| Proto-Turkic | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Turkic languages |
| Region | Probably theEast andCentral Asia,[1] possibly including regions ofwestern Siberia[1] |
| Era | c. 3000 – c. 500 BCE[2][3] |
| Lower-order reconstructions |
|
Proto-Turkic is thelinguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of theTurkic languages that was spoken by the Proto-Turks before their divergence into the variousTurkic peoples. Proto-Turkic separated intoOghur (western) andCommon Turkic (eastern) branches. Candidates for the proto-Turkic homeland range from Transcaspian Steppe toManchuria,[4] with most scholars agreeing that it lay in the eastern part of the Central Asian steppe,[5] while one author has postulated that Proto-Turkic originated 2,500 years ago inEast Asia.[6]
The oldest records of a Turkic language, theOld TurkicOrkhon inscriptions of the 7th centuryGöktürkkhaganate, already shows characteristics of Eastern Common Turkic. For a long time, the reconstruction of Proto-Turkic relied on comparisons of Old Turkic with early sources of the Western Common Turkic branches, such asOghuz andKypchak, as well as the WesternOghur proper (Bulgar,Chuvash,Khazar). Because early attestation of these non-easternmost languages is much sparser, reconstruction of Proto-Turkic still rests fundamentally on the easternmost Old Turkic of theGöktürks, however it now also includes a more comprehensive analysis of all written and spoken forms of the language.[7]
The Proto-Turkic language shows evidence of influence from several neighboring language groups, includingEastern Iranian,Tocharian, andOld Chinese.[8]
The consonant system had a two-way contrast ofstop consonants (fortis vs. lenis),k, p, t vs.g, b, d. There was also anaffricate consonant,č; at least onesibilants andsonorantsm, n, ń, ŋ, r, l with a full series ofnasal consonants. Some scholars additionally reconstruct thepalatalized soundsĺ andŕ for the correspondence setsOghuric /l/ ~Common Turkic *š and Oghuric /r/ ~ Common Turkic *z. Most scholars, however, assume that these are the regular reflexes of Proto-Turkic *l and *r.[9] Oghuric is thus sometimes referred to asLir-Turkic and Common Turkic asShaz-Turkic.
A glottochronological reconstruction based on analysis ofisoglosses and Sinicisms points to the timing of ther/z split at around 56 BCE–48 CE. AsAnna Dybo puts it, that may be associated with
the historical situation that can be seen in the history of theHuns' division onto the Northern and Southern [groups]: the first separation and withdrawal of the Northern Huns to the west has occurred, as was stated above, in 56 BC,... the second split of the (Eastern) Huns into the northern and southern groups happened in 48 AD.[10]
Dybo suggests that during that period, the Northern branch steadily migrated from WesternMongolia through SouthernXinjiang into the north'sDzungaria and then finally into Kazakhstan'sZhetysu until the 5th century.[10]
There was no fortis-lenis contrast in word-initial position: the initial stops were always*b,*t,*k, the affricate was always*č and the sibilant was always*s. In addition, the nasals and the liquids did not occur in that position either.[11]
| Bilabial | Dental or alveolar | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | *m | *n | *ń/nʲ/ | *ŋ | |
| Plosive and affricate | fortis | *p | *t | *č/t͡ʃ/ | *k |
| lenis | *b | *d | *g | ||
| Sibilant | *s | ||||
| Liquid | lateral | *l | (*ĺ/lʲ/) | ||
| rhotic | *r | (*ŕ/rʲ/) | |||
| Semivowel | *j | ||||
Like in many modern Turkic languages, the velars /k/, /g/, and possibly /ŋ/ seem to have had back and front allophones ([k] and[q],[g] and[ɢ],[ŋ] and[ɴ]) according to their environments, with the velar allophones occurring in words with front vowels, and uvular allophones occurring in words with back vowels. The lenis stops /b/, /d/ and /g/~/ɢ/ may have tended towards fricatives intervocalically.[12]
Like most of its descendants, Proto-Turkic exhibitedvowel harmony, distinguishing vowel qualitiesa, ï, o, u vs.e, ẹ, i, ö, ü, as well as two vowel quantities. Here,macrons represent long vowels. Some scholars (e.g.Gerhard Doerfer) additionally reconstruct a mid back unrounded*ë based on cognate sets with Chuvash, Tuvan and Yakutï corresponding toa in all other Turkic languages, although these correspondences can also be explained as deriving from *a which underwent subsequent sound changes in those three languages.[13][14] The phonemicity of the distinction between the two close unrounded vowels, i.e. front*i and back*ï, is also rejected by some.[14]
| front | back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
| high | *i, *ī/i/ | *ü, *ǖ/y/ | *ï, *ï̄/ɯ/ | *u, *ū/u/ |
| mid | *ẹ, *ẹ̄/e/ | *ö, *ȫ/ø/~/œ/ | (*ë, *ë̄/ɤ/) | *o, *ō/o/ |
| low | *e, *ē/ɛ/ | *a, *ā/a/ | ||
While plurality in modern Turkic languages is relatively straightforward, Proto-Turkic seemingly has multiple plural suffixes, with unclear use cases for each.
One plural suffix preserved in both Oghuric and Common Turkic is*-(I)ŕ, in words such as Turkish "ikiz" or "biz," or Chuvash "(e)pir."
Other possible plural suffixes are*-(I)t, which was commonly seen in Old Turkic, and is related toProto-Mongolic*-d andProto-Tungusic*-tA; and*-(A)n, preserved in very few words such as Turkish "oğlan."
Common Turkic languages today use their respective descendants of the Proto-Common-Turkic plural suffix*-lAr, whereas Chuvash uses-сем, which descends from Proto-Turkic*sāyïn ("every").
It's unknown whether the Proto-Common-Turkic *-lAr, *-(I)t and *-(A)n existed in Proto-Turkic and were lost in the Oghuric branch, or were later inventions altogether.
Reconstructablepossessive suffixes in Proto-Turkic includes1SG*-m,2SG*-ŋ, and3SG*-(s)i, plurals of the possessors are formed by*-z inCommon Turkic languages.
The reconstructable suffixes for the verbs include:
Proto-Turkic also involves derivation with grammatical voice suffixes, as in cooperative*körüĺ, middle*körün, passive*körül, and causative*körtkür.
| Proto-Turkic | Turkish | Azeri | Turkmen | Kazakh | Chuvash | Karakhanid | Uzbek | Uyghur | Bashkir | Kyrgyz | Sakha (Yakut) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | *bẹ,[15][16]*bẹn-[17][18] | ben,ban- | mən | men | men,ma- | epĕ,man- | men,man- | men | men | min | men | min |
| you | *sẹ,[15][19]*sẹn- | sen,san- | sən | sen | sen,sa-,siz | esĕ,san- | sen,san- | sen,siz | sen, siz | hin | sen,siz | en |
| he/she/it | *an-,*o-l | on-,o | on-,o | ol | on-,o-l | un-,văl | an-,ol | u | u | ul | al | kini,ol[20] |
| we | *bïŕ | biz | biz | biz | biz | epir, pir- | biz | biz | biz | beð | biz | bihigi |
| you (plural) | *siŕ | siz | siz | siz | sender,sizder | esir, sir- | siz | sizlar | senler, siler, sizler | heð | siler,sizder | ehigi |
| they | *o-lar[21] | on-lar | onlar | olar | olar | vĕsem,vĕsen- | olar | ular | ular | ular | alar | kiniler,ollor |
| Proto-Turkic | Oghur Turkic | Common Turkic | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volga Bulgar | Chuvash | Karakhanid | Turkish | Azeri | Turkmen | Kazakh | Uzbek | Uyghur | Bashkir | Kyrgyz | Sakha (Yakut) | ||
| 1 | *bīr | بىر (bīr) | pĕr | bīr | bir | bir | bir | bir | bir | bir | ber | bir | biir |
| 2 | *ẹk(k)i | اَكِ (eki) | ikĕ | ikkī | iki | iki | iki | eki | ikki | ikki | ike | eki | ikki |
| 3 | *üč | وج (več) | viśĕ | üč | üç | üç | üç | üş | uch | üç | ös | üč | üs |
| 4 | *tȫrt | تُوات (tüvet) | tăvată | tȫrt | dört | dörd | dört | tört | to'rt | tört | dürt | tört | tüört |
| 5 | *bẹ̄ĺ(k) | بيال (byel) | pilĕk | bḗš | beş | beş | bäş | bes | besh | beş | biş | beş | bies |
| 6 | *altï | اَلطِ (altï) | ultă | altï̄ | altı | altı | alty | altı | olti | alte | altı | altı | alta |
| 7 | *jẹt(t)i | جىَاتِ (čyeti) | śičĕ | yétī | yedi | yeddi | ýedi | jeti | yetti | yetti | yete | jeti | sette |
| 8 | *sekiŕ | ڛَكِڔ (sekir) | sakăr | sekiz | sekiz | səkkiz | sekiz | segiz | sakkiz | sekkiz | higeð | segiz | аğıs |
| 9 | *tokuŕ | طُخِڔ (tuxïr) | tăhăr | tokūz | dokuz | doqquz | dokuz | toğız | to'qqiz | toqquz | tuğıð | toguz | toğus |
| 10 | *ōn | وان (van) | vună | ōn | on | on | on | on | o'n | on | un | on | uon |
| 20 | *jẹgirmi | جِيِرم (čiyirim) | śirĕm | yegirmī | yirmi | iyirmi | ýigrimi | jıyırma | yigirma | yigrime | yegerme | jıyırma | süürbe |
| 30 | *otuŕ | وطر (vutur) | vătăr | ottuz | otuz | otuz | otuz | otız | o'ttiz | ottuz | utıð | otuz | otut |
| 40 | *kïrk | حرح (xïrïx) | hĕrĕh | kïrk | kırk | qırx | kyrk | qırıq | qirq | qiriq | qırq | kırk | - |
| 50 | *ellig | اَلُّ (ellü) | ală | ellig | elli | əlli | elli | eliw | ellik | ellik | ille | elüü | - |
| 60 | *altmïĺ | - | utmăl | altmïš | altmış | altmış | altmyş | alpıs | oltmish | atmiş | altmış | altımış | - |
| 70 | *jẹtmïĺ | - | śitmĕl | yetmiš | yetmiş | yetmiş | ýetmiş | jetpis | yetmish | etmiş | yetmeş | jetimiş | - |
| 80 | *sekiŕ ōn | سكر وان (sekir van) | sakăr vun | seksȫn | seksen | səksən | segsen | seksen | sakson | seksen | hikhän | seksen | ağıs uon |
| 90 | *tokuŕ ōn | طوخر وان (toxïr van) | tăhăr vun | toksōn | doksan | doxsan | dogsan | toqsan | to'qson | toqsan | tuqhan | tokson | toğus uon |
| 100 | *jǖŕ | جُور (čǖr) | śĕr | yǖz | yüz | yüz | ýüz | jüz | yuz | yüz | yöð | jüz | süüs |
| 1000 | *bïŋ | - | pin | miŋ | bin | min | müň | mıñ | ming | miñ | meñ | miñ | muñ |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| Proto-language |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Common Turkic |
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| Oghur | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disputed classification | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Potentially Turkic languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Creoles andpidgins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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