Ethnolinguistic interpretation of lexemes in Mahmud Kashgari’s “Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk”

Abstract

ahmud Kashgari is one of the most famous figures in Turkic history. He is the author of the unique medieval work Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, which is an encyclopaedia of Turkic life, culture and language. The dictionary contains a map and extensive linguistic and cultural information. For the first time, Mahmud Kashgari's dictionary includes a list of Turkic ethnonyms, a comparative classification of Turkic dialects (Kipchak, Oghuz), a description of their grammar, and definitions of words. The monument's illustrated material (proverbs, sayings and texts) provides an insight into the life of the Turks and their material and spiritual culture. The author's insights into the origins, meanings and forms of words occupy a special place in the dictionary. Such authorial comments include the following: “initial form, sound displacement and omission, word contraction or reduction, consonant devoicing and voicing, vowel length, borrowings from Arabic or Persian, and Turkic words in other languages”. In these commentaries, Mahmud Kashgari effectively identifies the phonetic laws of the Turkic languages, their grammatical features, and the etymological origins of lexical items. This represents a major scholarly achievement for the medieval period and clearly demonstrates the research talent of the author of the Dictionary. This article analyses the author's comments and the etymologies of lexemes and Turkic ethnonyms such as Khalach, Chigil, Uyghur and Turkmen. It also studies lexemes in terms of phonetics, grammar and meaning. The author of the article categorises words into four groups: words derived from the Turkic lexicon itself; affixal morphemes (formative and word-forming); borrowed words (loanwords of Arabic, Persian, and Turkic origin); and words of unknown origin. Then, the following phonetic patterns are identified in these groups: metathesis (transposition) of sounds in the root of the word eḏgiş/egḏiş (ethnonym); syncopation – the omission of a sound or sounds in the middle of the word nerek/ nē kerek; the law of regressive assimilation igit from egiḏti, as well as the contraction of consonants, their devoicing and voicing. Attention is also paid to the meanings of formative affixes such as -n, mız, -sA – ru: eren, taparu, alıgsa. The etymological analysis also reveals the word-formation potential of Turkic words formed by the word-forming affixes -daş, -lık/-luk, -nç (kadaş, üçünç ekinç) and word composition (topık < top, kasuk < kas, öçüt < öç, terkin < terk, közetti < köz attı; kutaldı < kut aldı; tonattı < ton ıdt). However, word formation and morphology units are not separated, but are demonstrated together. The author of the article believes that in the interpretation of Turkic ethnonyms, folk etymology became the basis for their origin.