Krimchak a Jewish dialect of the Crimean Tatar language attested since the 13th century is in
danger of disappearing. The Krimchak Dictionary is the first attempt to present the lexicon of
this dialect with translations into both English and Russian. It contains a total of about 5
000 Krimchak words and loan words as well as set expressions appearing in both religious and
secular sources. The derivations contained in this dictionary are based on Etimologicheskij
slovar tjurkskix jazykov by E. Sevortjan on the Dictionnaire Armeno-Kyptchak by E. Tryjarski
as well as on the Codex Cumanicus by K. Grønbech. The work presents the pre-modern stage of
Krimchak in comparison with various modern Turkic languages and dialects including Turkish
Nogay Karaim Tatar and Mishar etc. It is based on the wide scope of Krimchak writings
including sections of the Hebrew Bible the history of 20th-century Krimea teaching texts for
children prose and poetry and it also synthesizes vocabulary from Krimchak sources written in
Hebrew Russian and Latin letters. For loan words the foreign source languages are given and
all words and illustrative examples from the written Krimchak sources are provided with a
transcription based on the Latin alphabet. The dictionary has both a scientific and a practical
purpose. It is meant for specialists in Turkic philology and for specialists in Jewish dialects
and Biblical studies and for specialists of Russian and Ukrainian history. At the same time
it can also be used as a reference book by Krimchak readers seeking to enlarge their active
vocabulary.
