Oghur languages

The Oghur or Oğuric^[2] languages (also known as Bulgar, Pre-Proto Bulgaric,^[3] Hunno-Bulgarian,^[4] Hunno-Turkic,^[5] or Lir-Turkic and r-Turkic) are a branch of the Turkic language family. The only extant member of the group is the Chuvash language. Languages from this family were spoken in some nomadic tribal confederations, such as those of the Onogurs, Bulgars, and Khazars.^[6] Some scholars consider Hunnic a similar language.^[7]

History

The Oğuric language is part of Turkic language distinct from the Common Turkic. Today is represented only by Chuvash, while the Bulgar, and related Khazar, went extinct.^[8] There's no content among linguists on the relation between Oğuric and Common Turkic. There several issues without clear conclusion; if they are parallel branches of Proto-Turkic (3000-500 BC), which branch is more arhaic and which split up, was Oğuric a separate tongue, and did Oğuric represent Archaic Turkic before phonetic changes in ca. 100-400 AD.^[2]

Features

The Oğuric languages are also known as "-r Turkic" because the end consonant in relevant words is "*r", in contrary to "*z" in Common Turkic,^[8] thus the term Oğur in Oğuric and Oğuz in Common Turkic.^[2] Another specific shifts are: Com. "š" > Oğ. "l" (tâš - tâl; stone); "s" > "š"; "č" > "ś"; "k/q" > "ğ"; "y" > "j, ś"; "d,δ" > "δ - z (10th cent.), r (13th cent.)"; "ğd" > "z - r (14th cent.)"; "a" > "l (after 9th cent.)".^[9][10]

Denis Sinor, due to such difference, argued that those tribes could not have come from far away lands like Mongolia where is spoken "-z" language.^[11] However, in the contrary, there many loanwords in Mongolic from Oğuric, like Mong. ikere, Oğur. *ikir, Hung. iker, Common Turk. ikiz (twins).^[2] It is considered they lived in the Mongolian borderlands before the 5th century.^[12] Oğuric languages have some specific features: unlike Altaic they have initial consonant clusters, unlike Mongolian don't have initial dental or velar spirants (like Turkic), but unlike Turkic have initial voiced b- and both unvoiced -p- and voiced -b- in the middle of the word, and have initial n- (like Mongolian).^[4]

The Oğuric tribes are often connected with the Hungarians, whose ethnonym is usually derived from Onoğurs (> (H)ungars).^[13] The Hungarians were a mixed Finno-Ugric and Turkic union with strong Oğuric-Bulgar and Khazar influence.^[14][15] Hungarian language has many borrowings from Turkic and Oğuric languages,^[16] example Hung. tenger, Oğur. *tengir, Common Turk. tengiz (sea),^[2] Hung. gyũrũ, Oğur. jürük, Common Turk. yüzük (ring),^[17] and terms of equestrian culture ló (horse), nyereg (saddle), fék (bridle), ostor (whip).^[18] A number of Hungarian loanwords were borrowed before the 9th century, shown by sz- (< Oğ. ś-) rather than Common Turk. gy- (< Oğ. ǰ-): example Hung. szél, Oğur. *śäl, Chuv. śil, Common Turk. yel (wind), Hung. szűcs (tailor), Hung. szőllő (grapes).^[17]

References

Sources

• Pritsak, Omeljan (1982). The Hunnic Language of the Attila Clan (PDF) IV. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. ISSN 0363-5570. 
• Golden, Peter Benjamin (1992). An introduction to the History of the Turkic peoples: ethnogenesis and state formation in medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. ISBN 9783447032742. 
• Golden, Peter B. (2011). Studies on the Peoples and Cultures of the Eurasian Steppes. Editura Academiei Române; Editura Istros a Muzeului Brăilei. ISBN 9789732721520.