Origin and diversity of the words denoting some traditional Eurasian pulse crops in Mongolic and Tungusic
-
Aleksandar Mikić
and
Vesna Perić
Abstract
Supporters of the existence of the Altaic language family consider it to include Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Korean and Japonic branches, and believe that all of these originated from the Proto-Altaic. On the basis of archaeological findings, one may expect that traditional Eurasian pulse crops, such as peas (Pisum sativum), lentils (Lens culinaris), chickpeas (Cicer arietinum), faba beans (Viciafaba), vetchlings (Lathyrus spp.) and vetches (Vicia spp.), were known to the ancestors of the modern Altaic nations. This assumption is confirmed by two Proto- Altaic roots. The first root is *bŭkrV, denoting pea. Its three main direct derivatives preserved the original meaning and transferred it to their modern descendants, namely the Proto-Turkic *burčak to the majority of modern Turkic languages, such as Kazakh with burşaq; the Proto-Mongolic *buγurčag, giving the modern Mongolian būrcag; and the Proto-Tungusic *boKa-ri, giving the Manchu boxori. Another root is *zịăbsa, denoting lentil. It gave the Proto-Turkic *jasimuk, the Proto-Mongolic *sisi and the Proto-Tungusic *sibsV. In Turkic and Tungusic, its original meaning was preserved, such as in the Turkmen jasmiq or the Nanai siusi, while in Mongolic it shifted to Sorghum spp., such as in Kalmyk, with šiš.
© 2012 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co.
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- Origin and diversity of the words denoting some traditional Eurasian pulse crops in Mongolic and Tungusic
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Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Folk accounts of dialect differences in Tyne and Wear
- Expressing local identity through radio discourse
- The geographical distribution of typologically diverse comparative constructions of superiority in Purepecha
- Origin and diversity of the words denoting some traditional Eurasian pulse crops in Mongolic and Tungusic
- Automatic detection of radial structures in dialect maps: determining diffusion centers
- Mapping The Existing Phonology of English Dialects
- La dialectologie perceptuelle: problèmes et perspectives
- Reviews / Comptes rendus / Besprechungen
