Тhe Gagauz Language – A Small but Important Language in the Turkic World

Abstract

The Gagauz people are one of the Turkic peoples with a complex historical fate and rich ethnic and cultural heritage. The Gagauz language belongs to the Oguz group of Turkic languages and has been influenced by various linguistic and social factors in the course of its historical development. The main Gagauz population lives in the south of the Republic of Moldova, in the Comrat Autonomous Region. They call their homeland Gagauz Yeri. In addition, the Gagauz people are also settled in the territories of Ukraine, Bulgaria, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Russia. The Gagauz people are distinguished by the fact that, being a people of Turkic origin, they profess Christianity.

This article examines the language, culture and literature of the Gagauz people. The Gagauz language, despite the influence of Moldovan and Romanian, managed to preserve the agglutinative system characteristic of the Turkic languages. Features of Gagau culture, religion, customs and traditions of «Sarmısak günü», etc. shown by examples. Based on the opinions of researchers in the works of N.Z. Gadzhiev, V.A. Moshkov, E.S. Soroceanu, and others, an analysis is made of Turkic-language words that have been preserved and are still used in the Gagauz language.