Cuman (also
Kuman, ISO 639-3: <tt>qwm</tt>) was a
Kipchak Turkic language spoken by the
Kipchaks, also known in the Greek annals as
Cumans, in the west as
Kumans, undiscriminative
Polovetses in the Slavic and Rus annals, and Kuns in the Hungarian annals, the language was similar to the today's
Crimean Tatar language. The
Kipchak language is documented in medieval works, including the
Codex Cumanicus, and it was a literary language in the Central and Eastern Europe that left a rich literary inheritance.
The Cuman Kipchaks were nomadic people that lived in the steppes of
Eastern Europe, north of
Black Sea before the
Golden Horde. Many Cumans were incorporated into other Turkic peoples including the
Crimean Tatars,
Karachays, and
Kumyks.
They later had an important role in the history of
Hungary,
Rumania (see, for example, the
Besarab dynasty),
Moldavia and
Bessarabia.
The Cuman language became extinct in early 17th century in the region of
Cumania in
Hungary, which was its last stronghold. Today,
Gagauz people of modern
Moldavia speak a close variation of Cuman Turkish. Turks of
Turkey can also read and understand old Cuman texts. From Codex Cumanicus book,
Cuman Turkish
Atamız kim köktesiñ. Alğışlı bolsun seniñ atıñ, kelsin seniñ xanlığıñ, bolsun seniñ tilemekiñ – neçikkim kökte, alay yerde. Kündeki ötmegimizni bizge bugün bergil. Dağı yazuqlarımıznı bizge boşatqıl –...
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