Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung. Volume 67 (4), 383 – 406 (2014)
DOI: 10.1556/AOrient.67.2014.4.1
0001-6446 / $ 20.00 © 2014 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest
KHWAREZMIAN:
MAPPING THE KIPCHAK COMPONENT OF
PRE-CHAGATAI TURKIC
DÁVID GYŐRFI
12/C Kempelen F. Str., H-1124 Budapest, Hungary
e-mail: gyorfid@gmail.com
In the present paper I aimed to identify and separate the Kipchak (Northwestern Turkic) elements in
the 13th – 14th-century Khwarezmian Turkic literary language, primarily drawing on the linguistic ma-
terial of Gulistān bi’l-Turkī and Nahǰu’l-Farādīs. By comparing the grammars of several Khwarez-
mian Turkic writings and analysing the complete vocabulary of the above two works, the relationship
between Khwarezmian Turkic and the Kipchak languages becomes more transparent than hitherto
thought of. The results may contribute to better understanding the heterogeneous views concerning
Khwarezmian Turkic that appeared during the last one hundred years.
Key words: Chagatai, Khwarezmian, Kipchak, Mamlūk, Oghuz, lexicon, Gulistān bi’l-Turkī, Nahǰu’l-
Farādīs.
1. Introduction
Following the Mongol conquest of Central Asia the former Turko-Islamic literary
idiom of the Karakhanids was discontinued in the 13th–14th centuries, and a new
Turkic literary language appeared the place of formation and centre of which was
Khwarezm (or Khorezm), a fertile region south from the Aral Sea. Serving as a bridge
in time, Khwarezmian is an extraordinary source for understanding a split and a crea-
tion of Turkic languages and dialects branching off and utilising ancient elements as
well as inventing new ones in a seemingly conscious way.
As my aim is to detect and separate the elements that could be categorised as
Kipchak, I have made a comprehensive analysis of grammatical works and lexicons
of the period. The main source of my data is the entire vocabulary of the two contem-
porary works, the Gulistān bi’l-Turkī and the Nahǰu’l-Farādīs (Argunşah – Yüksek-
kaya Sağol – Tabaklar 2010; Ata 1997; Bodrogligeti 1969, 1973).