Where Do Old Turkic Words for “Last Year” and “Next Year” Come From?

What is it about?

This study looks at three Old Turkic words used to refer to different years in relation to the present: bïldïr ~ bïldur ‘last year’, arkun ‘next year’, and izi ‘the year after next’. It argues that each of these words has a different historical origin. The word for ‘last year’ is explained as an older compound made up of a borrowed Tocharian element and the word that later became Turkic yïl ‘year’. The word arkun is traced back to an earlier verb meaning something like ‘to send through’, and related forms are used to support this explanation. The word izi is linked to Yakut and Dolgan ähīl, and the latter is interpreted as a shortened combination of *äzi yïl.

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Photo by Erika Löwe on Unsplash

Photo by Erika Löwe on Unsplash