How the plural affix was changed in the Turkic languages over the last 150 years

Abstract

Introduction. As recent research works show, scholars tend to disagree about the origin of the Kipchak plural form. K. M. Musaev hypothesizes that the Proto-Kipchak form of this affix was *-tar/*-ter whereas, according to O. A. Mudrak, the protolanguage form was *-lar/*-ler. Indeed, it seems impossible to reconstruct the form of the plural affix for the *-n, *-ŋ, *-m, *-C-stem words based on the modern data for the Kipchak languages. Furthermore, the Proto-Turkic reconstruction of the plural affix for these stems is also unclear. Purpose of research: It follows that a systematic analysis of the forms of the plural affix with different stems in the first books in the Kipchak languages (Tatar, Bashkir, Kazakh, Teleut, Tubalar) will help to 1) reconstruct their Proto-Kipchak and Proto-Turkic forms, 2) date the changes in the suffixes, 3) determine if these changes were areal in nature. Materials and methods: The grammars of the modern Turkic languages as well as the first Cyrillic books in Tatar, Bashkir, Kazakh, Altai, Teleut, Tubalar have been analyzed using a comparative historical method. Results: The analysis reveals that the late Proto-Turkic form of the plural affix remained unchanged in most of the Turkic languages. In some of the Kipchak languages (Kazakh, Kyrgyz, certain dialects of Bashkir and Altai) located at the junction of the “-lVr-form vs.- tVr-form of the plural affix” territories, the *-lVr-form (in voiceless *-C-stems) and the *-nVr-form (in *-n, *-ŋ, *-m-stems) changed into *-tVr. Conclusion: The material of the first Kazakh books in Cyrillic shows that the change in the Kipchak plural affix in voiceless *-C-stem and in *-n, *-ŋ, *-m-stem words was quite late, took place due to contacts with the Kyrgyzs, and was not yet complete at the end of the 19th century.