Tat, an Endangered Language of Azerbaijan, and Its Speakers: A Historical and Sociolinguistic Overview

Authors : Murad SULEYMANOV

Pages : 185-196

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Publication Date : 2023-02-14

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This article offers a brief insight into the history of Tat, an Iranian language spoken mainly in Azerbaijan, and the sociolinguistic profile of its speakers, with emphasis on phenomena such as language identity and language shift. Despite the absence of reliable figures regarding the number of Tat speakers, field inquiries show that fluency in Tat decreases with each generation, a worrying trend considering that many Tat varieties still await their description and documentation.
Keywords : Tat, Cuhuri, Dağ Yahudileri, Azerbaycan, toplum dil bilim, dil kayması, azınlık dilleri