Abstract:

The first written source of Turkish dialects existing today is the inscriptions written with Gokturk letters. Therefore, traces of the linguistic features of these inscriptions can be found in all Turkish dialects. Some words used in the inscriptions written with Gokturk letters also exist in Kazakh language’s dialects. While some of these words written in the mentioned inscriptions have undergone a change in the literary language of Kazakh, they are preserved in its dialects because, as it is known, dialects have the feature of protecting archaic elements. For example, while the word written as agıl in the inscriptions of Yenisey and Suci means “ağıl” (barn) but it is written as awıl in the literary language and it means “köy” (village), it preserves its state as agıl and the meaning as “ağıl” in Krasnovodsk, Nebidag, Taşawız, and Aşhabad dialects of Kazakh language in Turkmenistan. The word agıl is used in the meaning of “ağıl” both in Turkish literary language and in the dialects of Kyrgyz language without having any change or modification. In this study, the words found both in Kazakh language’s dialects and in Orkhon, Yenisey inscriptions and Irk Bitig (such as adaş Y 26, 10; agıl Y 47, 54; bulna- KÇ 22; bulun KÇ 5; könek IB 57 ) shall be emphasized. The aim of our study is to reveal the common elements of the vocabulary of the Kazakh dialects and of the inscriptions written with Gokturk letters. In this way, the words used in the first written sources of the Turkish language shall be compared with the words still existing in Kazakh language’s dialects.

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