive overview of the historical Slavic impact on Karaim language varieties, notably Northwest Karaim. The paper delineates how Slavic phonology, lexicon, and syntax have become integrated into Karaim,... Read more
Key finding: Analyzes the rare Western Karaim -p edi- verbal category, arguing that its extended use for habitual past actions is a direct consequence of contact with the Polish language. This research refines the semantic scope of the... Read more
Key finding: Documents relative chronologies of dialectal phonological changes that led to the split of Western Karaim into North-Western and South-Western varieties. This study revises earlier assumptions by demonstrating that dialect... Read more
Key finding: Identifies previously undescribed Western Karaim verbal forms (-a-d-, -a-dy-, -a-dyr-) used primarily to express the continuative present tense, dated to the 18th-19th centuries. The paper links these morphological... Read more
Key finding: Examines a unique Karaim manuscript exhibiting a mixture of dialectal features from North-Western and Eastern Karaim. The study documents complex dialect mixing and highlights linguistic interactions within Karaim... Read more

3. In what ways have Karaim's Hebrew script usage and manuscript culture influenced its preservation and the transmission of religious and cultural identity?

This area focuses on the adoption and development of the Hebrew script by Karaim communities for recording their Turkic vernacular and religious texts. It analyzes orthographic adaptations to accommodate Karaim phonology, the comparative use of Hebrew script by related groups (such as Krimchaks), and the manuscript culture's role in maintaining Karaim linguistic heritage and Karaite Judaism. The theme also addresses manuscript provenance, preservation challenges, and the script's gradual decline.

Key finding: Provides a detailed comparative study of Hebrew script usage in Karaim and Krimchak Turkic communities, documenting specific adaptations to reflect Turkic phonetics. The paper elucidates the socioreligious motivations behind... Read more
Key finding: Analyzes two 1868 Karaim letters written in Hebrew script by a Trakai-born Odessan citizen, demonstrating orthographic consistency and features distinguishing North-Western Karaim dialect. This study contributes to... Read more
Key finding: Presents a critical edition and translation of two 1868 Karaim letters traced to a Trakai-born individual, enriched with linguistic commentary on orthographic, phonological, and morphological features. The paper sheds light... Read more
Key finding: Through the discovery and analysis of an autograph manuscript, the study confirms Josef ha-Mashbir as a native North-Western Karaim speaker linked to Trakai, supporting biographical and linguistic evidence of cultural... Read more
Key finding: This volume provides a critical edition of 149 pre-19th-century Karaim translations of Hebrew liturgical poems (piyyutim), illuminating the linguistic and phonological features of Middle Western Karaim dialects and the... Read more

All papers in Trakai Karaims

Kentlerde artan göç hareketleriyle birlikte farklı inanç gruplarının ortak kullandığı mekânlar, çok dinli toplum yapısının mekânlara yansıması olarak, gelişmiş ülkelerde giderek daha görünür hale gelmektedir. Ortak işlevlere sahip olsalar... more
information and was written by an author named Salih in 1026, is incomplete. We have determined that some folios are missing in the inside of the manuscript. While explaining the derivative words formed with a suffix, the author gave... more
La Lituania sa cosa significa libertà, perché l'ha conquistata da poco e se la tiene stretta. Oggetto da sempre di appetiti da parte di imperi confinanti, come altri paesi intorno a quel meridiano, nel 1990 è stata la prima tra le... more
Deniz ÇOLAK * Derya DERİN PAŞAOĞLU ** Öz Küçük Kaynarca Antlaşması (1774) ile müstakil hanlık statüsü kazanan Kırım Hanlığı 1783 yılındaki Rus ilhakına değin iç çatışmalarla mücadele etmiştir. Kırım Yarımadasının çok etnikli ve çok dinli... more
Było to jeszcze za "starych dobrych czasów", gdy w bogatej w lasy okolicy naszej górnobawarskiej krainy grasowali zbójcy. Nocami napadano na domostwa, z pastwisk kradziono krowy i w ogóle kradziono wszystko, co nie było przynitowane lub... more
Było to jeszcze za "starych dobrych czasów", gdy w bogatej w lasy okolicy naszej górnobawarskiej krainy grasowali zbójcy. Nocami napadano na domostwa, z pastwisk kradziono krowy i w ogóle kradziono wszystko, co nie było przynitowane lub... more
This article is a critical edition of an anonymous Crimean Turkish Karaim polemic treatise Igeret Imre Noʿam ‘The Treatise Say- ings of Pleasure’ against the Rabbanites, Christians, Muslims and free- masons, that is the atheists. This is... more
Hazarların devamı olduğu düşünülen Karaylar farklı çalışmalara konu edilmiştir. Bu çalışmada da Sergiusz Rudkowski tarafından 1933 yılında Polonya’nın Lutsk şehrinde Karay Türkçesi ile yazılan ve basılan Tutuwłanmahy Karajłarnyn Łuckada... more
Open Access. Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111391779 The status of Crimean Karaim, an extinct eastern dialect of Karaim, has long been a subject of debate among scholars. Some have labeled it a "ghost dialect,"... more
This paper provides an analysis of the language employed in the Pentateuch section of the Eupatorian print (Gözleve) edition, a comprehensive translation of the Old Testament into the Karaim language published in 1841. The objective of... more
This article focuses on presenting lexicographical and phraseological addenda to two well-known Crimean Karaim dictionaries by examining the Book of Numbers from a printed Crimean Karaim Bible translation published in Eupatoria in 1841.... more
A digital edition of the Torah section from the Gözleve Bible (1841), a Crimean Karaim translation of the Tanakh, excluding the Chronicles.
Öz: Halis Kıpçakçanın temsilcilerinden biri olarak kabul edilen Ermeni Kıpçakçası ile onun ça da varislerinden olan Karay Türkçesi arasında dil özellikleri bakımından pek çok benzerlik bulunmaktadır. Bu benzerliklerden biri de yeterlilik... more
Tarihî süreçleri içinde Museviliği kabul etmiş olan Karaim (veya Karay) Türkleri, günümüzdeki Türk toplulukları arasında dil ve kültür bakımından son derecede ilgi çekici özelliklere sahiptir. Eski yurtları olan Kırım'dan tarihî göçlerle... more
The Trakai Journal, prepared by representatives of the local authorities on the occasion of the visit to Trakai of President Ignacy Moscicki and which is currently in private hands, is a valuable source of information on city life,... more
Karayca, linguistik zenginliğiyle gerek tarihî gerekse çağdaş Kıpçak Türkçesine katkı sunmakla birlikte Türk dilinin Doğu Avrupa‟daki önemli bir lehçesidir. Tarihte Museviliği seçen Karaylar sosyo-kültürel birikimlerini günümüze... more
ÖZ Gürcücede isim hâl ekleri, asıl fonksiyonlarının yanı sıra ikincil hatta üçüncül işlevlere de sahiptirler. İberya-Kafkas dilleri arasında en çok konuşulan dil olma özelliğine sahip olan ve eklemeli diller (Agglutinative) kategorisinde... more
This paper provides an overview of my recent archival findings on a former Acmeist poet Mikhail Zenkevich (1886-1973). Collected in Russian, American, Ukrainian, German, and Belgian archives, these documents shed new light on Zenkevich's... more
Karaylar, Karaizm olarak bilinen bir Yahudilik biçimine bağlı olan bir Türk topluluğudur. Kendi aralarında Tatarca’nın bir lehçesini konuşan ve MS 800 civarında Yahudiliğe geçen bir Türk-Tatar krallığı olan Karayların, Hazarlardan... more
Zachariasz Abrahamowicz, Karay edebiyatının altın çağını yaşadığı XX. asrın başlarındaki dönemde seküler şiirleriyle de öne çıkan bir şairdir. Makalede, onun hayatı ve bazı şiirleri tanıtılıp değerlendirilmiştir. Dinî temaların çevresinde... more
In this article, how the verb conjugation is made and its structural features and functional areas in use are analysed via the examples selected from historical and modern Turkish dialects. In terms of morphological, syntactical and... more
Bu makalede Hazar Türklerinin torunu olan ve Museviliğin Karay mezhebinde yer alan Karayların dinî ritüellerinde önemli bir yeri olan 'zemer' yani dinî ezgi, ilahi metinlerinden biri olan 'ne bıla utrulayım' metni incelenmiştir. XVIII. ve... more
Ses bilgisi ses organlarını, seslerin yapısını, sesin çıkış yeri ve biçimini inceleyen dilbilimin alt kollarından biridir. Ses bilgisi ile seslerin çıkış yerleri ve biçimlerine göre aldıkları haller belli şemalara, dizgelere ve sembollere... more
The author firstly elaborates on the case category in Turkish and then deseribes the manners they are employed in. He also indicates historical changes in the structures and functions of case suffixes. In doing this, he includes samples... more
This paper, a version of the introductory lecture read at the Szeged Workshop on Karaim Studies, is intended to present various themes and materials in the field of Karaite-Karaim-Hebrew studies that can be considered as waiting for more... more
In the nationalistic-revivalist atmosphere which prevailed in Eastern Europe in the second half of the 19 th century and the first four decades of the 20 th century, it would indeed be a real miracle if the Karaims, with all their ethnic... more
This paper, published in the Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics Online (Brill), gives an overview of the Slavic influence on the Karaim language from historical perspective.
Naziler işgal ettikleri Varşova’da Yahudiler için 1 Nisan 1940 tarihinde bir getto kurmuşlardı. Burada yaklaşık 400.000'den fazla Yahudi yaşıyordu. Nazilerin Yahudileri öldürmeye başlamasıyla 250 ila 300 bin getto sakini Treblinka imha... more
Karaim is a severely endangered language belonging to the Turkic language family and its only surviving dialect is Northwest Karaim with speakers in Lithuania and Poland. In the past few years, numerous Karaim translations of the Bible... more
Karaim is a severely endangered language belonging to the Turkic language family and its only surviving dialect is Northwest Karaim with speakers in Lithuania and Poland. In the past few years numerous Karaim translations of the Bible... more
ÖZ Gürcücede isim hâl ekleri, asıl fonksiyonlarının yanı sıra ikincil hatta üçüncül işlevlere de sahiptirler. İberya-Kafkas dilleri arasında en çok konuşulan dil olma özelliğine sahip olan ve eklemeli diller (Agglutinative) kategorisinde... more
Karaycayı konuşanların sayısının oldukça azalması dolayısıyla bu dili yeniden yaşatmaya çalışmanın artık çok geç olduğu bir dönemde, Mykolas Firkovicius and Mark Lavrinoviçius’lerin 1985 ile 2011 yıllarında yaptıkları bilimsel çalışmalar... more
The aim of the article is to present the efforts made over the last hundred years to maintain the knowledge of the native tongue among Karaims in Poland and Lithuania. After World War I, the awareness of the importance of the vernacular... more
Kullandıkları bu alfabeler ile çeviri eserler çoğunlukta olmak üzere az sayıda edebî eserler de ortaya koyarak ve bilhassa süreli yayınlar ile Karay yazı dilini meydana getirmişlerdir. Çeşitli sebepler sonucu göç eden, dağılan Karayların... more
Öz: Halis Kıpçakçanın temsilcilerinden biri olarak kabul edilen Ermeni Kıpçakçası ile onun ça da varislerinden olan Karay Türkçesi arasında dil özellikleri bakımından pek çok benzerlik bulunmaktadır. Bu benzerliklerden biri de yeterlilik... more
Bu çalışmada, Polonya’da Türkolojinin kurucusu olarak bilinen Tadeusz Jan Kowalski, “Çocukluğu, Gençliği, Üniversite Hayatı ve Kariyeri, Bilimsel Faaliyetleri, Türkoloji Alanına Katkıları” başlıklarında ele alınmıştır. Tadeusz Kowalski 21... more
Powstające dla celów podatkowych spisy ludności były sporządzane w sposób mniej lub bardziej regularny w I Rzeczpospolitej w XVIII wieku i w Imperium Rosyjskim począwszy od wieku XVIII aż do pierwszego powszechnego spisu ludności w 1898... more
Tarihte 7-11. yüzyıllar arasında Karadeniz, Kafkas Dağları ve İdil Nehri civarında yaşamış Hazar devletinin içindeki halklardan biri olan, günümüzde de Hazar devletinin bakiyesi kabul edilen Karaylar, Museviliğin Karai mezhebini kabul... more
Gabriel Firkowicz (1818-1869), a Karaim, son-in-law and associate of Abraham Firkowicz (1787-1874), as well as manager of his finances, is a relatively unknown figure, often overlooked or mentioned briefly, frequently with incorrect data... more
The article presents references to the work of the bard Adam Mickiewicz Zima miejska (City Winter) in Witold Hulewicz's Zima wileńska (Winter in Vilnius). The text presents a less-known artist, Witold Hulewicz, who was the program... more
The paper deals with comparative constructions in Karaim as compared to Kazakh as spoken in China. It is demonstrated that through contact-induced changes highly endangered languages may become more complex than their more vigorous large... more
This article is a continuation of the analysis of the Karaim -p edi- past tense presented, for the first time in scholarly literature, in Németh (2015). In the latter paper, this verbal category was described on the basis of a few... more
Résumé/Abstract La règle rabbinique juive qui consiste en l'obligation d'un quorum de dix adultes masculins pour le service religieux de la synagogue et d'autres cérémonies religieuses se nomme le minyan. Les karaïtes,... more
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