Post by hellboy87 on Nov 28, 2008 0:12:01 GMT -5
This is from a write up mostly about Turkish language in the Balkans,but it does say something about the origins of the 'Turks' of the Balkans:
Before the 1999 NATO bombing of Kosovo, four-fifths of ex-Yugoslavia's Turks lived in
Macedonia (78,019, constituting 4% of the Republic's population according to the 1994 census).
That number is now probably higher. I will exclude from consideration here the Yuruk (Yürük,
Yörük) dialects spoken in about 65 villages in southeastern Macedonia (Nedkov 1986). These
dialects are close to standard Turkish and do not differ significantly from it probably owing to
the relatively late arrival of the Yuruks, their relative isolation in mountain villages, and their
practice of endogamy (Jas¡ar-Nasteva 1986, Manevic´ 1953-54) . Yuruk tradition holds that
other Turkish-speakers in Macedonia are Islamicized and subsequently Turkicized
autochthonous populations, which may relate to the contact features of WRT (Palikrus¡eva
1986).
During the Ottoman period, Turkish was the language of the towns, especially the market
place and administration as well as of some villages. Turkish retained its prestige among urban
dwellers well into the twentieth century (Jas¡ar-Nasteva 1992) and even today in Macedonia and
Kosova (Akan 2000). Turkish remains vital, especially in Western Macedonia, and the Balkan
Turkish linguistic contact environment is replicated despite the sociolinguistic shift of Turkish
from dominating to dominated language.
The complex sociolinguistic situation raises the question of whose dialect of Turkish is to
be taken as Balkan Turkish. Over 22,000 declared knowledge of Turkish in addition to their first
language in the 1994 Macedonian census, making Turkish the most widely declared additional
language after Macedonian and English. The majority of Albanians and Roms in Macedonia and
Kosova are Muslim and many speak Turkish. The Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian -speaking
Muslims of Macedonia almost all emigrated to Turkey, but the Christian Vlahs are concentrated
in areas where Turks are also numerous (in southwest and southeast Macedonia). People from
old urban families often speak Turkish regardless of religion or ethnicity. Balkan Turkish as
spoken by non-Turks has undoubtedly influenced local Turkish (cf. Hazai 1963).
Németh (1961) suggests the possibility
of a northeast Anatolian origin for the WRT dialects, but as Brendemoen has shown, these
dialects themselves display contact features in which Greek may have played an conspicuous,
perhaps even substratal, role. This combined with the Yuruk tradition that the WRT dialects are
spoken by Islamicized autochthonous populations suggests that parallel development may be the
explanation for the similarities.
So I guess most Balkan Turks are Turkicized Balkanians.Why I say that? Not because of what I had posted above^ but that Balkan Turks look European.
But then,the Ottomans did settle these Yuruks there.Maybe they were small in number and incorporated(sort of) the locals into their 'group'.
Before the 1999 NATO bombing of Kosovo, four-fifths of ex-Yugoslavia's Turks lived in
Macedonia (78,019, constituting 4% of the Republic's population according to the 1994 census).
That number is now probably higher. I will exclude from consideration here the Yuruk (Yürük,
Yörük) dialects spoken in about 65 villages in southeastern Macedonia (Nedkov 1986). These
dialects are close to standard Turkish and do not differ significantly from it probably owing to
the relatively late arrival of the Yuruks, their relative isolation in mountain villages, and their
practice of endogamy (Jas¡ar-Nasteva 1986, Manevic´ 1953-54) . Yuruk tradition holds that
other Turkish-speakers in Macedonia are Islamicized and subsequently Turkicized
autochthonous populations, which may relate to the contact features of WRT (Palikrus¡eva
1986).
During the Ottoman period, Turkish was the language of the towns, especially the market
place and administration as well as of some villages. Turkish retained its prestige among urban
dwellers well into the twentieth century (Jas¡ar-Nasteva 1992) and even today in Macedonia and
Kosova (Akan 2000). Turkish remains vital, especially in Western Macedonia, and the Balkan
Turkish linguistic contact environment is replicated despite the sociolinguistic shift of Turkish
from dominating to dominated language.
The complex sociolinguistic situation raises the question of whose dialect of Turkish is to
be taken as Balkan Turkish. Over 22,000 declared knowledge of Turkish in addition to their first
language in the 1994 Macedonian census, making Turkish the most widely declared additional
language after Macedonian and English. The majority of Albanians and Roms in Macedonia and
Kosova are Muslim and many speak Turkish. The Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian -speaking
Muslims of Macedonia almost all emigrated to Turkey, but the Christian Vlahs are concentrated
in areas where Turks are also numerous (in southwest and southeast Macedonia). People from
old urban families often speak Turkish regardless of religion or ethnicity. Balkan Turkish as
spoken by non-Turks has undoubtedly influenced local Turkish (cf. Hazai 1963).
Németh (1961) suggests the possibility
of a northeast Anatolian origin for the WRT dialects, but as Brendemoen has shown, these
dialects themselves display contact features in which Greek may have played an conspicuous,
perhaps even substratal, role. This combined with the Yuruk tradition that the WRT dialects are
spoken by Islamicized autochthonous populations suggests that parallel development may be the
explanation for the similarities.
So I guess most Balkan Turks are Turkicized Balkanians.Why I say that? Not because of what I had posted above^ but that Balkan Turks look European.
But then,the Ottomans did settle these Yuruks there.Maybe they were small in number and incorporated(sort of) the locals into their 'group'.