Clan Group Mongush ~ Mungush: Revisiting the Issues of Ethnogenesis and Name Etymology

Abstract

Goals. The article attempts an ethnogenetic analysis of the Tuvan clan Mongush and the Kyrgyz clan Mungush, seeks to delineate some features of their intra-clan patronymy, and provides an insight into the clan name etymology with the aid of folk etymologies. Materials. The study focuses on publications dealing with the topic, analyzes field data collected by the authors during dialect and comprehensive research expeditions. Results. The analysis concludes the issue had stirred interest of many researchers of Central Asia and Siberia since the nineteenth century, and remains as relevant to date. Tuvans who identify themselves as Mongush tend to perceive themselves not only as members of the large clan but also as representatives of some certain intra-clan group — one of the eight patronymies recorded in the Tuvan language, just like the Kyrgyz Mungush who have two large branches — zhagalmai tamga and kosh tamga — each to comprise six intra-clan clusters. The Mongush ~ Mungush ethnogenesis is based on Turkic population pool. The Mongush are distributed not only in Tuva but also beyond its borders, namely: those are the Mungush from Osh Region of Kyrgyzstan, the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan, and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. However, the academic opinions about kin relations between the Tuvan Mongush and those of Fergana Kara-Kirghizes/Osh Kyrgyzes require further historical and folklore insights.