THE TURKIC LOAN WORDS IN MIDDLE MONGOLIAN

Author(s): NICHOLAS POPPE

Source: Central Asiatic Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1955), pp. 36-42
Published by: Harrassowitz Verlag
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 THE TURKIC LOAN WORDS IN
MIDDLE MONGOLIAN

by
NICHOLAS POPPE
, Wash.
Seattle

The Mongols receivedtheirscriptfromthe Uighursat thebeginningof

theXlllth centuryor a littleearlier. The earliestTurkicinfluenceupon
the Mongolian languagesprobablydates fromthe timeof the Orkhon
Turks,i. e. fromtheVlllth centuryA.D., butwe have no factscorrobor-
atingthishypothesis.
The oldestMongoliantranslations of Buddhistbooks weremade from
Uighur. These translationscontained numerousTurkic(Uighur)words,
e. g. sümbürtay "the Mountain Sumeru" {tay "mountain"),čaw {čau
or cab) "fame",ayay-qa tegimlig"šramana" {ayay-qais a dativeof the
Uighur word ayaq "honour"), quvaray "monk, clergy",etc. Many
propernames and titlesof historicalpersonswere of Turkicoriginas
farback as theXllth century, e. g. buyuruy, , etc.
kiiliig
So farverylittlehas been done to investigatethe Turkicloan words
in Mongolian. Thereis an old articleby Vladimirtsov,1 but at the time
of its publicationso littlewas knownabout the relationof Mongolian
to the Turkiclanguagesthat Vladimirtsovhad almost no criterionfor
decidingwhetherall the words he discussedwere borrowingsor were
words of commonTurco-Mongolianorigin.2The inevitableresultwas
that his articlecontainsmanywords whichare not borrowingsat all.
Therefore, thewholeproblemmustbe examinedanew.
This articleis devotedto theTurkicloan wordsin Middle Mongolian
as known on the basis of the Secret History(1240),3 the documents
1 B. Ya. Vladimircov,'Tureckie
elementy vmongol'skoai yazykě,'ZapiskiVostočnago
, XX (1911),pp.153-184.
Otděleniya,
2 Atthattime theaffinity
oftheTurkic andMongolian languageswasstillhypothetic-
al; cf.JuliusNémeth, 'Die türkisch-mongolische
Hypothese,' ZDMG, LXVI,pp.
549-577.
3 ErichHaenisch,Wörterbuch zu Manghol unniucatobca'an(Yüan-ch'ao pi-shi
),
Geheime GeschichtederMongolen, Leipzig,1939(SH). Thenumbers refer
tothepages.
The transcriptionusedin thisarticleis thatof Pelliotand theReverend Antoine
Mostaert.

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 TURKICLOANWORDSIN MIDDLEMONGOLIAN 37

writtenin the hPcags-pascript(1269-1368),4 and the Hua-i-i-yil(1389).5

Some Turkic words common to these textsoccur also in the Moslem
sources on Middle Mongolian,i.e. in the Leyden manuscript(1245),6
thedictionaryMuqaddimatal-Adab(XlVth century),7 and theglossaryof
Ihn Muhannä.8 The lattersourcescontainmanymoreTurkicas well as
Arabic and Persian words,but it is questionablewhetherall of them
reallyoccurredin thecolloquiallanguage. The authorsofthesedictionar-
ies and glossariesincludedmanywords of this kind,because theirin-
formants werepolyglotand whenaskedto translatea wordinto Mongol-
ian theyoftentook an Arabic or Persianword whichoccurredto them
more or less at random. Therefore,the only words fromthe Moslem
sourcesthatare discussedin thisarticleare thosewhichcorroboratethe
data of theSecretHistoryand theotherdocumentsmentionedabove.
The Turkic borrowingsin Middle Mongolian are among the most
ancientTurkicloan wordsin Mongolian. Most of thesewordscan be
tracedin AncientTurkic (AT),9 Middle Turkic(MT),10 Kuman (K),11
and otherold languages. Some wordstakenfromTurkicare Persianor
Arabicin origin.Nevertheless theyaretreatedhereas Turkicborrowings,
because theypenetratedinto Mongolianthrougha Turkicmedium. In
thisconnectionmay I remarkthatVladimirtsovdevotedone articleto
theIndo-Europeanand anotherto theArabicloan wordsin Mongolian.12
However,most of these words were borrowedby the Mongols from
Turkicand not directlyfromTokharian,Sogdian,or Arabic. Therefore,
the Arabic and Persian words are not separatedfromoriginalTurkic
4 N. N. Poppe,Kvadratnaya pis'mennosť,Moskva-Leningrad, 1941(P). Thenumbers
refertothepagesoftheglossary.
5 ErichHaenisch, 'Sino-mongolischeDokumente vomEndedes 14.Jahrhunderts,'
Abhandlungen der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaftenzu Berlin , Klassefür
Sprachen, LiteraturundKunst, Jahrgang1950,Nr.4, Berlin, 1952(H). Thenumbers
refertothepagesoftheglossary. Thetranscription usedinthisarticle is thatofthe
Reverend A. Mostaert.
6 N. Poppe,'Das mongolische einerLeidener
Sprachmaterial Handschrift,' Bulletin
de l'Académie desSciencesde l'URSS, 1927,pp. 1009-1040, 1251-1274, 1928,pp.
55-80(L).
7 N. N. Poppe,Mongol' skiiSlovar'Mukaddimat al-Adab, Cast'I-II,Moskva-Lenin-
grad,1938(Mu.).
8 Spisokmongol' skixsloviz glossariyaIbn-Muxanny po izdaniyu Muallima Rif1ata
(Istambul, 1921),Appendix IV to thework quotedin thepreceding footnote (I).
9 S. E. Malov,Pamyatniki drevnetyurkskoipis'mennosti
, Teksty i issledovaniya
,
Moskva-Leningrad, 1951.
10 C. Brockelmann, Mitteltürkischer
WortschatznachMahmüd al-Kâsyarïs Divan
luyãtat-turk 1928.
, Budapest-Leipzig,
11 K. Gronbech, Komanisches Wörterbuch, Türkischer
WortindexzuCodexCumanicus,
Kopenhagen, 1942.

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38 POPPE
NICHOLAS

wordsin thisarticle. Such Arabicor Persianwordsoccuralso in modern

Mongolian languages, e.g. Mo. (Written Mongolian) gindan, Kh.
(Khalkha) ginday"jail" < Turk. (e. g. Özbek) zindan < Pers. zindãn
"jail"; Kalm. (Kalmuck) zembl"basket" < Tatar < Pers.zanbïl; Kalm.
as%vn"evening" < Tatar a%sam< Arabic aqšam id., etc. Thereis no
reason to separate such words fromTurkic,because theirimmediate
sourcewas a Turkiclanguage.

The Turkicloan wordsin Middle Mongolianare as follows:

al "red, dark-red"SH 4, cf. P 145,cf. Mo. al id., Bur. (Buriat) only
in al šara "reddishyellow",Kalm. al "light-red",al ulãn id. < Turk.:
MT al "red", K al "light-red".
alačuy "tent"SH 4 < Turk.: MT alaču id., K alačuq "hut" > Russian
lačuga "hut".
alan "the bottomof a cart" SH 4 < Turk.: Alt., Tel., Leb., Shor.13
alïn "bottom,the lower part of an object,the place underan object",
Yak. alïn "the lower part," MT alïn "the frontside", K alïn "front,
forehead".
alašas "a particularbreedof horses"SH 4 < Turk.: Kas., Krm.alaša
"gelding",Osm. alaša "horse".
arai "island" SH 8, as a place name H 59, cf. Mu. 104 "island", Mo.,
Kh., Ord. (Ordos), Bur. arai, Kalm. ari, Mong. (Monguor) arã id. <
Turk.: AT arai "forest,grove" ("an island in the steppe"), Kirg. arai
"island".
ariy"pure" in ariyusun"clean water"(a place name) SH 9, cf. Mong.
arag < Turk.: AT, MT arïy "clean". The Mongolian formsare Mo.
ariyun , MMo. ari*un, Bur.amy, Kh. arlüy , Ord. arün, Kalm. ärün"pure,
clean,immaculate,holy",Mong. arãrjid.
baq "garden" P 146,cf. Mu. 109 bay < Turk.: MT bay "vineyard",
K bay id. < Pers. bay "garden,vineyard".
bars "tiger" SH 13, P 146 bars id., L 1265 bars id., Mo. bars, Kh.
baras bars bar, Ord. bar, Kalm. bars id. < Turk.: AT, MT bars
"tiger".
bezirget"merchants"(a pluralfrombezirgen ) H 50 < Turk.: K bazar-
gan "merchant" < Pers. bãzãrgãn id.
12 B. Ya. Vladimircov, 'MongolicaI, Ob otnošeniimongol'skogoyazykak indo-
evropeiskim yazykam Srednei I, pp. 305-341
Azii,'ZapiskiKollegiiVostokovedov, ;
'Arabskie slovav mongorskom yazyke,'ibid.,V,pp.73-82.
13 Theabbreviations ofthenamesoftheTurkiclanguages hereare:Alt.- Altai,
Chag.- Chaghatai, Kas.- KasanTatar,Kirg.- Kirgiz,Krm.- Crimean, Leb.- Lebed,
Osm.- Osmanli, Shor.- Schordialect,
Tel.- Telengit,
Yak.- Yakut.

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 TURKICLOANWORDSIN MIDDLEMONGOLIAN 39

bor "wine" SH 19, Mu. 121 < Turk.: MT, K bor id.
buqďu "k'ang, a tortureinstrument consistingof a board fastened
to the neck of a criminal",SH 21, cf. Mu. 222 buqďu "ring", Ord.,
Kalm. buyü "bracelet" < Turk.: MT buqayu "pillory", Tob. buyau
"fetters",Osm. boqayï id.
bulya "feud,fight"SH 21, cf. H 50 "uprising",I 434 bulya "battle",
L 1266 bulyaq"feud" < Turk.: MT, K bulyaq"disturbance, upheaval",
Chag. bulyayid.
čačir "tent" SH 25, cf. Mu. 130 čadurid. < Turk.: MT čactr catïr,
K catïrid. < Pers. cãdar "tent,pavilion".
cöl "a place name" SH 174,H 59, cf. Mu. 136 cöl "desert" < Turk.:
AT, Chag., Osm., Krm.,Tel., Alt.,Leb. cöl "steppe".
dašmad"Muhammadanclergy"P 148,cf.Mu. 383 danišmand"savant"
< Turk.: East Turkidanismän"savant,wise" < Pers. danišmand.
èrdini èrtini"jewel" P 150,cf. Mo. erdeni , Kh. èrdeni , Ord. erdéni,
Bur. erdeni -
, Kalm. erddñid. < Turk.: Uig. erdeni erdini ertini <
Sanskr.ratnaid.
ertiyčii"world" H 51, cf.P 159yèrfinfû Kh. yörtömcö
id.,Mo .yirtiyčii,
id. < Turk.: AT yirtincü id. > Tibet,hfig-rtenid.
ed "goods, products"SH 47, cf. Mu. 115 et "goods", Mo. ed, Kh.,
Bur. ed id. < Turk.: MT eò "fabric".
inay"favourite"SH 82, inďudplur.,cf. Mu. 196 inaq "locum tenens",
Mo. inay "intimatefriend",Kh. yanag, Kalm. indg"friend"< Turk.:
AT ïnaq "friend",K i'naq ïnay"faithful",cf. AT ïnan-"to trust".
iygircay"pack-saddle" SH 82, cf. Kalm. yaqgrcogid. < Turk.: Alt.,
Tel. ïrjïrcaqid., Sag. "the wooden partsof a saddle", Kir. ïqïrsaq"pack-
saddle", cf.Yak. ïrjïr"saddle".
fada "magic,the abilityof thesorcerersto makerain" SH 84, cf. Mu.
200 fadu "magic" < Turk.: Chag., Osm. yada < Pers.fädü" magic".
farliy"edict" SH 86, H 53, cf. P 151 jarliq, Mu. 202 farliq"order",
Mo. farliy,Kh. sarlig, Ord. 3arlig, Bur.zarVig, Kalm. zärhgid. < Turk.:
AT, MT yarlïq- yarl'iy"order,edict".
fad "stranger,foreigner"SH 87 (the translation"people" givenin the
Wörterbuchis not correct),cf. Mu. 203 fat id. < Turk.: AT, MT, K
yat "strange,foreign".
kcebid"shop" P 152 < Turk.: MT, K kebit"shop, store" > Russ.
kibitka"yurt".
kibčďut"the KipchakTurks" SH 179,a pluralfromkibčay< Turk.:
MT qïfcaq, K qïpcaq id.
kirgisiid"the Kirgiz" SH 179, a plur. fromkirgis< Turk.: AT, MT

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40 POPPE
NICHOLAS

qïryïzid. Cf. also Kh. %er%is id. and %ergsür< kirgisegiir"an ancient
tomb", lit. "a Kirgisnest".
kisilbašiname of a lake SH 179 < Turk,qïzïl "red" and baš "head".
kišiliga personalname SH 179 < Turk,qïslïq"pertaining or referring
to thewinter".
körsis"the neighbours"H 54, cf. I 440 körsi"neighbour",Mo. körsi.
Bur. yiirši< Turk.: MT körsi"friend",Yak. körsü "lover" fromköriis-
"to see each other".
kiiliig"hero", plur.kiilifiidSH 105,P 153kciiliignameofan .emperor,
cf. Mo. kiiliig"a good horse,steed",Bur. %iileg , Kh. %ülig, Kalm. kiilag
"steed" < Turk.: AT kii "fame",kiilig"famous",MT kiiliig"famous",
Uig. kiiliig"a race-horse",KKir. kiiliikid., Chag. kiiliik"a big dog".
nayudor naqud "money,coins" SH 113 (the translation"gold ore"
given thereis not correct),cf. Mu. 245 naqd "cash" < Turk.: Osm.
naqït"cash", K naqtid. < Arab, naqd "cash".
nal "ruby" P 154,cf. Mo. nal id., Kh. nal erdeni"corundum",Kalm.
nal name of a preciousstone < Turk.: K, Osm.. Krm. lai < Pers. lãl
"ruby" > Russ. laV id.
orto^ud"merchands",a plur. fromortayH 56, cf. Mu. 271 ortaq-
ortay"merchand"< Turk.: MT ortaq"companion",K ortaqid., Chag.
ortaq"merchand".
öliig"dead", öliimlegii "to be engagedin a lifeor death struggle"SH
124 < Turk: MT öliig"dead", K öliiid., MT öliim"death", K öliimid.
öriig"rest,peace,quiet" SH 128,cf.Mo. öriigid.14< Turk.: MT öriik
bol- "to take a rest".
qablan "tiger" SH 54 (the translation"the name of a predatory
animal" is not accurate),cf. L 62 qablan "tiger" < Turk.: Kir., KKir.
qablan id.
qačir name of a riverSH 176, cf. qačidud "mules" SH 55, cf. L 61
qačir "mule", Mu. 130 qačirid. < Turk.: Chag., Kir., Kaz. qačir id.
qalibai solían "the Calif,the Sultan" SH 176 < Turk.%alïfa< Arab.
%alïfa"Calif".
qan meliga personalname SH 176 < Turk.: Osm. melik"king" <
Arab, malikid.
qarši "palace" SH 62, Mo. qarši, Kh. ordo %aršiid., Kalm. %aršiid.
< Turk.: MT, Chag. qarsï id. < Kučan kerciyeor Sanskritgriha
"house".
qos "tent,a traveltent" SH 68 (the translation"house" is not quite
14 N. N. Poppe,'Zolotoordynskaya na bereste,'
rukopis' Sovetskoe Vostokovedenie
,
II (1941),p. 108.

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 TURKICLOANWORDSIN MIDDLEMONGOLIAN 41

correct),cf.Kalm. %oš„a temporary tent"< Turk.: Kir.qoš" a temporary

a
dwelling, hut", Chag. qoš "camp".
qošliy"tent" SH 68, cf. theprecedingword.
qulan "wild horse",plur. qulad SH 71, cf. Mu. qulan id., Mo. qulan,
Kh. %ulaq, Ord. %ulan , Kalm. %uhjid. < Turk.: MT qulan, Kir. qulanid.
w<7w¿/"meat forsacrifices" SH 132 < Turk.: Kir. sarqït"theleftovers
of foodgivento inferior persons",Chag. sarqutid., Chag. saryud"grace,
favour,food"; Mo. sarqud and Kh. sarjad, Ord. sar%ud"wine" is
probablythe same word,althoughits meaningis different.
15
širge"vinegar"S 60, cf. Mu. 323 sirke(or sirge) id. < Turk.: MT,
K sirkeid.
solían - sultan"king" SH 135 < Turk.: K sultan< Arab, sultánid.
tana "a greatpearl" SH 145,cf. Mo. tana, Bur. erzetjtana "motherof
pearl", Kh., Ord. tanv, Kalm. tanvid. < Turk.: MT tana "grain" <
Pers. dãna "grain,pearl."
tegirmed"mills" P 157 < Turk.: MT, Chag. tegirmen"mill", K
tergirmen ( tegirmen) id.; cf. Mo. tegerme , Kalm. tërmn"mill".
, Kh. tërem
terjgisnameof a big bodyof waterSH 148 < Turk.: MT tetjgiz"sea",
K teqizid., cf. Kalm. teijgds"sea" < Turk.
toyin"a buddhistmonk" H 57, cf. P 149 doyid"monks", cf. Mo.
toyin, Kh. toiq, Kalm. tön"a buddhistmonkof noble origin"< Turk.:
AT toyïn"monk", Yak. toyon"master,chief" < Chinesetao-jên.16
toyi"frontline,battleline" SH 152 < Turk.: MT toy"military camp".
toyila-"to dance" SH 152 < Turk.: Kir. toylo-"to celebrate,to makea
festival".
tuy"banner" SH 153, cf. Mo. tuy, Ord., Kh., Kalm. tug < Turk.:
AT, MT tuyid.
turas"quadrangularshields" SH 154, a plural fromtura < Turk.:
MT tura "shield, parapet." Mo. tura "building", Bur. tura "house,
town,city",Bur.bur%aqtura"church",Kh. tura"city"is thesame word
and is also a loan.17
turyay"watch,guard", plur. turyayud SH 155 < Turk.: Uig., Chag.
turyaq "night watch, night guard,sentry" fromtur-"to stand".

15 ErichHaenisch,
'Steuergerechtsame derchinesischen unter
Klöster derMongolen-
Eine kulturgeschichtliche
herrschaft, Untersuchung mitBeigabedreiernochun-
veröffentlichter Berichte
Phagspa-Inschriften,' derSächsischen
überdie Verhandlungen
AkademiederWissenschaftenzu Leipzig, Philologisch-historische , 92.Band,2.
Klasse
Heft, 1940,S. 58.
Leipzig,
16 A. vonGabain,Alttürkische Grammatik 1950,S. 343.
, Leipzig,
17 AulisJoki,'Die Lehnwörter Mémoires
des Sajansamojedischen,' de la Société
, CIII (1952),p. 339-340.
Finno-Ougrienne

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42 TURKICLOANWORDS
POPÏ>E,

uluy tay a place name SH 183 < Turk.: AT, MT uluy "big, great"
and tay "mountain".
uruy "relatives" SH 167, cf. P 158 uruqut"seeds", Mu. 248 uruq
"in-laws", Mo. uruy, Kh. urag, Kalm. urug"relatives" < Turk.: AT
uruy"relatives,seeds".
uruytariy"relatives"H 56 < Turk.: MT uruytarïyid.
yalavačia personalname SH 184 < Turk.: AT yalabač "messenger",
MT yalavač "messenger,prophet".

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