Travel Around the World Through Music

What are the Turkic languages?

The Turkic languages are members of a language family that consists of 35 recorded languages and develop a family of languages within the Altai language group. The Turkic languages are spoken by the Turkic people of Eurasia from Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Western Asia, North Asia and East Asia. The Turkic languages share similar features to each other in phonology, morphology, and syntax though languages like Chuvash, Khalaj and Sakha are considered different from the remainder of the languages. The most primitive linguistic records are Old Turkic inscriptions found near the Orhon River in Mongolia and the Yenisey River in south-central Russia, which date from the 8th century CE.

The Turkic languages that are spoken in Europe and Asia are Turkish, Yakut, Tatar, Chuvash, Turkmen, Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Bashkir, Uyghur, Crimean Tatar, Kakhas, Kumyk, Tuvan, Altai, Karakalpak, Azerbaijani and Nogai.

Here is a video of two people speaking in Turkish and Sakha (two examples of Turkic languages spoken in the Eurasian continent). Hopefully, you can spot some of the differences and similarities after watching this educational and interactive foregin language YouTube vlog by Bahador Alast.

Why am I interested in listening to music in Turkic languages?

After listening to quite a few songs in Turkish and Yakut as a teenager, I became so immersed in how the languages sound. I was also fascinated by the certain instruments that were utilized to create music.

When I started learning Russian, I came across "Cheburashka's Birthday Song" in Yakut, I became intrigued in how the different Turkic languages sounded and that it was no different from listening to music in Turkish. After listening to a small collection of Yakut and Turkish hits on YouTube, I took a break from listening to music in Turkic languages. When I left high school and entered college, I got back into listening to music in Turkic languages other than Turkish and Yakut- the other languages like Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tatar and Bashkir were also discovered. I also listen to music in multiple Turkic languages to improve my reading, writing, vocabulary and oral communication skills in Turkish, Tatar and Yakut, as well as to enjoy travelling to countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tatarstan, Yakutia, Bashkortostan and Kyrgyzstan from the comforts of my own home.

As I continue to explore more songs in the various Turkic languages during COVID19, I've picked out three of my "new favourite songs" that I want to share with you. Hopefully, you will enjoy listening to some of these distincitive songs that I added to my playlist of the "most loved Turkic language songs".

1. Alexander Samsonov (aka Aiyy Uola)- Belehtee (Yakut)

Aiyy Uola (aka Alexander Innokentevich Samsonov) was a Yakutian author and pop singer who performed over 30 songs and released 2 albums. He was born on January 7 1978 in Ulakhan-An, Yakutia, Russia. During the 90's, he became a popular pop artist who sang and performed a bunch of songs, with Belehtee (To Disturb) being one of his most notable Yakut pop hits. Unfortunately, he succumbed to an illness on October 12 1998 when he was only 20 years of age.

I first gave this song a listen on February 22 2021, while I was waiting to get my second dose of the Moderna vaccine in my building. I loved this song so much that I became hooked on it for three days straight. Once I became immersed in the beat and the lyrics, I continously danced to this hit in my living room. I easily discovered this song on YouTube, as I was continuing to search for "non-folk" Yakut hits that were from the 90's and 2000's.

2. Leyna Ka- Nokta Kuelgan (Tatar)

As I've mentioned in previous music-related Vocal stories, Leyna Ka is a current Tatar pop artist, model and social media star who releases albums and songs in both Tatar and Russian. Since 2019, she's gained momentum in a wide selection of her hits and social media posts on sites like Instagram and TikTok. In addition to working solo, she's collaborated with a few other music artists in a few of her music videos and recorded tunes. Although her songs attract individuals of all ages, the majority of her songs are favoured by children and youth than adults.

During the start of 2021, she's released some catchy Tatar songs, with Nokta Kuelgan being one of the most recent Tatar songs that I downloaded and regularly listen to on my iPhone. Many of the Tatar songs that I've explored were rather traditional than modern, so it's quite a blessing for a young Tatar woman to make modern Tatar songs for the younger generations to take advantage of. I've danced to this song a couple times in my living room, nevertheless I mainly listen to this song during my walks outside or when I'm completing housetasks. This song can be downloaded and listened to on Apple Music, as well as YouTube.

3. Roza Rymbaeva- Zhezdeke (Kazakh)

Roza Rymbaeva is a successful, gifted and passionate Soviet and Kazakh singer and was considered "the people's artist of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic" in 1986. She was born on October 28 1957 in the East Kazakhstan Province to a family of railway workers. She has been active in the performing arts industry since 1975. She began her music career as a soloist in the republican youth-pop band Gulder (Flowers) and continued in a pop band Arai, which was managed by her husband.

The Kazakh synth-disco song Zhezdeke was recorded and released on Melodiya, USSR in 1988. Zhezdeke means "brother-in-law" in the Kazakh language. Last summer, I woke up one morning and craved some amazing Soviet hits to add to my lengthy playlist of songs from the USSR. I was in the mood for some vintage Turkic language music, so I randomly came across the song Zhezdeke on YouTube and listened to it as I was doing my morning chores. I really enjoy how catchy this song is and how it makes me wants to get up and move around. I personally feel this is an uplifting song that can switch your mood in seconds!