Editing Karaim language (section)

==Language ecology==

===Distribution of Karaim speakers===
Today, there are Karaim speakers living in [[Crimea]],{{sfn|Csató|2012}} [[Lithuania]],{{sfn|Csató|2012}} [[Poland]],{{sfn|Csató|2012}} [[Israel]],{{sfn|Kizilov|2009}} and the [[United States]].{{sfn|Kizilov|2009}} However, there only remain about 200 Karaims in [[Lithuania]], only one quarter of whom are competent speakers of the Karaim language.{{sfn|Csató|2001}}

Karaim can be subdivided into three [[dialect]]s. The now-extinct eastern dialect, known simply as Crimean Karaim, was spoken in [[Crimea]] until the early 1900s.{{sfn|Wexler|1980}} The northwestern dialect, also called Trakai, is spoken in [[Lithuania]], mainly in the towns of [[Trakai]] and [[Vilnius]]. The southwestern dialect, also known as the Lutsk or [[Halych|Halich]] dialect, spoken in [[Ukraine]], was near-extinct with only six speakers in a single town as of 2001.{{sfn|Csató|2001}} [[Crimea]]n Karaim is considered to make up the "Eastern group," while the Trakai and Lutsk dialects comprise the "Western group."

===Language contact===
	Throughout its long and complicated history, Karaim has experienced extensive language contact. A past rooted in [[Mesopotamia]] and persisting connections to the Arab world resulted in Arabic words which likely carried over via the migration of Karaites from Mesopotamia{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}. The Karaim language was spoken in Crimea during the rule of the Ottoman Empire, so there is also a significant history of contact with Turkish, a distant relative in the Turkic language family. Finally, Karaim coexisted with Lithuanian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian as a minority language in the other areas to which it dispersed where Karaims lived and had to speak the dominant majority languages.

Karaim speakers show a strong tendency towards code-copying.{{sfn|Csató|2001}} Code-copying differs from [[code-switching]] in that speakers don't just switch from one language to another, but actually transfer lexical items and grammatical features from one language to another in processes that may be only for single instances, or that may have much more lasting effects on [[language typology]].{{sfn|Csató|2001}} Extensive code-copying is indicative both of the ever-shrinking population of Karaim speakers (leading to an insufficient Karaim lexicon and a high frequency of borrowing from [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], and [[Church Slavonic language|Slavonic languages]]) and of the high level of language contact in the regions where Karaim is spoken.{{sfn|Csató|2012}}

===Multilingualism===
Due to the very small number of speakers of Karaim and the high level of multilingualism in [[Lithuania]] in general, there is also a high level of [[multilingualism]] among Karaim speakers. Karaim speakers also communicate with the dominant languages of their respective regions, including [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], and [[Russian language|Russian]]. Some also have religious knowledge of [[Hebrew]].{{sfn|Csató|2001}} Multilingualism is a necessity for Karaim speakers, because without other languages the majority would not even be able to communicate with members of their own family.{{sfn|Csató|2001}}

===Language health===
Most<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dryga |first=İryna M. |title=Endangered languages of the Caucasus and beyond |publisher=Brill |editor-first1=Ramazan |editor-last1=Korkmaz |editor-first2=Gürkan |editor-last2=Doğan |year=2016 |isbn=978-90-04-32869-3 |location=Leiden |pages=51–59 |chapter=International Research Collaboration on Documentation and Revitalization of Endangered Turkic Languages in Ukraine: Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Karaim, Qrymchak and Urum Experience |doi=10.1163/9789004328693_005 |oclc=962065278}}</ref> dialects of Karaim are now extinct. Maintenance of the Karaim language in [[Lithuania]] is now endangered due to the dispersal of Karaim speakers under the [[Soviet regime]] in the [[aftermath of World War II]] and the very small number and old age of fluent speakers remaining.{{sfn|Csató|2001}} Children and grandchildren of Karaim speakers speak [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], or [[Russian language|Russian]], and only the oldest generation still speaks Karaim.