Editing Karaim language (section)

{{Short description|Kipchak Turkic language with Hebrew influences}}
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Karaim
| nativename       = {{lang|kdr-Cyrl|къарай тили}}<br/>{{lang|kdr-Latn|karaj tili}}
| states           = [[Crimea]], [[Lithuania]], [[Poland]]
| ethnicity        = [[Crimean Karaites]] (2014){{quantify|date=November 2024}}<ref name=e17>{{e18|kdr}}</ref>
| speakers         = {{sigfig|81|1}}
| date             = 2014
| ref              = e18
| familycolor      = Altaic
| fam1             = [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]
| fam2             = [[Common Turkic languages|Common Turkic]]
| fam3             = [[Kipchak languages|Kipchak]]
| fam4             = Kypchak–Cuman
| script           = [[Cyrillic script]], [[Latin script]], [[Hebrew alphabet]]
| minority         = {{POL}}<br/>{{UKR}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/5029-17 |title=Law of Ukraine "On Principles of State Language Policy") |publisher=[[Verkhovna Rada]] |work=Document 5029-17, Article 7: Regional or minority languages Ukraine, Paragraph 2 |date=1 February 2014 | access-date=30 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=To which languages does the Charter apply? |page=3 |url=http://hub.coe.int/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=d74fc9bd-0c0c-40ac-9e47-26d4887daf8e&groupId=10227 |work=European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=2014-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227174247/http://hub.coe.int/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=d74fc9bd-0c0c-40ac-9e47-26d4887daf8e&groupId=10227 |archive-date=2013-12-27 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/670-2024-п |title=Про затвердження переліку мов національних меншин (спільнот) та корінних народів України, яким загрожує зникнення |date=7 June 2024 |website=Official webportal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine}}</ref><br/>{{RUS}}{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}
| iso3             = kdr
| glotto           = kara1464
| glottorefname    = Karaim
| image            = Karaim language.png
| imagecaption     = Karaim written in [[Cyrillic]] and [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] (Crimean dialect), Latin ([[Trakai]] dialect), along with [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]] and Latin (Traditional)
}}

The '''Karaim language''' ([[Crimean Karaites|Crimean]] dialect: {{lang|kdr|къарай тили}}, {{tlit|kdr|qaray tili}}; [[Trakai]] dialect: {{lang|kdr|karaj tili}}), also known by its [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] name '''Lashon Kedar''' ({{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|לשון קדר}}}}, “language of the nomads"),{{sfn|Schegoleva|2011}} is a [[Turkic languages|Turkic language]] belonging to the [[Kipchak languages|Kipchak]] group, with Hebrew influences, similarly to [[Yiddish]] or [[Judaeo-Spanish]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wexler |first=Paul |date=1983 |title=Is Karaite a Jewish language? |journal=Mediterranean Language Review |volume=1 |pages=27–54 |jstor=10.13173/medilangrevi.1.1983.0027}}</ref> It is presently spoken by only a few dozen [[Crimean Karaites]] ({{lang|kdr|Qrimqaraylar}}) in [[Lithuania]], [[Poland]], [[Crimea]], and [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] in [[Ukraine]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brook |first=Kevin Alan |date=Summer 2014 |title=The Genetics of Crimean Karaites |journal=Karadeniz Araştırmaları |volume=11 |issue=42 |pages=69–84 |doi=10.12787/KARAM859}}</ref> The three main dialects are those of [[Crimea]], [[Trakai]]-[[Vilnius]] and [[Lutsk]]-[[Halych]],{{sfn|Wexler|1980}} all of which are critically [[endangered language|endangered]]. The Lithuanian dialect of Karaim is spoken mainly in the town of Trakai by a small community living there since the 14th century.

There is a chance the language will survive in Trakai as a result of official support and because of its appeal to tourists coming to the [[Trakai Island Castle]], where Crimean Karaites are presented as the castle's ancient defenders.{{sfn|Napora|2018}}