Bulletin of the KIH of the RAS, 2016, Vol. 23, Is. 1 Copyright © 2016 by the Kalmyk Institute for Humanities of the Russian Academy of Sciences Published in the Russian Federation Bulletin of the Kalmyk Institute for Humanities of the Russian Academy of Sciences Has been issued since 2008 ISSN: 2075-7794; E-ISSN: 2410-7670 Vol. 23, Is. 1, pp. 166–173, 2016 DOI 10.22162/2075-7794-2016-23-1-166-173 Journal homepage: http://kigiran.com/pubs/vestnik UDC 811.512.1 Declension System of the Turkic Languages: Historical Development of Case Endings Gulgaysha S. Sagidolda1 1 Ph. D. of Philology, Professor of the Kazakh Linguistics Department at L. N. Gumilyev Eurasian National University (Astana, the Republic of Kazakhstan). E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Declension system of the Turkic languages is characterized by a large number of cases and a variety of forms of cases. The research works indicate the number of cases in the Turkic languages in different ways, in some languages they are considered to be 6, and in the others 7 or 8. There are different opinions about the number of cases in the language of the ancient Turkic written monuments, known as the source of the Turkic languages. Some scholars defi ne 11 cases and some say that the number of main cases is 7. In the language of the Orkhon, Yenisei and Talas monuments there are hidden or null form of cases, as well as the meaning of cases can be given by individual words. Also, some endings correspond with the formants of other cases according to the form or comply with other formants of cases according to the meaning. If we look at the course of historical formation and development of case endings (formants) in the language of the ancient Turkic written monuments, the written heritage of medieval Turkic language and modern Turkic languages, we notice that in general, the reconstructed original Ancient Altaic and Turkic proto-language form is preserved in the declension system. The peculiarities of the declension system of the modern Turkic languages are connected with a variety of case endings that is a phonetic variation by adding endings to the last sound of the root-word. Keywords: declination system of the Turkic languages, the language of ancient Turkic monuments, medieval Turkic written heritage, reconstruction, Ancient Altaic proto-language, common Turkic proto-language, phonetic variation of endings, grammatical meaning, null form. 166 LINGUISTICS Introduction not exist not only in the ancient Turkic Category of case — one of the grammatical written monuments and the written heritage categories peculiar to the system of nominal of medieval Turkic language, but in all Turkic parts of speech (names) modifi cations. languages. However, the grammatical meaning Declination is a connection of words in a of the nominative case, which gives substantive sentence with the help of case endings [Қазақ meaning, peculiar only to it and determined грамматикасы 2002]. Case endings are various by the null form, is a syntactic function that morphological forms that link the words with characterizes the grammatical subject [Қазақ different meanings and functions together. Case грамматикасы 2002] endings are added only to the noun or the word Modernization of the nominative case in replacing nouns. Case endings in other parts of null form is characteristic to the Ancient Altaic speech are related to their substantivation. and Turkic proto-languages. Some features Declension system of the Turkic languages of nominative case formation in the Altaic is characterized by a large number of cases, languages are connected with the phonetic and a variety of case forms. According to laws of individual languages development. For Turkology research, the number of cases in the example, sound shift of -n to the endings, which Turkic languages is specifi ed in different ways, was fi rst included in the stem of the Turkic and in some languages they are considered to be 6, Mongolian languages: *bi ‘I’: nom. c. Mong. and in the others 7 or 8 [Томанов 1988: 138]. bi ‘I’, gen. c. Anc. Mong. min-u, Mod. Mong. There are different opinions about the number minij ‘my’; nom. c. Turk. bu ‘this’, gen. c. of cases in the language of the ancient Turkic munuŋ ‘his’; nom. c.Mong. bajan, Turk. baj written monuments, known as the source of ‘bai’, gen. c. Anc. Mong. bajan-u, Mod. Mong. the Turkic languages: A. N. Kononov points bajni ‘bai’s’, Turk. baj-nyŋ ‘bai’s’ subject 11 cases — main, accusative, dative-locative, [Рамстедт 1957: 60] ablative-locative, ablative, instrumental, genitive, oriented, oriented-locative, dative- Genitive case oriented, dative-limited [Кононов 1980: 149], G. I. Ramstedt and N. Roppe point the form G. Aidarov defi nes 7 cases — nominative, *-n as the initial Ancient Altaic formant of genitive, dative, accusative, locative, ablative, genitive case [Рамстедт 1957: 32; Poppe 1977: instrumental [Айдаров 2000: 59]. In the 57]. N. A. Baskakov says that the formants of language of the Orkhon, Yenisei and Talas the genitive case in all the Altaic languages are monuments there are hidden or the null form relevant to the suffi x denoting belonging (in the of cases, as well as the meaning of cases can be Turkic languages -nікі: аγа-nікі ‘belonging to given by individual words. Also, some endings the brother’; in the Mongolian language -jinki: correspond with the formants of other cases in aqajinki; in the Tungus language -ŋі, -nŋі: the form and comply with other formants of акаnі ~ ака-nŋі: in the Manchu language -іŋge, cases according to the meaning. For example, -nіŋge), genitive case in many Altaic languages although the ending — dа is similar to the is the primary form of all cases (in the Turkic locative case, it is used for of dative case language dative biz-in-ge ‘us’, in the Mongolian according to its meaning: ïγаčdа → ïγаč + dа language locative-dative xān-ä-də ‘near Khan’; ‘to the tree’. in the Korean language locative case saram-ii- If we look at the reconstructed case endings ge ‘man’s’), as well as the phrases related to the of the Ancient Altaic and Turkic proto- genitive case have the typical construction (in language forms in the ancient Turkic written the Turkic languages: qaγanyŋ oγly ‘Kagan’s monuments and the written heritage of the son’, in the Mongolian language: хān-і xöwün medieval Turkic languages used by the modern ‘Khan’s son’) [Баскаков 1981: 64]. Turkic languages, we notice that in general, A. M. Scherbak shows the form *-ϊn as Turkic proto-language form from the original the reconstructed common Turkic formant Ancient Altaic forms is preserved in declension of the genitive case [Щербак 1977]. The system. formants*-in/-iŋ, *-nin/-niŋ of the genitive case are modernized ancient forms in the Turkic Mainpart languages [Сравнительно-историческая... Nominative case (main or unknown) 1988: 89]. corresponds to the stem of the word, and the The formants -іŋ/-ïŋ -nïŋ, -nіŋ, -uŋ, -üŋ, word in the nominative case has no ending. -nuŋ, -nüŋ (аdïγïŋ → аdïγ + ïŋ ‘bear’s’, tоnuzïn A special form of the nominative case does → tоnuz + ïn ‘boar’s’) and -γ, -іg (ӧllig → 167 Bulletin of the KIH of the RAS, 2016, Vol. 23, Is. 1 čӧl(l) + ig ‘of the desrt’) of the genitive case Anc. Turk. Qaγanqa ‘to Kagan’, East Turk., are used in the language of ancient Turkic West Turk. qaγanqa, Chuv. χuna, χona; Anc. monuments. The hidden, null form of the Turk. Qaγanyma ‘to (my) Kagan’, qaγanyŋa genitive case is common in the languages of the ‘to (your) Kagan’, qaγanynγa ‘to (his) Kagan’ , Orkhon, Yenisei, Talas monuments: Kögmen West Turk. Qaγanyna ‘to (his) Kagan’ etc. jolï ‘Kogmen’spath’, tabγač qaγanï ‘tabgash’s In the Kazakh language the dative case Kagan’ etc. has the endings -γa/-gе, -qa/-kе; -а/-е, -nа/- Proto-Turkic*-ϊn, related to the Ancient nе: kisige, balaγa, qïzγa, iške, aγašqa etc. The Altaic *-n, occurs in the form of -ϊn/-iŋ, -nϊn/- endings -а/-е, -nа/-nе: of the dative case are nϊŋ, -nuŋ, -tϊn/-tiŋ, -dϊn/-diŋ, -їn/-in, -ˆən in added to the possessive noun: aγama, balaŋa, the modern Turkic languages: Anc. Turk. süŋ babasïna, eline etc. And in the Sary Uighur ‘of the army’, ebiŋ ‘of the house’, qaγanyŋ language the endings in the dative case are ‘Kagan’s’; Chuv. tənwən ‘mountain’ < tu ‘of found only in the forms -ɣa/-ge, -qa/-ke: kisege the mountain’, χərən ‘girl’s’ < χər ‘girl’ śəžijən ‘to a person’, mlaɣa ‘to a baby’, qïzɣa ‘to a ‘mouse’s’ < śəži ‘mouse’ (here the sound –j- girl’, juge ‘to the house’, iške ‘inside’, atqa — the ancient consonant connecting the stem ‘to a horse’, jiɣašqa ‘to a tree’, sïkke ‘to the and ending), Uig.-Kipch. Attiŋ ‘horse’s’, Alt. door’, aqsaqalɣa ‘to aksalal (old man)’. In the köldiŋ ‘of the lake’, Tuv. Inektiŋ ‘cow’s’, K.- Turkish language the dative case is formed by Balk. qozularynin ‘lambs’ etc. the endings -a/-e. This ending is added to the The endings of the genitive case in the words ending in vowels through -y-: kişiye modern Kazakh language are found in the form ‘to a person’, çocuka ‘to a child’, qıza ‘to a of -nïŋ/-niŋ, -dïŋ/-diŋ, -tïŋ/-tiŋ, in the Turkish girl’, eve ‘to the house’, içe ‘inside’, ata ‘to language -ın/-in, -un/-ün; -nın/-nin, -nun/-nün, a horse’, ağaşa ‘to the tree’, kapıya ‘to the in the SaryUigur language -nïŋ, -nіŋ, -nеŋ, -tïŋ, door’, aksakala ‘to aksalal (old man)’. The -dïŋ and are selectively added to the fi nal sound Turkish ending of the dative case -a/-eis added of the root. For example: Kaz.