On the name “Äšir” in the Tonyukuk Inscription
The name of the ancient Turkic ruling clan is written in Middle Chinese as 阿史那 (ā shǐ nà). Scholars have long inferred that this word is derived from the Khotan-Saka language and signifies “blue” as expressed in the forms āṣṣeina ~ āṣṣana. However, there is a clan name positioned between the words t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Istanbul University Press
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Türkiyat Mecmuası |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/6853D1AFE90B4F54AE03D58C9DD3EFFF |
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| Summary: | The name of the ancient Turkic ruling clan is written in Middle Chinese as 阿史那 (ā shǐ nà). Scholars have long inferred that this word is derived from the Khotan-Saka language and signifies “blue” as expressed in the forms āṣṣeina ~ āṣṣana. However, there is a clan name positioned between the words türük and bodun in the Tonyukuk inscription and researchers often read it as sir. It can be read as äšir according to the rules of the Turkic runic script. Several pieces of evidence indicate that the word could convey the name of the ancient Turkic ruling clan. It is thus plausible to construe the phrase türük äšir bodun occurring five times in the Tonyukuk inscription as meaning Turk Äšir people. With the reading and interpretation of the expression in this manner, it can be argued that the name 阿史那 (ā shǐ nà), considering historical sources, is a distorted form of an Old Turkic word and its written representation in Middle Chinese. Consequently, the Soviet and Western scholarly hypothesis associating the etymology of the name of the ruling clan of the First and Second Turkic Empires with Indo–Iranian languages, particularly the Middle Eastern Iranian, must be rejected. This study assesses the word presented five times in the Tonyukuk inscription as s2Ir2 and suggests that in its historical context, Turk Äšir people may be the name of one of the twelve Turks in the Second Turkic Khaganate period |
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| ISSN: | 2651-3188 |