Verbs in the Uyuk-Turan Monument: A Grammatical and Semantic Comparison With Modern Kazakh and Tuvan

Abstract

The article analyzes verbs attested in the Yenisei group of Old Turkic inscriptions. Among Turkic written monuments, the Yenisei inscriptions are distinguished by their specific graphic features and short epitaphic texts. Despite its small size, the Uyuk-Turan monument, discovered near the town of Turan in the present-day Republic of Tuva, provides extensive information on the verbal system of the Turkic period through the verbs used in its text. The aim of the study is to identify the grammatical and semantic features of the verbs occurring in the Uyuk-Turan monument, to compare their meanings with corresponding forms in modern Kazakh and Tuvan, and to conduct an in-depth analysis of the historical and linguistic relationships between these languages. The research material includes four verbal forms—bökmädim, adïrïltïm, bantïm, and qazγaqïm—extracted from the Uyuk-Turan monument and compared with ancient and modern verb forms in Kazakh and Tuvan. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that the form qazγaqïm has been interpreted differently by scholars: some regard it as a nominal form, while others classify it as a verb. The scholarly significance of the research is determined by the fact that, although the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Yenisei region are limited in size, semantic analysis of verbal forms contributes to improving the accuracy of text interpretation and translation. As a result of the study, different translation variants were compared, leading to the conclusion that the form qazγaqïm should be identified as a verbal form.