What is it about?
This study investigates the origin of the Old Turkic verb us- ‘to be thirsty’. It has previously been analysed as a Turkic derivative formed from a hypothetical noun u ‘water’ and a suffix +s-. However, there is little convincing evidence that such a denominal verbal suffix existed in Turkic. The study instead compares the verb with Mongolic evidence. Mongolic possessed both the noun u ‘water’, preserved in Kitan and in Common Mongolic usun, and a productive suffix +(A)s- used to form verbs from nouns. Old Turkic us- can therefore be explained more convincingly as a borrowing from a prehistoric Mongolic verb u+s- ‘to be deprived of water; to be thirsty’. The article also reviews previously proposed Mongolic loanwords in Old Turkic and shows that many of them remain uncertain because their structure, chronology or direction of borrowing is unclear.
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Why is it important?
The study is important because it provides a more rigorous method for distinguishing inherited words from ancient loanwords. Similar-looking words in Turkic and Mongolic cannot be treated as related merely on the basis of sound and meaning. Their internal structure, derivational morphology, historical attestation and the probable direction of borrowing must also be considered. The analysis of Old Turkic us- demonstrates the value of morphological evidence. The word is difficult to explain within Turkic because the suffix required by the traditional derivation is not securely attested there. In Mongolic, however, both the proposed nominal base and the relevant verbal suffix are independently documented. More broadly, the article reassesses the evidence for early Mongolic influence on Old Turkic. It shows that the number of securely identifiable Mongolic loanwords is smaller than sometimes assumed and that claims about prehistoric language contact require careful individual examination.
Perspectives
I began this study with a relatively narrow question concerning the origin of the Old Turkic verb us- ‘to be thirsty’. The investigation, however, led to a broader reassessment of proposed Mongolic loanwords in Old Turkic. What I find particularly significant is that morphology can sometimes reveal the direction of borrowing more clearly than phonetic resemblance alone. In this case, the traditional Turkic derivation requires a suffix that is scarcely supported, whereas the corresponding morphological formation is regular and well attested in Mongolic. The paper also reflects my view that ancient Turkic–Mongolic lexical comparisons should be approached conservatively. Many proposed loanwords remain attractive possibilities, but possibility should not be confused with proof. Each word must be evaluated according to its phonology, morphology, semantics, chronology and historical distribution.
Dr. Orçun Ünal
Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Is the Turkic us- ‘to be thirsty’ a loanword from Mongolic? An overview of Mongolic loanwords in Old Turkic, Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis, February 2025, Uniwersytet Jagiellonski – Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego,
DOI: 10.4467/20834624sl.25.003.21086.
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