Semantic Changes in Words in the Kyrgyz Language and in the Kuu-Kizhi Dialect of the Altai Language

Abstract

This article examines semantic changes in the meanings of words in the Kuu-Kizhi dialect of the Altai language, which is genetically related to the modern Kyrgyz language. The aim of the study is to identify the patterns of lexical-semantic development, determine the causes of semantic changes, and reveal the common and distinctive features of the lexical systems of these two related Turkic languages. The research is based on the comparative-historical method. The primary source of linguistic data is the dictionary of the Chalkan (Kuu-Kizhi) dialect compiled by the prominent Turkologist N. A. Baskakov, whose lexical materials were systematically compared with the vocabulary of the modern Kyrgyz language. The analysis demonstrates that most polysemous words in the Kuu-Kizhi dialect have preserved older semantic meanings, many of which have either disappeared or undergone considerable semantic narrowing in modern Kyrgyz. The findings indicate that, during the historical development of the Kyrgyz language, the meanings of a number of words became narrower due to the replacement of older meanings by new native lexical items or borrowings, primarily from Arabic and Iranian languages. At the same time, several lexical items have undergone semantic expansion under the influence of cultural, social, and historical factors. The study also establishes that more than 1,800 words retain a common semantic foundation that had developed before the independent historical evolution of the two languages, whereas the major semantic differences emerged during later periods of their separate development. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the historical development of Turkic vocabulary and may serve as a basis for further comparative-historical and lexical-semantic research.