jlechtanski
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Tatar Language?
Does anyone know what the second language is on these 1928 postmarks from Simferopol
(СИМФЕРОПОЛЬ) and Yalta (ЯЛТА) in the Crimea? This is from
the period of the Crimean ASSR. I am thinking that this is Tatar written in the Arabic alphabet just before the switch to the Latin alphabet in 1929.
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jlechtanski
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Postmarks Enlarged
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Jeff Klein
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The lower part of the CDS is indeed written in Tatar, using a modified Arabic script. From 1928-1937 a Latin script, with the addition of several
special characters, was used for the written language. After 1938 a modified Cyrillic alphabet was introduced for Tatar, as also the other non-Slavic
languages of the USSR.
The writing of "Simferopol" employs a modified Arabic "B", since the /P/ sound does not exist in Arabic (the same modified letter is used in writing
Ottoman Turkish and Persian); also the vowels are consistently specified in Tatar by separate letters (unlike Arabic) - in this case a modified
Arabic /W/ for the "O's" in Simferopol.
A good source for the history and identification of various writing systems in the old USSR (and worldwide) is a useful Soviet publication:
R.S. Gilyarevsky and V.S. Grivnin, LANGUAGES IDENTIFICATION GUIDE, Moscow: Nauka, 1970
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Jeff Klein
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Sorry, I should have said Cyrillic was used for most of the non-European languages of the USSR after 1938. Non-Slavic Georgian and Armenian continued
to use their traditional writing systems. I am not sure if there were other exceptions to "Cyrillicization."
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jlechtanski
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Fascinating reply. Thanks.
I wonder if there exist postmarks in Tatar using the Latin Alphabet and the Cyrillic Alphabet. You say they used a "modified Cyrillic alphabet," so a
town name in Tatar might be identified by one of those modifications.
Something worth looking for.
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Jeff Klein
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Yes, there are additional letters to express Tatar sounds not present in Russian/Cyrillic, including several "Turkic" vowels and the consonants /J/
and /H/ (remember Cyrillic renders /H/ in foreign names with an awkward "G", as in the Nazi Fuher "Adolf Gitler").
Whether you will find the special characters in Soviet/Russian atlases and the like, I am doubtful, but it is worth a look. I can't see any in my
Little Atals of the USSR. Unfortunately there is no way for me to reproduce any of the special letters here.
Come to think of it, postal uses illustrating the changing orthographies of non-Slavic Caucasian and Asiatic languages in the old USSR would be an
interesting collecting area. Hmmm. . .
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jlechtanski
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The Tatar alphabets can be seen at www.omniglot.com/writing/tatar.htm
There is the Arabic version, Cyrillic version, and two Latin versions.
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