Karaim language

Karaim
къарай тили
karaj tili
Karaim written in Cyrillic and Latin (Crimean dialect), Latin (Trakai dialect), along with Hebrew and Latin (Traditional)
Native toCrimea, Lithuania, Poland
EthnicityCrimean Karaites (2014)
Native speakers
80 (2014)
Turkic
Cyrillic script, Latin script, Hebrew alphabet
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3kdr
Glottologkara1464
ELPKaraim

The Karaim language (Crimean dialect: къарай тили, qaray tili; Trakai dialect: karaj tili), also known by its Hebrew name Lashon Kedar (Hebrew: לשון קדר, “language of the nomads"), is a Turkic language belonging to the Kipchak group, with Hebrew influences, similarly to Yiddish or Judaeo-Spanish. It is presently spoken by only a few dozen Crimean Karaites (Qrimqaraylar) in Lithuania, Poland, Crimea, and Galicia in Ukraine. The three main dialects are those of Crimea, Trakai-Vilnius and Lutsk-Halych, all of which are critically endangered. The Lithuanian dialect of Karaim is spoken mainly in the town of Trakai by a small community living there since the 14th century.

There is a chance the language will survive in Trakai as a result of official support and because of its appeal to tourists coming to the Trakai Island Castle, where Crimean Karaites are presented as the castle's ancient defenders.