The Eternal Stone 𐰋𐰭𐰏𐰈⁚𐱃𐱁

Genomes of Individuals from Berel Iron Age, Berel – East Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 (ca. 400–300 BCE) Culture: Pazyryk Female Individual mtDNA: C4a1a-a Genetic profile: Mixed ancestry from Ulaanzuukh, Steppe_MLBA, and BMAC components Male Individual mtDNA: C4a1 Y-DNA: R1a-Z93 Genetic profile: Combination of Ulaanzuukh and Steppe_MLBA ancestry Closest Modern Populations: Various Siberian Turkic groups.

¹ - Ancestral Whisper. 2025. Pazyryk, Pazyryk Korgantas ² - Unterländer M., Palstra F., Lazaridis I. 2017. Ancestry and Demography and Descendants of Iron Age Nomads of the Eurasian Steppe

The Turkic Name of the Yenisey River Among Turkic-speaking peoples of the Yenisey (primarily the Tuvans and Khakas) the river is known as “Uluğ xem” and “Kim suğ" respectively. The etymology of these remains uncertain. The earliest written reference to the river appears in 7th-century Chinese sources, where it is recorded as 劔水 (MC "kjaemH sywijX" "kjaemH" reflecting kem), during the Tang dynasty’s contact with the Yenisei Kyrgyz. Shortly after, the name Kem is attested in several 8th-century Old Turkic inscriptions

~636 CE, Book of Zhou, Volume 50 一孕而生四男。其一變為白鴻；其一國於阿輔水、劍水之間，號為契骨；其一國於處折水；其一居踐斯處折施山。 From a single pregnancy, four sons were born. One of them transformed into a white goose; one established a country between the Afu River and the Jian (Kem) River, called Qigu (Kyrgyz); one established a country at the Chuzhe River; and the eldest lived at the Jiansi–Chuzheshi Mountains.

~735 CE, Bilge qağan inscription, (26)² 𐰞𐱃𐰃 : 𐰆𐱃𐰜 : 𐰖𐱁𐰢𐰀 : 𐰲𐰃𐰚 : 𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣 : 𐰶𐰃𐰺𐰴𐰔 : 𐰋𐰃𐰼𐰠𐰀 : 𐰖𐰍𐰃 : 𐰉𐰆𐰡𐰃 : 𐰚𐰢 : 𐰚𐰲𐰀 : 𐰲𐰃𐰚 : 𐱃𐰃𐰀 : 𐰾𐰇𐰠𐰓𐰢 Altı otuz yaşıma çik bodun qırğız birle yağı boltı. Kem keçe çik tapa süledim At the age of twenty-six the Chik people, together with the Kyrgyz, started hostilities (against us). I went on a campaign against the Chik crossing over the Kem

~759 CE, Moyun Çur inscription, (19-20)¹ 𐰨𐰯𐰉𐰺𐱂 ⁚ 𐰖𐰃𐰞𐱃𐰀 ⁚ 𐰲𐰃𐱃𐰯𐰀 ⁚ 𐰖𐰆𐰺𐰑𐰢 ⁚ 𐰚𐰃𐰤𐱅𐰖 ⁚ 𐱅𐰈𐰼𐱅 ⁚ 𐰘𐰏𐰼𐰢𐰃𐰚𐰀 ⁚ 𐰚𐰢𐰓𐰀 ⁚ 𐱃𐰆𐰴𐰃𐰑𐰢 Ançıp bars yılqa çik tapa yorıdım, ekinti ay tört yegirmike Kemde toqıdım After this, in the Year of the Tiger (750 CE), I undertook a campaign against the Çik people. On the fourteenth day of the second month, I engaged in battle by the Kem River

Sources:

¹ – Malov, Sergei E. 1959. Monuments of Ancient Turkic Writing of Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan ² – Tekin, Talat. 1968. A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic

My proposal for a new punctuation system for the Old Turkic script: (Space) : (Full stop) ∵ (Comma) ∴ (Question mark) ⸮ (Exclamation point) ! Some passages from the Kültegin inscription written using this new notation. KT-K-10 (conditional and declarative sentences) 𐰚𐰇𐰠𐱅𐰃𐰏𐰤 : 𐰖𐰸 : 𐰼𐰾𐰼 ∴ 𐰸𐰆𐰯 : 𐰇𐰠𐱅𐰲𐰃 : 𐰼𐱅𐰏𐰔 ∵ 𐰃𐰤𐰢 : 𐰚𐰇𐰠𐱅𐰃𐰏𐰤 : 𐰚𐰼𐰏𐰚 : 𐰉𐰆𐰡𐰃 ∵ 𐰇𐰔𐰢 : 𐰽𐰴𐰦𐰢 ∵ 𐰚𐰇𐰼𐰇𐰼 : 𐰚𐰇𐰔𐰢 : 𐰚𐰇𐰼𐰢𐰔 : 𐱅𐰏 ∴ 𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰼 : 𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰏𐰢 : 𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰢𐰔 : 𐱅𐰏 : 𐰉𐰆𐰡𐰃 ∵  KT-G-1 (imperative sentence) 𐰽𐰉𐰢𐰣 : 𐱅𐰇𐰚𐱅𐰃 : 𐰾𐰃𐰓𐰏𐰠 ! KT-G-10 (Interrogative sentence) 𐰔𐰆 : 𐰉𐰆 : 𐰽𐰉𐰢𐰑𐰀 : 𐰃𐰏𐰓 : 𐰉𐰺 : 𐰍𐰆 ⸮

This post sparked a lot of debates regarding the etymology There are two main theories 1. Turkic Compare the Kazakh "esen", Nogai "esen", Kyrgyz "esen", S.Altay "ezen", Tatar "isän", Bashkir "eśän", Khakas "izen", Uzbek "eson" The fact that cognates are widespread suggests inherentance rather than a borrowing (also the Arabic loanwords are not common in Khakas and S.Altay) Esän is also attested in the early 9th century manuscript as a paired expression "esän tükäl"¹

Irk bitig manuscript, omen (• •••• •)² 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃 : 𐰴𐰆𐱃𐰃𐰣𐱃𐰀 : 𐰇𐰲𐰇𐰨 : 𐰖𐰃𐰞𐱃𐰀 : 𐰴𐰆𐰯 : 𐰾𐰤 : 𐱅𐰇𐰚𐰠 : 𐰚𐰇𐰼𐰇𐰾𐰢𐰾 ...Teñri qutınta üçünç yılta qop esän tükäl körüşmiş. By the grace of heaven, they all met in the third year, safe and sound

You can see the exact quote on the scan attached to this post. Also the whole scan of this book is available here 2. Perso-arabic from Classical Persian حَسَن (hasan), from Arabic حَسَن (ḥasan) meaning goodness, beautifulness (the semantic shift from beautiful to healthy and safe is highly possible)

¹ - Nasılov, D. M.; Kormushin, I. V.; Dybo, A. V.; Isabekova, U. K. (eds.) (1969), Old Turkic Dictionary ² - Tekin, Talat (1993). Irk bitig ³ - British Library, International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) viewer: manifest 0EB6E2F74517416E9C8C2A63B67BD21D (accessed via idp.bl.uk)

The Old Turkic calendar (müçel) The Old Turkic calendar followed a 12-year animal cycle, similar to Chinese and other Central Asian systems. Each year was associated with an animal, and the cycle appears frequently in the inscriptions of the 8th century. The Kazakh “müşel”, Tatar “möçəl”, Bashkir “mösəl”, Kyrgyz “müçöl”, and Khakas “müçel” systems are derived from, and can be traced back to it Animal of the year - Old Turkic word¹ 🐁 - küskü (𐰚𐰇𐰾𐰚𐰇) 🐂 - ud (𐰆𐰑) 🐆 - bars (𐰉𐰺𐰽) 🐇 - tabïšγan (𐱃𐰉𐰽𐰍𐰣) 🐉 - luu (lü) (𐰠𐰇) 🐍 - yïlan (𐰖𐰃𐰞𐰣) 🐎 - yund (𐰖𐰆𐰣𐰑) 🐑 - qońin (qoń) (𐰸𐰆𐰪) 🐒 - bečin (𐰋𐰃𐰲𐰃𐰤) 🐓 - taqïγu (𐱃𐰴𐰍𐰆) 🐕 - ït (𐰃𐱃) 🐖 - laγzïn (𐰞𐰍𐰕𐰃𐰣) Here are examples of their use in inscriptions:

~719 CE, Ongin Inscription, 𐰠𐰇:𐰘𐰃𐰞𐰴𐰀: lü:yïlqa ...at the Year of Dragon...

~732 CE, Kültegin Inscription, 𐰉𐰺𐰴𐰃𐰤:𐰋𐰓𐰔𐰃𐰤:𐰋𐰃𐱅𐰏:𐱃𐱁𐰃𐰤:𐰋𐰃𐰲𐰃𐰤:𐰘𐰃𐰞𐰴𐰀:𐰘𐰃𐱅𐰨:𐰖:𐰘𐰃𐱅𐰃:𐰆𐱃𐰔𐰴𐰀:𐰴𐰆𐰯:𐰞𐰴𐰑𐰢𐰔 barqïn:bedizin:bitig:tašïn:béčin:yïlqa:yétinč:ay:yéti:otuzqa:qop:alqdïmïz We finished his mausoleum, statues and paintings, and his inscription stone on the twenty-seventh day of the seventh month, on the Year of Monkey.

~735 CE, Bilge Khagan Inscription, 𐰃𐱃 : 𐰘𐰃𐰞 : 𐰆𐰣𐰨 : 𐰖 ...ït yïl, onunč ay... ...in the year of Dog, on 11th month... 𐰞𐰍𐰔𐰃𐰤:𐰘𐰃𐰞:𐰋𐰃𐰾𐰨:𐰖:𐰘𐰃𐱅𐰃:𐰆𐱃𐰔𐰴𐰀 laɣzïn:yïl:béšinč:ay:yéti:otuzqa In the year of Pig, on the twenty-seventh day of the fifth month...

Notes: "laγzïn" and "küskü" seem to be replaced by more regular toŋuz and sïčγan respectively² Luu (lü) (𐰠𐰇) is borrowed from Middle Chinese "龍" (ljowng), specifically through a language without a final "ŋ"

Art by @Varymas ¹ - Gabain, v., Annemarie 1950. Alttürkische Grammatik. Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz ² - Vovin, Alexander 2004. Some Thoughts on the Origins of the Old Turkic 12-Year Animal Cycle ³ - Talat, Tekin (1968) Grammar of Orkhon Turkic

Etymology of есенбісіз Alternative forms (есенбісің, есенсіз бе, есенсің бе) By surface analysis есен (well) + -бісіз (are you?) From Kipchak esän, further etymology is debated, see theories Compare with: Tatar исәнмесез, Nogai эсенсизбе, Altai эзен ба сен First attested in Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk¹, in the form Esenmü-sen (اسَنْمُو سَنْ)

al-Kashgarî, Mahmud (1072–1074), Besim Atalay, transl., Divanü Lûgat-it-Türk Tercümesi [Translation of the “Compendium of the languages of the Turks”] (Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları; 521) (in Turkish), 1985 edition, volume I, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurmu Basımevi, published 1939–1943, page 77

Antlığ adaşlar - sworn (blood) brothers Form ant¹ (𐰦) (oath) + -lığ (-ness suffix), adaş² (a friend) Attested in Begre inscriptions³

8 ~ 10th century CE, Begre inscription 𐰦𐰞𐰎𐰑𐱂𐰢𐰀 ⁚ 𐰦𐱂𐰃𐰑𐰀 ⁚ 𐰓𐰏𐰈𐱀𐰢𐰀 ⁚ 𐰑𐰻𐰞𐰑𐰢𐰀 antlığ:adaşım:a:antsızım:a:edgü:eşim:a:adrıldım:a O my sworn and unsworn comrades, O my good companion! I departed!

¹ - Clauson, Gerard (1972), “ant”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-13th-century Turkish ² - Nasılov, D. M.; Kormushin, I. V.; Dybo, A. V.; Isabekova, U. K. (eds.) (1969), ”adaš” in OTD ³ - Károly, László, Rentzsch, Julian, editors (2017), A Database of Turkic Runiform Insciptions

A fragment from the book of deviations (Irk bitig):

𐰋𐰃𐰼:𐱃𐰉𐰞𐰴𐰆: 𐰘𐰇𐰔:𐰉𐰆𐰞𐱃 𐰃:𐰘𐰇𐰔:𐱃𐰉 𐰞𐰴𐰆:𐰢𐰃𐰭: 𐰉𐰆𐰞𐱃𐰃:𐰢𐰃𐰭: 𐱃𐰉𐰞𐰴𐰆:𐱅‎𐰇‎ 𐰢‎𐰤:𐰉𐰆𐰞𐱃𐰃: 𐱅𐰃𐰼:𐰨𐰀‎:𐰋 𐰃𐰠𐰃𐰭𐰃𐰠𐰼: 𐰽𐰍‎𐰃‎:𐰉𐰺‎: 𐰓𐰏𐰇:𐰆𐰞: Bir tablılqu yüz boltı. yüz tabılqu mıñ boltı. mıñ tablılqu tümen boltı tir. ança biliñler: asığı bar, edgü ol

Translation One spriaea became a hundred; a hundred spiraeas became a thousand (and) a thousand spiraeas became ten thousand. Know thus: (The omen) is good. Tekin T. (1993) Irk Bitig, The Book of Omens

Etymology of ұшпақ (paradise) From Sogdian ܐܘܫܬܡܐܗ (ʾwštmʾx)¹, possible reinterpreted (through folk etymology) as uç-mak (uç- as to die², -mak deverbal suffix). The form uçmak is attested as early on as Karakhanid language (Qutadğu bilig) ʾwštmʾx > *uštmag > *uç-maq (reinter.) > *uş-maq > ұшпақ Uç- as a verb "to die" is attested in the Kültegin³, and Mo-yun Chur⁴ inscriptions

~732 CE, 𐰖𐰆𐰞𐰞𐰃𐰍:𐱅𐰃𐰏𐰤 (Yollığtegin), Kültegin inscriptions 𐰚𐰇𐰠𐱅𐰃𐰏𐰤 ⁚ 𐰸𐰆𐰪𐰘𐰃𐰞𐰴𐰀 ⁚ 𐰘𐰃𐱅𐰃 ⁚ 𐰘𐰏𐰼𐰢𐰚𐰃 ⁚ 𐰆𐰲𐰑𐰃 Kültegin, qoń yılqa yeti yigirmike uç-dı

Kültegin passed away on the seventeenth day of the Year of the Sheep.

753 ~ 760 CE, 𐰠𐱅𐰢𐰾𐰋𐰠𐰏𐰀⁚𐰴𐰍𐰣 Eletmish Bilge qağan inscription anta kesrä qañım qağan uçdı

After that, my father qaghan passed away

¹ - Gharib, B (1995) “ʾwštmʾx”, in Sogdian dictionary ² - Clauson, G. (1972), “uç-”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-13th-century Turkish ³ - Talat, T. (1968) Grammar of Orkhon Turkic ⁴ – N. D. M.; K. I. V.; D. A. V.; I. U. K. (1969), Old Turkic Dictionary