Abstract:

The oldest examples of the kara bodun expression are in the old Turkic inscriptions. The expression, which is witnessed not only in the old Turkic inscriptions but also in the old Uyghur and Karakhanid Turkic texts, has been read and interpreted in different ways by the researchers. There are different opinions about whether the word kara is used here as an adjective or directly as a noun. In the light of these different views, some researchers have attributed the meaning of 'common, ordinary, simple people' to the expression. It is highly doubtful that linguistic material supporting such an interpretation exists in the vocabulary of old Turkic. In this study, a solution to the problem of the structural relationship between the words kara and bodun will be sought and the meaning of the expression will be tried to be clarified. Until now, various studies have been carried out especially on the origin of the word kara and its meanings. In the study, first of all, the word kara will be emphasized in terms of methodology. However, in order to avoid repetition of the previous studies, the word kara will be examined here, with the testimonies of the vocabulary in the old Turkic inscriptions and manuscripts, only to explain the term kara bodun. In the rest of the article, the expressions of kara baş, kara égil bodun, kara kamag bodun, kara kamag sü and kara suw and the words used in these expressions will be examined. In the last part of the article, the expression of kara bodun will be focused on.