View source for Social:Orkhon Turkic language

{{short description|Extinct Turkic language spoken by the Göktürks}} {{Infobox language
| name             = Orkhon Turkic
| altname          = Orkhon Uyghur
| region           = [[Place:Eastern Europe|Eastern Europe]], [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]], Eastern Asia
| era              = 5th–8th century
| script           = [[Social:Old Turkic alphabet|Old Turkic]]
| familycolor      = Altaic
| fam1             = [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]]
| fam2             = [[Social:Common Turkic languages|Common Turkic]]
| fam3             = [[Social:Siberian Turkic languages|Siberian Turkic]]
| fam4             = Southern Siberian
| fam5             = [[Social:Old Turkic language|Old Turkic language]]
| glotto           = orkh1234
| glottoname       = 
| glottofoot       = 
| glottorefname    = Orkhon Turkic
| iso3             = otk
}}

'''Orkhon Turkic''' (also '''Göktürk''') is the language used in the oldest known written [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]] texts. It is the first stage of [[Social:Old Turkic language|Old Turkic]], preceding [[Social:Old Uyghur language|Old Uyghur]]. It is generally used for the language in which the Orkhon and Yenisei inscriptions are written.

== Vocabulary ==
Most of the vocabulary includes words of Turkic origin in Orkhon Turkic. In addition, a few words used are based on origin languages such as [[Social:Sogdian language|Sogdian]] and [[Social:Chinese language|Chinese]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ölmez |first=Mehmet |date=1995 |title=Eski Türk Yazıtlarında Yabancı Öğeler |url=http://www.turkdilleri.org/turkdilleri/sayilar/tda5/MOlmezY.pdf |journal=Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları |volume=5 |pages=227–229}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ölmez |first=Mehmet |date=1997 |title=Eski Türk Yazıtlarında Yabancı Öğeler 2 |url=http://www.turkdilleri.org/turkdilleri/sayilar/tda7/MOlmezYabanci.pdf |journal=Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları |volume=7 |pages=175–186}}</ref> Mehmet Ölmez claims that about 20% of the vocabulary in Orkhon Turkic comes from neighboring cultures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Olmez |first=Mehmet |date=1999-01-01 |title=Foreign Elements in Old Turkic Inscriptions (3) // Eski Türk Yazıtlarında Yabancı Öğeler (3) |url=https://www.academia.edu/44434916 |journal=Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları, 9: 59-65}}</ref> 

The borrowed words of the Orkhon Turkic period include Chinese, Sogdian, [[Social:Mongolic languages|Mongolian]], and [[Social:Tibetic languages|Tibetan]] loanwords, although primarily Chinese. In the period of Old Uyghur Turkic that will come right after, Sogdian loanwords increase exponentially. The main reason for the increase of Sogdian influence is that the Uyghurs accepted the [[Unsolved:Manichaeism|Mani religion]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ayazlı |first=Özlem |date=2020-01-01 |title=Soğdca Bazı Sözcüklerin Eski Uygurcadaki İmlası / Orthography of Some Sogdian Words in Old Uyghur Turkic |url=https://www.academia.edu/44156705 |journal=International Journal of Old Uyghur Studies|doi=10.46614/ijous.743040 |s2cid=225560776 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In this context, we can say that Orkhon Turkic has a vocabulary that is less influenced by Sogdian and more heavily influenced by Chinese.[[File:Foreign Elements in Orkhon Turkic by Etymology.png|thumb|Foreign Elements in Orkhon Turkic by Etymology in Mehmet Ölmez's studies, 1995-1999. (n=26) Red: Chinese, Light Blue: Sogdian, Dark Blue: Mongolian, Orange: Tibetian, Flesh: Others, Grey: Unknown/uncertain]]

== Phonology ==
Orkhon Turkic is a [[Social:Common Turkic languages|Shaz Turkic language]], also a d-type Turkic language (''e.g; Turkish: a'''y'''ak, Chuvash: у'''р'''а (u'''r'''a) but Old Turkic: '''𐰑'''𐰴 (a'''d'''aq)'') which belongs to the [[Social:Siberian Turkic languages|Siberian Turkic branch]]. Orkhon Turkic sometimes has long vowels. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Tekin |first=Talat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70TCPAAACAAJ |title=A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic |date=1997 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7007-0869-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=KökTörükçede Birincil Uzun Üŋlüler |url=http://www.tamga.org/2016/04/kokturkcede-birincil-uzun-ululer.html |access-date=2022-04-24}}</ref>

== Dialects ==
Turkic people used a common literary language in the 5th-8th centuries, but there were some differences.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Şabdanaliyev |first=Negizbek |title=YENİSEY YAZITLARI'NDAKİ AĞIZ ÖZELLİKLERİ (FONOLOJİK VE MORFONOLOJİK İNCELEME) |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/263079 |journal=Türk Dünyası |volume=42 |pages=153–165}}</ref> It is possible to examine the Orkhon Turkic under two Yenisei and the Classical Orkhon Turkic headings. Orkhon Turkic had two main dialects, both written in [[Social:Old Turkic script|Orkhon script]]. 

=== Yenisei Kyrgyz Inscriptions and the Dialect ===
The language used in the inscriptions found along the Yenisei river<ref>{{Cite web |title=TURK BITIG |url=https://bitig.kz/?lang=e&mod=1&tid=2 |access-date=2022-04-10 |website=bitig.kz}}</ref> is called the ''Yenisei Kyrgyz'' ''dialect''. (''See more at Yenisei Inscriptions'')

==== Phonetic Features ====
In Yenisei inscriptions, the letters ''e'' and ''i'' change places from time to time. The same change is seen in ''b'' with ''m'', ''g'' with ''k'', ''ş'' with ''s'', and ''z'' with ''s''. It has also been seen once in the letters ''ı'' and ''i''.<ref name=":0" />

==== Morphonological Features<sup><ref name=":0" /></sup> ====
A completely morphological difference was not detected in the Yenisei Inscriptions. But there are some points:

* In Orkhon inscriptions, the case of direction takes the suffix ''-a/-e'' after the possessive suffix, while in the Yenisei inscriptions it sometimes takes the suffixes ''-qa/-ke/-ğa/-ge'' when the same is the case.

* In the locative case, the letters ''l'' and ''n'' sometimes have the suffix ''-te/-ta'' but sometimes the suffix ''-de/-da''.

* The past tense begins irregularly, sometimes with a hard consonant and sometimes with a soft consonant.

=== Orkhon Turkic Inscriptions and the Dialect (Classical) ===
The language used in the inscriptions, most of which are found along the Orkhon river<ref>{{Cite web |title=TURK BITIG |url=https://bitig.kz/?lang=e&mod=1&tid=1 |access-date=2022-04-10 |website=bitig.kz}}</ref> is called the ''Orkhon Turkic language''. It contains not only tombstones but also diaries describing state events. For this reason, it is richer in terms of language and the language used expertly.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Güler |first=Hakan |date=2019-05-01 |title=TAŞLARIN RUHU: ORHUN YAZITLARI |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/turkek/issue/55574/760643 |journal=Türk Ekini |language=tr |issue=1 |pages=4–8 |issn=2687-296X}}</ref> (''See more at Orkhon inscriptions'')

=== Other Inscriptions Written in Orkhon Turkic language ===

==== Talas Inscriptions ====
They are found around the Talas, [[Earth:Issyk-Kul|Issyk-Kul]] and Kochkor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ali̇mov |first=Rysbek |date=2017-12-31 |title=TALAS YAZITLARI: İŞARET KADROSUYLA İLGİLİ BAZI DÜZELTMELER (2. TALAS YAZITI ÖRNEĞİNDE) |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/belleten/issue/33970/375477 |journal=Türk Dili Araştırmaları Yıllığı - Belleten |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=129–144 |issn=0564-5050}}</ref> They were written with the Yenisei variants of the Orkhon alphabet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TURK BITIG |url=https://bitig.kz/?m=4&oid=12&mod=1&tid=3&lang=e |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=bitig.kz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=TURK BITIG |url=https://bitig.kz/?m=3&oid=13&mod=1&tid=3&lang=e |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=bitig.kz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=TURK BITIG |url=https://bitig.kz/?m=3&oid=67&mod=1&tid=3&lang=e |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=bitig.kz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=TURK BITIG |url=https://bitig.kz/?m=3&oid=78&mod=1&tid=3&lang=e |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=bitig.kz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=TURK BITIG |url=https://bitig.kz/?m=3&oid=72&mod=1&tid=3&lang=e |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=bitig.kz}}</ref> It is believed that these inscriptions were also written by the Kyrgyzs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Türkçe Bilgi: Talas-Yenisey Yazıtları |url=https://www.turkcebilgi.com/talas-yenisey_yazıtları |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=Türkçe Bilgi |language=tr}}</ref>

The language of the texts used in the inscriptions is the same as the language used in the Orkhon and Yenisei inscriptions. The suffix ''-ka'' after the possessive suffix, which is seen in some of the Yenisei Kyrgyz inscriptions, is not seen in these inscriptions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TURK BITIG |url=https://bitig.kz/?lang=e&mod=1&tid=3&oid=13&m=1 |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=bitig.kz, uyalarïna adïrïlmïš}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Talat Tekin, ''A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic'', Uralic and Altaic Series Vol. 69, Indiana University Publications, Mouton and Co. (1968). (review: Gerard Clauson, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1969); Routledge Curzon (1997), {{ISBN|0-7007-0869-3}}.

{{Turkic languages}}

[[Category:Extinct languages of Asia]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]

{{Sourceattribution|Orkhon Turkic language|1}}