Friday, January 11, 2019

Azerbaijani Turkish as a potential common language for Turkistan (Edmund O'Donovan, [1882] 1887)


Azerbaijani Turkish as a potential common language for Turkistan




Of course, I remembered O’Donovan’s dash into Merv. His book was not ready, I think, when I left England, nor did I ever meet Mr. O’Donovan; but I wrote to ask him for useful hints. He afterwards perished with the army of Hicks Pasha in the Soudan; but his reply is before me, and I take pleasure in recording the kindness with which he sent me a letter of three sheets answering my questions.
Some parts of his letter are of sufficient general interest to warrant my printing them. He wrote from “Dinard, Ile et Vilaine, France, 17th June, 1882,” and said: ―
“When I was at Merv, I bought from a Jewish merchant of the place, named Matthi, a copy of the New Testament printed by one of the Bible Societies in the language of the nomadic Turkomans ― Jagatai Tatar. I believe you can get any number of them in London, for it was there that the copy I saw was printed. For general distribution in Central Asia, the Scriptures printed in the Turkish of Azerbaijan (West Caspian provinces), and which resembles as nearly as possible the language of Bokhara, would be requisite.”


Henry Lansdell, Through Central Asia. With a Map and Appendix on the Diplomacy and Delimitation of the Russo-Afghan Frontier. — London: Sampson & Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1887. Pp. 588―589.

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