The role of poetry of Nogailinsky period in cultural and linguistics connection between the Kazakh, Karakalpak and Nogai people

Over the last years, the issues of international contacts and intercultural communications have become very popular.

Intercultural communication is a “process of direct cultural interaction, and the whole process of such interaction is performed under incongruous (partially, substantially and sometimes entirely incongruous) national stereotypes of mind and behavior, and this has a big influence on mutual understanding of the parts during communication process [1, p. 97].

The first who conceived the changed world situation were linguists, for whom inseparable connection always was evident and doubtless. On the one hand, language is a system which allows collecting, keeping and sharing information gathered by collective consciousness during the decades. But on the other hand, the similar function of keeping and sharing collective knowledge is performed by culture that according to Y.M. Lotman is defined as a complex of non-heritably received information, and methods of organizing and keeping it. Therefore language and culture interact constantly: “Culture and language coexist in a dialogue with each other” [2].

In modern times due to intercultural communications intensification, one of the main cultural problems is the problem of possible lose of national originality of people in the future. The first and the best guarantee of preventing this problem is the perception of national languages self-worth as reflection of inimitable habit of thought.

The ХІV-ХVІ centuries’ the Kazakh, Nogai and Karakalpak poetries were established in the Nogai Orda and in subsequent periods they strictly kept the main national traditions of those times.

Research of onomastic names occurred in Nogaily-Kipchak songs, investigation and development of semantics of non-etymologized words makes an opportunity to illuminate lexis of the given languages.

The Nogai Orda separated from the Golden Orda in the end of ХІV century. Many of its tribes moved from the river Ural to the Dnepr, and the Nizhnee Povolzhie, Northern Caucasus and Krym as well. In the XVI century it was divided on the Big and Small Ordas, which were desintegrated further afterwards. The Big Nogai Orda migrated to the Nizhnee Povolzhie, the Small Orda – to the Kuban’s right coast, the Azov coast and the south of Ukraine, between the Dnepr and the Don rivers. The Nogai people heroically protected their motherland from foreign enemies, fighting during centuries. However, domestic disagreements and civil did not give them the opportunity to unite.

In the XVI century after the Kazan, Astrahan and Front Caucasus khanates had joined Russia there was a problem about the Nogai Orda’s future. Weaken by feuds and fight for the power, it had to join Russia, and part of them joined the Kazakhs.

In the beginning of the XVII century the Nogai people separated into three groups: two of them lived in the Kuban and the Priazovie, Tereke and Volga coast. The third part settled in the east of Ural and lost their identity after joining Kazakh, Tatar and Bashkir nations.

The Nogai people have their unique and original culture. But the constant untoward political situation and life conditions in the past interfered into the whole development of the culture. The Nogais have very rich eposes, which are not investigated completely nowadays [3, 365].

Numerous legends, fairy-tales, poems, eposes, traditions and customs of Kazakhs and Nogais are similar. Saved as heritage ancient tribes’ legends and fairy are very valuable for both nations. They are such fairy-tales and legends as “Ertostik”, “Zhirenshe Sheshen”, “Aldar Kose”, and there are such epic poems as “Alpamys”, “Koblandy”, “Kambar”, “Er Targyn”, “Er Kosai”, “Er Syin”, “Edige”, “Er Zhabai”, “Er Shora”, “Orak Mamai”, “Krym’s 40 Batyrs” and others. Epos is the most significant creation of the Nogais’ intellectual culture. It reflects the historical way of people, their spirit and wisdom.

The first samples of that era’s national folklore taken from the Astrakhan Nogais were written by the Nogai poet Ali-bek Sharapov in 1890. A.I.-M. Sinkaliev (Sheihaliev), “The Nogai Heroic Epos” book’s author, writes that the heroic epos “Edige” was translated to Persian by A.Sharapov and A.Hodzko, and then it was published in English in London in 1942. This epos attracted attention of pre-revolutionary explorers. Another variant of this epos was recorded from the Nogais by Ch. Valihanov, Kazakh enlightener, in the 50s of the XIX century. In 1883 Magomed Osmanov, the Kumyk poet, recorded the Nogai akyns poems that are dear for Kazakh people as well: “Asankaigy”, Syrym, Shalgiz, Dospambet, Zhiembet, Kaztugan songs, etc.

The Nogai language was formed in the area of Kipchak tribes who were the part of the Kipchaks-Polovec tribes units living in the Golden Orda and later, in the Big Nogai Orda. The modern Nogai language belongs to the Kipchak group of Turkic languages, forming the Kipchak-Nogai subgroup. According to its vocabulary, phonetics and grammar the Nogai language is the closest language to Kazakh and Karakalpak. These three languages are characterized by their importance on all stages of language structure. Before separating the Nogai, Kazakh and Karakalpak languages, people – native speakers – belonged to one community – the Nogai Orda. These three languages are characterized by the conformity of the sounds ch-sh, sh-s, y-zh. For example, shyk (go out), tas (stone), zhok (no), instead of chyk, tash and yok in other Turkic languages.

The languages of the Kipchak-Nogai branch were the latest formed from the Kipchak group of languages. The period of appearance, distribution and formation corresponds to the Golden Orda era. To this branch that was formed in the XIV-XVI centuries refer the Kazakh, Nogai, Karakalpak languages and Uzbek language’s Kipchak dialect. The named languages have the following peculiarities:

- sound ch is absent, instead of it sound sh is used;

- sound sh is changed to s sound;

- sounds n / d / t interchange.

Thus, according to A.N. Baskakov classification, languages of zhyrs (poems) and eposes which were written during the Nogaily period belong to the Nogai-Kipchak branch of the West-Hun branch of the Turkic languages.

The Nogaily era’s language is considered to be the origin of modern Kazakh, Tatar, Karakalpak, Kumyk, Bashkurt, Kyrgyz languages. And it is a continuation of the Old Turkic and Middle Turkic languages. Nowadays number of speakers of this language is about 54 thousand people [4, 335].

Those times zhyrs’ languages that are discussed in the given topic are rich with ancient lexical phrases and phraseological units. There are found similarities between zhyrs and sagas of the poets of the XIV-XVI centuries. Therefore we can make a conclusion that languages of zhyrs and sagas correspond to the requirements of folk literature language of that time.

Similarities of two brotherly ethnos like Nogais and Kazakhs can be found not only in their way of life, housekeeping, traditions and customs, culture, but in languages as well.

In Professor N.H Suyunova’s opinion, Old Turkic literature’s translation on modern Turkic languages would enrich spiritual culture of Turkic people, positively and directly influencing literature processes. But today we research not direct but historical-genetic influence through continuous oral tradition of historical and linguistic memory of Turkic nations. Thereby, for instance, the Old Turkic literature’s images and grounds were saved in the XX century’s Nogai literature works.

Every nation is experiencing social, public and cultural changes. Such historical changes leave an imprint on these nations’ languages. The Nogaily period language is a model of oral literature language and cultural linguistic connection between the Kazakh, Nogai, Karakalpak and other Turkic languages as well.

REFERENCES

1. Sternin I.A. Communicative behavior in national culture’s structure / Ethno cultural characteristics of language consciousness. Articles edited by Ufimtceva N.V. – M., 1996 – p. 97-112.

2. Teliya V.N. Russian phraseology. Semantic, pragmatic and cultural linguistic aspects. – M., 1996. – p. 288.

3. Nogai people // Turkic nations: encyclopedia. / Chief Editor B.G. Ayagan. – Almaty: JSC “Kazakh Encyclopedia”, 2004. – p. 384

4. Nogai language // Language study: Chief Editor V.N. Yartceva – Moscow, 1998 – p. 685.

5. Sikaliev (Sheihaliev) A.I.- M. Nogai heroic epos. – Cherkessk: KChIGI, 1994 – p. 328.