Argu languages
Argu languages or Arghu languages is a branch of Common Turkic languages along with Oghuz, Kipchak, Karluk and Siberian Turkic. Unlike other branches, this group is not multilingual. The historical Argu language and its descendant Khalaj are the only languages of this group.[1][2]
| Argu languages | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | South Central Asia, Iran |
| Linguistic classification | Turkic
|
| Subdivisions | |
Arghu (Karakhanid: اَرْغوُ), is a bilingual group of Turkic tribes in the 11th century.[3] The first and only mention of Argu tribes and Argu language was Al-Kashgari. He wrote that they lived among the mountains and that is why they were called Argu, meaning "in between".[4] In the same period (9/10th century), the name Khalaj was also recorded by travelers. With the discovery of modern Khalajs, it is found that language of Khalajs is the same language as Argu language in the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk.[1]
There are some linguistic reasons that prove that Khalaj is a descendant of the language of Arghu tribes:[2]
- The Old Turkic -ny(-) sound is preserved as -n(-) in both Arghu and Khalaj. (It has not been preserved in any other living Turkic language.)
- There is labialization in both. (E.g. bardum, käldüm instead of bardïm, keldim)
- According to Al-Kashgarî, Argu tribes use the word 'dag' to mean 'not'. The only Turkic language that uses the word 'dag' to mean 'not' today is Khalaj. Oghuzs use the words from *degül, and others *ermeŕ.
- Arghu has δ instead of z. This is also seen in Khalaj.
Arghu tribes lived in Talas, Balasagun and Sayram regions. They were adjacent to the Oghuz tribes. According to Al-Kashgari, Oghuzs and Arghus were therefore influenced by each other's languages.[4]
References
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- ^ a b Ölmez, Mehmet (1995). Halaçlar ve Halaçça. Çağdaş Türk Dili, 84, 15-22.
- ^ a b Doerfer, Gerhard (1997). Khalaj Materials. Curzon. pp. 171–181. ISBN 978-0-7007-0380-7.
- ^ Atalay, Besim (1939–1943). Divanü Lûgat-it-Türk Tercümesi [Translation of the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk] (in Turkish). Vol. I (1985 ed.). Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurmu Basımevi.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ a b Zahidoglu, Vahid; Daşdemir, Hicret (2020-01-01). "KAŞGARLININ GÖZÜYLE OĞUZ-ARGU İLİŞKİLERİ". Türk Dili ULUSLARARASI DEDE KORKUT BİLGİ ŞÖLENİ VE DELİ DÖNMEZ'E AD VÉRME ÇALIŞTAYI'NIÑ BİLDİRİLER BÉTİĞİ.