Originally presented as the author's Thesis (Ph. D.)--Erciyes Üniversitesi, Kayseri, Turkey, 2003, under the title: Mersin yöresi Tahtaçılarının dinî inanç ve uygulamaları hakkında araştırma. / Includes bibliographical references and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2010 Dec 1

Mit dieser Studie wird der erstmalige Versuch unternommen, die turkmenischen Dialekte Afghanistans durch die Erhebung von umfangreichem Primärmaterial zu dokumentieren und ihre phonologischen, morphologischen und lexikalischen Merkmale kontrastiv zu beschreiben. Durch die Erfassung und Beschreibung soziolinguistischer Gegebenheiten wird darüber hinaus die Einbettung dieser Idiome in die sprachliche Landschaft Afghanistans zu erklären versucht. Die turkmenischen Dialekte Afghanistans zerfallen in zwei Großgruppen, die xāliṣ- und nāxāliṣ-Dialekte. Die Binnendifferenzierung koinzidiert, wie die Studie erbracht hat, weitestgehend, wenn auch nicht ausnahmslos, mit ethnischer Differenzierung (und nicht etwa mit geographischer Distribution). Das wichtigste Differenzierungsmerkmal der turkmenischen Dialekte ist die Phonologie; entsprechend viel Aufmerksamkeit widmet die Studie den phonologischen Merkmalen. Morphologisch sind die Dialekte dagegen weitgehend einheitlich, nur die nāxāliṣ-Dialekte zeigen gewisse signifikante Abweichungen; die Verbalmorphologie, auf deren Bearbeitung aus Kapazitätsgründen verzichtet werden musste, verspricht diesbezüglich allerdings weitere interessante Erkenntnisse. Bezüglich der Lexik wurden beispielhafte semantische Felder (z.B. Verwandtschaftsterminologie) bearbeitet, die nur wenige, aber aussagekräftige und teilweise unerwartete Abweichungen aufweisen. Die turkmenischen Dialekte Afghanistans zeigen soziolinguistisch betrachtet auffällige Verschiedenheiten entlang Gender-, Alters-, Standes- und geographischen Trennlinien. Die Studie erläutert außerdem die Position des Turkmenischen gegenüber dem generell dominanten Dari, dem in der Verbreitungsregion omnipräsenten Usbekischen, dem lokal bedeutenden Pašto und dem Türkeitürkischen, das durch seine mediale Präsenz und infolge von Migration angesichts der großen linguistischen Nähe zunehmend an Bedeutung gewinnt. Indem die Arbeit für alle thematisierten Phänomene umfangreiches Belegmaterial aus der Feldforschung vorlegt, ermöglicht sie nicht nur die Überprüfung der eigenen Befunde, sondern eröffnet vor allem auch für die derzeit kaum zugängliche Region Nordafghanistan weitere Arbeitsfelder für sprachwissenschaftliche Studien. / The Turkmen dialects of Afghanistan have for the first time been made the object of a special comprehensive study which, on the basis of rich primary materials collected from the field, is investigating their phonological, morphological and lexical features. The study is supplemented with sociolinguistic observations which help positioning the Turkmen dialects within the linguistic universe of Afghanistan today. The Turkmen dialects of Afghanistan basically fall into two major groups which in this study, following the emic denominations, are being called xāliṣ und nāxāliṣ dialects. As the study demonstrates, the dialects are almost without exceptions deliminated not along geographical or regional lines but along the major ethnic delimitations. Phonology is the prime marker of dialect delimitation. Consequently, this study pays particular attention to phonological markers. On the other hand there is only little variation in morphology; only the nāxāliṣ dialects do not completely share these paradigms. Verbal morphology, which appears to depict more variation, has for reasons of feasibility not been included in this study. In the lexicology chapter several exemplary subfields of the Turkmen dialect lexicon (such as kinship terminology) are investigated in depth; this part of the study yields interesting, partly unexpected results. The sociolinguistic chapters, which for capacity reasons are again dealing with selected aspects only, focus on the role of gender, age, social status and regional attribution of the speakers as markers of distinction. The position of the Turkmen dialects within the wide and complex spectrum of high and low prestige idioms present in North Afghanistan is measured against the supreme language of interethnic communication, education and the media (Dari) as well as the omnipresent language of regional communication (Uzbek), and neighboring Pashto; due to migration, educational and business contacts and the media, and favored by its linguistic closeness to Turkmen, the Turkish language of Turkey has recently become an important contact language as well. All phenomena investigated in this study are derived from a wealth of field materials. By presenting many of these while illustrating the features discussed in the chapters, this study provides fresh material from an almost inaccessible area for linguistic investigations beyond the scope of this book.

Although much previous literature has concentrated on the experiences of male migrants, recent research has begun to shed some light on the role of women in migration processes as well. This research paper explores the integration experiences of three immigrant Turkmen women in California. In addition, the role of networks in the facilitation of the integration process is considered. Within this ethnographic study, the following methods are used to obtain information: semi-structured interviews and participant observations. The concepts of human agency and structure are employed when analyzing the content. The findings illustrated that successful integration is dependent upon the following indicators: education, language proficiency, naturalization, labor market assimilation, and participation in the social sphere. Also, networks of these immigrant women act as facilitators of integration into host society. This particular topic was chosen due to a lack of research in the field of migration in the United States concerning the integration of immigrants, male or female, from Turkmenistan. This research could serve as a departure for a larger future project in the field of migration research.