Lexical Units Related with the Army and Military Operations in the Orkhon-Yenisei Inscriptions

Abstract

Military and administrative lexical units recorded in the Orkhon-Yenisei runic inscriptions were researched from a lexical-semantic and functional perspective in this article. The period of the Turkic Khaganate (VI-VIII centuries) occupies a special place in the history of the Turkic peoples and it has played a decisive role in the formation of their statehood, military organization, and administrative system. The Orkhon-Yenisei Inscriptions being the earliest written monuments of the Turkic languages, preserve rich linguistic material reflecting the political, administrative, and military life of the Khaganate. In the study, military terminology is accepted as an important mechanism of the internal development of language and as an indicator of the socio-political organization of ancient Turkic society. Military and administrative vocabulary is systematized and classified into several thematic groups based on a detailed analysis of the inscription texts. These include terms related to military-administrative governance, tactical operations, weapons and military equipment, the structure and types of troops, military defense and intelligence, as well as military logistics and supply. Each group of terms is analyzed with regard to its semantics, contextual usage, and functional characteristics. Special attention is paid to the comparison of ancient Turkic military terms with their subsequent development and reflection in later stages of the Turkic languages, including Middle Turkic and the modern Uzbek language. The analysis demonstrates that a significant number of military and administrative terms used in contemporary Turkic languages originate from the period of the Turkic Khaganate and have a common Turkic basis. This fact confirms the continuity of military and administrative terminology and highlights the stability of lexical units belonging to this semantic field. The results of the study are of considerable importance for historical lexicology, Turkology, and the study of ancient Turkic written monuments. The materials presented in the article may be used in further research on the history of Turkic languages, the development of military terminology, and in interdisciplinary studies related to the history, ethnography, and military art of the ancient Turks.