Common Linguistic Elements Between Kazakh Dialects and Mongolian II

This article undertakes a comparative linguistic analysis of the shared lexical inventory between Kazakh dialects and Mongolic. Motivated by the scarcity of research on linguistic similarities between Kazakh vernaculars and Mongolic, the study examines materials collected from dictionaries and reveals noteworthy lexical and semantic correspondences across the two languages. These similarities are predominantly concentrated in plant and animal names, titles and designations related to human society, various natural phenomena, and terms for everyday tools and implements. In addition, verbs denoting states and actions associated with nature, commerce, and human activity provide further significant insights. Kazakh and Mongolic belong to the Altaic language family and have historically coexisted within the same geographical regions, resulting in extensive lexical exchange. While some shared elements are attributable to borrowing, others appear to stem from their common genetic affiliation. A crucial observation is that several of the comparative lexical items are absent from Standard Kazakh but preserved in dialectal varieties. The presence of these archaic elements in both Old Turkic and Mongolic demonstrates that Kazakh dialects have retained conservative features. For instance, the word adak in Old Turkic corresponds to adaqqı in Kazakh dialects and adag in Mongolic, representing a significant lexical parallel. This evidence underscores the importance of examining Kazakh dialects and Mongolic in a comparative framework for a deeper understanding of the historical development of Turkic–Mongolic linguistic relations.