Historical and Comparative Analysis of the Verb "Ait" Valence in the Mamluk-Kipchak Language

Authors

  • Kuanyshbek KENZHALIN

    The Department of Kazakh Linguistics, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan
  • Gulzhanat BEGIMOVA

    The Department of Kazakh Linguistics, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan
  • Aierke ZINEDINA

    The Department of Kazakh Linguistics, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan
  • Saltanat SHOKABAYEVA

    The Department of Kazakh Linguistics, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan
  • Maira YERMEKBAYEVA

    The Department of Kazakh Linguistics, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan
  • Orken ABDIROV

    The Department of Kazakh Linguistics, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i11.11918
Received: 2 September 2025 | Revised: 9 October 2025 | Accepted: 10 October 2025 | Published Online: 24 October 2025

Abstract

The article examines the historical and comparative aspects of the verb ait (“to say”) in the 14th-century Mamluk-Kipchak monument Gulistan bit Turki, translated by Seyf-i Sarayi. The study focuses on the valency of the verb as a key category determining its syntactic and semantic potential. Through corpus-based analysis of more than 1,300 tokens, the research identifies the structural patterns of ait in relation to its actants—subject, object, addressee, and modifier and compares them with modern Kazakh usage. The results demonstrate that ait historically exhibited a high degree of valency, forming up to six-actant structures, while maintaining syntactic stability. In medieval Turkic, ait functioned as a multivalent lexeme encompassing meanings such as "to say," "to command," "to declare," and "to confess," which in modern Kazakh have differentiated into several verbs (aytu, soyleu, deu, zhariyalau, buyruu, moyyndau). This semantic narrowing illustrates a diachronic process in which syntactic frameworks remain conservative, whereas semantic roles undergo specialization. The analysis also highlights how valency reflects not only grammatical combinability but also sociocultural patterns of communication characteristic of the Mamluk-Kipchak era. By tracing the historical evolution of the verb ait, the study contributes to understanding the mechanisms of syntactic continuity and semantic differentiation in the development of the Kazakh language and Turkic verbal systems in general.

Keywords:

Linguistic Valence; Actant Structure; Combinability; Semantic Syntax; Syntactic Valence; Semantic Valence; Verb "Ait"; Mamluk-Kipchak Written Language

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How to Cite

KENZHALIN, K., BEGIMOVA, G., ZINEDINA, A., SHOKABAYEVA, S., YERMEKBAYEVA, M., & ABDIROV, O. (2025). Historical and Comparative Analysis of the Verb "Ait" Valence in the Mamluk-Kipchak Language. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(11), 1126–1134. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i11.11918

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 11 (November 2025)

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Article

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Copyright © 2025 Kuanyshbek KENZHALIN, Gulzhanat BEGIMOVA, Aierke ZINEDINA, Saltanat SHOKABAYEVA, Maira YERMEKBAYEVA, Orken ABDIROV

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.