A MYSTERIOUS ANIMAL CALLED AL-WARK Cover Image
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A MYSTERIOUS ANIMAL CALLED AL-WARK
A MYSTERIOUS ANIMAL CALLED AL-WARK

Author(s): Krzysztof Tomasz Witczak
Subject(s): Language studies, Historical Linguistics, Comparative Linguistics, Turkic languages
Published by: Akadémiai Kiadó
Keywords: historical-comparative linguistics; Tocharian languages; animal names; oriental borrowings; Turkic languages;

Summary/Abstract: The paper examines the mysterious term al-wark, which – according to Maḥmūd of Kāşğarī (11th century AD) – denotes a small animal similar to a badger (Turk. borsmuk) in the Xakani language. This animal was treated as a symbol of fatness. It is suggested that the term in question was borrowed from a Tocharian source. The Indo-European term *wṛḱos (m.) ‘badger’ (originally ‘fat animal’, cf. Hittite warkant- adj. ‘fat’) is reconstructed on the basis of Indic, Greek and Anatolian lexical data.

  • Issue Year: 68/2015
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 335-339
  • Page Count: 5
  • Language: English
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