Editing Tatar language (section)

== Dialects ==
There are two main dialects of Tatar:
* Central or Middle (Kazan; ''Qazan'')
* Western (Mishar; ''Mişər'')

All of these dialects also have subdivisions. Significant contributions to the study of the Tatar language and its dialects, were made by a scientist [[Gabdulkhay Akhatov]] (Ğabdelxəy Əxətov), who is considered to be the founder of the modern Tatar dialectological school.

Spoken idioms of Siberian Tatars, which differ significantly from the above two, are often considered as the third dialect group of Tatar by some, but as an independent language on its own by others.

=== Central or Middle ===
The Central or Middle dialectal group is spoken in Kazan and most of Tatarstan and is the basis of the standard literary Tatar language. Middle Tatar includes the [[Nagaibak dialect]].

=== Mishar ===
{{Main|Mishar Tatar dialect}}
The Western (Mishar) dialect is distinguished from the Central dialect most clearly by the absence of the uvular ''q'' and ''ğ'' and the rounded ''å'' of the first syllable. Letters ''ç'' and ''c'' are pronounced as [[affricate]]s.<ref>{{cite book |title=Jazyki Rossijskoi Federatsii i sosednih gosudarstv |volume=3 |pages=67–68 |location=Moscow |publisher=Nauka |year=2005 |isbn=5-02-011237-2}}</ref> Regional differences exist also.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Zakiev |first=M. Z. |editor-last=Tenišev |editor-first=Ėdchjam R. |title=Tatar |encyclopedia=Tjurkskije jazyki |series=Jazyki mira |page=371 |location=Moscow |publisher=Indrik |year=1997 |isbn=5-85759-061-2}}</ref>

Mishar Dialect, and especially its regional variant in [[Sergachsky District|Sergachsky district]] (Nizhny Novgorod), is said to be "faithfully close" to the ancient Kipchak language.<ref>Leitzinger, Antero: ''Mishäärit – Suomen vanha islamilainen yhteisö''. Kirja-Leitzinger, 1996. {{ISBN|952-9752-08-3}}. (p. 41)</ref> Some linguists, such as [[Vasily Radlov|Radlov]], [[Alexander Samoylovich|Samoylovich]], think that Mishar traditionally belongs to the Kipchak-Cuman group of languages, rather than to the Kipchak-Bulgar group.<ref>Махмутова Л. Т. Опыт исследования тюркских диалектов: мишарский диалект татарского языка. — М.: Наука, 1978</ref>

Mishar is the dialect spoken by the [[Finnish Tatars|Tatar minority of Finland]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Leitzinger |first=Antero |title=Mishäärit – Suomen vanha islamilainen yhteisö |location=Helsinki |publisher=Kirja-Leitzinger |year=1996 |isbn=952-9752-08-3}}</ref>

=== Siberian Tatar ===
{{Main|Siberian Tatar language}}
Two main isoglosses that characterize Siberian Tatar are ''ç'' as {{IPAblink|ts}} and ''c'' as {{IPAblink|j}}, corresponding to standard {{IPAblink|ɕ}} and {{IPAblink|ʑ}}. There are also grammatical differences within the dialect, scattered across Siberia.<ref>[http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/nasia_report.html#SibTatar Information about Siberian Tatar]</ref>

Many linguists claim the origins of Siberian Tatar dialects are actually independent of Volga–Ural Tatar; these dialects are quite remote both from Standard Tatar and from each other, often preventing mutual comprehension. The claim that this language is part of the modern Tatar language is typically supported by linguists in Kazan, Moscow<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Nikolai Baskakov (linguist) |first=Nikolai |last=Baskakov |title=Тюркские языки |trans-title=Turkic languages |editor-first=Г. Д. |editor-last=Санжеев |publisher=Издательство восточной литературы |location=Moscow, Russia |date=1960 |page=248}}</ref> and by Siberian Tatar linguists<ref>{{cite book |last=Утяшева |first=Гузель Чахваровна |title=Русские заимствования в тоболо-иртышском диалекте сибирских татар |trans-title=Russian borrowings in the Tobol-Irtysh dialect of the Siberian Tatars |publisher=Казанский федеральный университет |location=Tobolsk, Russia |year=2006 |oclc=1042797537}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Рахимова |first=Роза Нуретдиновна |title=Тюменский говор в системе диалектов сибирских татар: фонетико-морфологическая характеристика |trans-title=Tyumen dialect in the system of dialects of the Siberian Tatars: phonetic and morphological characteristics |publisher=Казанский федеральный университет |location=Tyumen, Russia |year=2007 |oclc=1042799247}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Рамазанова |first=Д. Б. |title=Сибирско-татарские диалекты и говоры татарского языка |book-title=Материалы IX Всероссийской научно-практической конференции "Сулеймановские чтения – 2006" |trans-title=Materials of the IX All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "Suleiman Readings – 2006" |publisher=Казанский федеральный университет |location=Tyumen, Russia |year=2006 |pages=89–90 |url=http://atlas.antat.ru/upload/ramazanova/dialekt.pdf}}</ref> and denounced by some Russian and Tatar<ref>{{cite book |last=Валеев |first=Фоат Тач-Ахметович |title=Западносибирские татары во второй половине XIX – начале XX в. (Историко-этнографические очерки) |trans-title=West Siberian Tatars in the second half of the 19th to early 20th centuries. (Historical and ethnographic essays) |publisher=Татарское книжное изд-во |location=Kazan', Tatarstan, Russia |year=1980 |oclc=63230819}}</ref> ethnographs.

Over time, some of these dialects were given distinct names and recognized as separate languages (e.g. the [[Chulym language]]) after detailed linguistic study. However, the Chulym language was never classified as a dialect of Tatar language. Confusion arose because of the endoethnonym "Tatars" used by the Chulyms. The question of classifying the Chulym language as a dialect of the Khakass language was debatable. A brief linguistic analysis shows that many of these dialects exhibit features which are quite different from the Volga–Ural Tatar varieties, and should be classified as Turkic varieties belonging to several sub-groups of the Turkic languages, distinct from [[Kipchak languages]] to which Volga–Ural Tatar belongs.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}