Why Turkic languages are awesome

Writing systems

There are quite a few writing systems which have historically been used to write Turkic languages:

• Orkhon/Yenisei runic — This is neat in several ways. Not only is it runic in form, but it's based at least partly on Sogdian (as is Old Uyghur script—see below) and has alternative consonant forms for front vowels vs. back vowels.
• Old Uyghur script — This is what became the Mongolian script eventually, and was even pretty cool on its own.
• Various cyrillic scripts. Especially full of character (no pun intended) is the cyrillic Kazakh alphabet.
• Perso-Arabic alphabet, as used for Uyghur.
• Various versions of the latin alphabet. The Tatars are on the right track with this.

Theoretical Linguistics

Phonology

Yeah, Turkic languages have awesome phonology. There should be tomes about it. More to come.

Morphology and Syntax

Just when you thought the syntax and morphology looked all bland and regular, ... More to come. For now see Kazakh Syntax Topics

Historical Issues

• The interaction between branches of Turkic throughout their history presents problems classifying many languages.
• There are a lot of early "borrowings" from various Indo-Europeans. Perhaps even an adstrate.

Music

Music styles released by Turkic-speaking groups has a wide wide range.

• Traditional
  • Throat singing
  • Music with many traditional instruments (among my favourites are the Tuvan doshpuluur and the Kazakh dombra)
  • Persian influence
  • Chinese influence
  • And what's an almost Siberian core
• Modern styles
  • Folk-Rock
  • Techno Pop
  • Gangsta Rap
  • Metal
• Combinations of all of this

Geography

• Mountains.
• Kyrgyzstan.

History and Culture

• Turkic peoples have varyingly existed in any number of cultures: nomadic steppe culture, Arab/Persian-world culture, Soviet culture, ... Religion has also varied greatly, but Tengriism is pretty cool.

• Horses. For Central Asian nomadic groups, horses are transportation, labour, friend, food, etc.

• Food
  • Samsa (with pumpkin!:-9)
  • Manty (with pumpkin!:-9)
  • Palow
  • Qazı (see stuff about horses above)
  • Lağman, other noodle dishes