Some Features of the Proto-Turkic World: Reconstructing Monosyllables

Disputes about Altaic (Transeurasian) kinship make the issue of the origins of the Turkic language continuum a relevant scientific area. To address this problem, Turkology and Altaic studies use a transdisciplinary approach. The article attempts to reconstruct some features of the Proto-Turkic world by comparing monosyllabism in the Yakut, Chuvash, Tuvan, Kyrgyz, and the Turkic Ursprache languages against a comparative-historical background. The diverse methodology and transdisciplinary approach lead to the denial of the theory of Transeurasian kinship. The correlation between the worlds of the Xiongnu and the Ursprache Turks, the Proto-Turks and the slab-grave culture represents an exclusively authorial concept, making no claim to absolute truth and requiring further verification. The diversification of the Proto-Turkic population occurred in Mongolia, where evidence of linguistic diversity was found in the Turkic Ursprache. The Turkic language continuum did not arise as a result of the divergence (disintegration) of the Altaic (Transeurasian) proto-language, but as a result of the early convergence of the Proto-Turks and Caucasoid populations and their languages within the slab-grave and deer stones (kereksur) cultures. This took place during the period between the 13th–12th centuries BC and the 8th–7th centuries (or 9th–8th centuries) BC in Southern Buryatia and Mongolia, leading to the transition of the Caucasoid populations to Proto-Turkic and its subsequent divergence. Probably, these events were reflected in Chinese narratives about the relationship between the Di and Rong and the ancestors of the Xiongnu. The Proto-Turkic world is associated with the change of seasons, steppes, mountains, pastures, and abundant water bodies, as well as with periodic extreme weather events leading to livestock deaths due to a lack of food. The nomadic Proto-Turks were engaged in sewing, hewing, making bows, and producing oil, and they also had knowledge of writing and arithmetic.

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