On the word bolmačï in Turkic Languages

Abstract

This article analyzes the word bolmačï, which is rarely attested in Early Middle Turkic texts and has been overlooked by scholars until now.
This word has multiple meanings, which are sometimes contradictory, including 'impossible, futile, vain, unnecessary, insignificant' and 'to be,
to exist'. The study aims to trace the word's semantic range in historical and modern Turkic languages, identify its dominant meaning and
analyze its morphemic structure.
The analysis is organized into three parts. The first part compiles all occurrences of bolmačï from historical texts of the Karakhanid, Khwarezmian, and Kipchak periods, analyzing the meanings of the lexeme, which are predominantly context-dependent. Furthermore, the interpretations of these meanings proposed by various scholars
are reviewed, and the author offers alternative interpretations in cases where the existing explanations do not correspond to the sentence
context.
The second part investigates the meanings of bolmačï in modern Turkic languages. To determine the dominant meaning and lexicalsemantic variants of the word, explanatory dictionaries of various Turkic languages are consulted. The study finds that the lexeme remains widely used in various forms in Kazakh (bolmačï), Karachay-Balkar (bolmačï), and Urum (bolmačï). In modern Turkic languages, the lexical
meaning of the word varies: 'small', 'few', 'insignificant', 'meaningless', 'empty', 'futile', 'worthless', 'insufficient', 'unnecessary', 'negative', and 'false', among others. The lexical-semantic variants also shift depending
on the context.
The third part of the study analyzes the morphemic structure of
bolmačï, consisting of the root stem bol- (‘to be’) + -ma (a formative
negation affix) + -čï (a derivational affix). Particular attention is
paid to the semantic transformation of the suffix -čï, whose origin
and grammatical function remain the subject of scholarly debate.
Summarizing various academic viewpoints, the author argues that -čï was forms. Throughout the historical development of the Turkic languages, this affix underwent lexicalisation, acquiring a derivational function in the process.
In the conclusion, the author notes observes that bolmačï currently functions as an independent adjective and should be included in Turkic dictionaries as a nominative lexical entry.