Radloff's Transcription

The book offers a modern analysis of the transcription systems employed by Wilhelm Radloff in his seminal 19th-century works on Turkic languages: Proben der Volksliteratur der türkischen Stämme Süd-Sibiriens (1866–1907), Phonetik der nördlichen Türksprachen (1883), and Versuch eines Wörterbuches der Türk-Dialecte (1893–1911). Data are arranged in dictionary form, with detailed commentary demonstrating correspondences between characters and analysing Radloff’s pronunciation clues, including articulatory descriptions and cross-linguistic comparisons. Each character receives an interpretation in contemporary IPA transcription based on careful consideration of Radloff’s views on phonetics in the broader context of the development of linguistic theory.