MONGOLIAN ELEMENTS IN UYGHUR DOCUMENTS OF THE 13th–14th CENTURIES

Abstract

Mongolian and Turkic language contact goes back the to end of the 6th century, to the Bugut and Hüis Tolgoi inscriptions. According to some authors, there are some ‘Mongolic’ words in Old Turkic runic inscriptions too. But we can run into Mongolic words in Old Turkic, mainly in Old Uyghur after 1206, especially in Old Uyghur civil documents. What is interesting is that there are a few Mongolic words in Old Uyghur texts earlier than the 13th century, like nairag and gör in Maitrisimit. I will examine the Mongolian words which can be attested after the 13th century in Turfan area. Entries are collected from my forthcoming dictionaries like Uyghur Dictionary and A Concise Dictionary of Old Turkic.