Reconstruction:Proto-Turkic/köŕ

This Proto-Turkic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Turkic

Alternative Reconstruction

• *köz (per Räsänen)
• *kȫz (per Sevortyan, Gerald Clauson)
• *kör-s(i) (per EDAL, Fedotov (1996))

Reconstruction Notes

Reconstruction of the final palatalized rhotic (*ŕ) depends on whether Chuvash form is genuine or a Tatar borrowing.

Etymology

Possibly an anthimeric (zero derivation) form of *kör- (“to see”).

There is no consensus on the origin of the Chuvash куҫ (kuś), which is integral in part of determining the antiquity of the Proto-Turkic root. EDAL, Sevortyan, Yegorov and Fedotov suppose that Chuvash form indeed goes back to Proto-Turkic stage, but each with different reconstructions and methods. Eren (1982), in his remarks on Yegorov's work, disagree that Chuvash form may come from Proto-Turkic but Tatar.

Nişanyan comments on the dubiousness of this root being derived from *kör-.

Altaicists assume *köŕ ~ *körs and compare this reconstruction (along with *kör- (“to see”), which is also assumed to be from the same root) with Khalkha Mongolian горьдлого (gorʹdlogo, “hope”), Proto-Tungusic [Term?] (“to look out, to appear”) and Korean 그립다 (geuripda, “to miss, to long for”). However, Altaic hypothesis and comparisons are severely criticized by mainstream consensus.

Siberian languages at large have adopted *karak (“eye, pupil”), replacing the original *köz.

Noun

*köŕ

1. eye

   Synonym: *karak

2. sight

   Synonyms: *körüĺ, *yïntïg

Declension

Declension of *köŕ

	Singular 3)
Nominative	*köŕ
Accusative	*köŕüg, *köŕni1)
Genitive	*köŕnüŋ
Dative	*köŕke
Locative	*köŕte
Ablative	*köŕten
Allative	*köŕgerü
Instrumental 2)	*köŕün
Equative 2)	*köŕče
Similative 2)	*köŕleyü
Comitative 2)	*köŕlügü

¹⁾ Originally only in pronominal declension.
²⁾ The original instrumental, equative, similative & comitative cases have fallen into disuse in many modern Turkic languages.
³⁾ Plurality is disputed in Proto-Turkic. See also the notes on the Proto-Turkic/Locative-ablative case and plurality page in Wikibooks.

Descendants

• >? Oghur: *köŕ
  • >? Old Chuvash: *kur(s/či)
    • >? Middle Chuvash: *kur(śĕ)
      • >? Chuvash: куҫ (kuś)
        • ⇒ Chuvash: куҫлӗх (kuślĕh, “glasses, mirror”)
    • >? Middle Chuvash: *kü(r)ś
      • ⇒? Chuvash: куҫкӗски (kuśkĕski, “mirror”) (< куҫ (kuś) + *kĕś + *-gü)
• Common Turkic: *köz

• Arghu:
  • Khalaj: köz
• Oghuz:
  • Old Anatolian Turkish: كوز
    • Azerbaijani: göz
    • Ottoman Turkish: گوز (göz)
      • Turkish: göz
      • Gagauz: göz
      • → Armenian: գյոզ (gyoz)
  • Turkmen: göz
  • Salar: göz, gaozi
• Karluk:
  • Karakhanid: كُوزْ (kȫz)
    • Khorezmian Turkic: كوز (köz)
      • Chagatai: كوز (göz)
        • Chagatai: كوزكی (“mirror”)
          • Classical Persian: كوزكی (“mirror”)
        • Uzbek: koʻz
        • Uyghur: كۆز (köz)
  • Ili Turki: kȯz (koz)
• Kipchak:
  • Mamluk-Kipchak: كوز (köz)
  • Kipchak-Bulgar:
  • Bashkir: күҙ (küź)
  • Tatar: күз (küz)
    • →? Chuvash: куҫ (kuś)
  • Kipchak-Cuman: chox (köz) (Codex Cumanicus)
    • Crimean Tatar: köz
    • Karachay-Balkar: кёз (köz)
      • ⇒ Karachay-Balkar: кёзбав (közbav, “witchcraft, magic”)
    • Kumyk: гёз (göz)
    • Karaim: коз (koz)
    • Urum: гӧз (göz), кӧз (köz), коз (koz)
  • Kipchak-Nogai:
    • Kazakh: көз (köz)
    • Karakalpak: ko'z
    • Nogai: коьз (köz)
  • Kyrgyz-Kipchak:
    • Kyrgyz: көз (köz)
    • Southern Altai: кӧс (kös)
• Siberian Turkic:
  • Old Turkic: 𐰚𐰇𐰕 (köz)
  • Old Uyghur: 𐽷𐽳𐽶𐽴 (kwyz /⁠köz⁠/)
    • ⇒ Old Uyghur: 𐽷𐽳𐽶𐽴𐽳𐽺𐽹𐽰𐽷 (kwyzwnmʾk /⁠közünmäk⁠/, “to appear”)
    • Western Yugur: kos (köz), kohs
  • North Siberian Turkic:
    • ⇒ Yakut: көһүн (köhün, “to appear”)
    • ⇒ Dolgan: көһүн (köhün, “to appear”)
  • South Siberian Turkic:
    • ⇒ Soyot: көскүдәр (“to show”)
    • ⇒ Tofa: көстүр (“to appear”)
    • ⇒ Tuvan: көскү (köskü, “visible”), көстүк (köstük, “glasses”)
    • Northern Altai: кӧз (köz)

Further reading

• Agyágasi, Klára (2019) Chuvash Historical Phonetics (Turcologica; 117), Wiesbaden: Harrssowitz, pages 172, 181, 206-7, 222
• Clauson, Gerard (1972) “kö:z”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 756
• Eren, Hasan (1982) “Remarks on V. G. Egorov's Etymological Dictionary of the Chuvash Language”, in Studies in Chuvash Etymology I, page 38
• Fedotov, M. R. (1996) “куҫ I/коҫ I”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ čuvašskovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Chuvash Language] (in Russian), Cheboksary: Chuvash State Institute of Humanities, pages 314-315
• Doerfer, Gerhard (1967) Türkische und mongolische Elemente im Neupersischen [Turkic and Mongolian Elements in New Persian] (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur: Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission; 20)‎^[2] (in German), volume 3, Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, pages 637-639
• Jegorov, V. G. (1964) “куҫ I”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ čuvašskovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Chuvash Language] (in Russian), Cheboksary: Čuvašskoje knižnoje izdatelʹstvo, page 120
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “göz”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Räsänen, Martti (1969) Versuch eines etymologischen Wörterbuchs der Türksprachen (in German), Helsinki: Suomalais-ugrilainen seura, page 295
• Sevortjan, E. V. (1980) “гөз”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ tjurkskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Turkic Languages] (in Russian), volume 3, Moscow: Nauka, pages 60-63
• Starostin, Sergei, Dybo, Anna, Mudrak, Oleg (2003) “*göŕ”, in Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill
• Tenišev E. R., editor (2001), Sravnitelʹno-istoričeskaja grammatika tjurkskix jazykov: Leksika [Comparative Historical Grammar of Turkic Languages: Lexis] (in Russian), volume 4, Moscow: Nauka, page 209
• Tietze, Andreas (2002, 2009) “göz”, in Tarihi ve Etimolojik Türkiye Türkçesi Lügati [Historical and Etymological Dictionary of Turkish] (in Turkish), volume 3, Istanbul, Vienna, pages 273-274