The Use of Nouns and Verbs in the Work Munyat al-Ghuzat

Abstract

Written monuments in the Kipchak language cover the XI–XVI centuries. At different periods, they employed different scripts. The known Kipchak written monuments mainly used four alphabets: Old Arabic script, Old Armenian script, Old Russian script, and the ancient Gothic alphabet. Among these, the Kipchak monuments written in Arabic script appeared during the Mamluk rule. The tradition of comparative studies of Turkic languages, compiling dictionaries, and teaching the Kipchak language to foreigners constituted a specific era in the Mamluk lands. The purposes and contents of monuments from this era were diverse. This article analyzes the lexical features of nouns in the "Munyat al-Ghuzat", a monument belonging to the Mamluk Kipchak period. In the text, names of weapons, movement terms, somatisms, and color terms are frequently used. The somatisms and color terms are compared with those in modern Kazakh and other Turkic languages. The Mamluk Kipchaks constitute an important part of the overall Kipchak written heritage. During their period, dictionaries, literary works, and grammatical textbooks for language learning were written. These works are directly related to the Kipchak language. The spoken and literary forms of medieval Kipchak have significance in studying the history of the Kazakh language. "Munyat al-Ghuzat" is a work devoted to the art of warfare. It serves as a reference reflecting centuries of spiritual and material wealth of the nation. Its vocabulary consists mainly of Old Turkic words. Since the work was intended as a manual to teach military skills to future warriors, it was written in simple and clear language. From its lexical content, the work can be linked to the history of the Kazakh language. This monument remains underexplored in linguistics. Studying its vocabulary is important for the history of the Kazakh language.