Dialectal elements in the vocabulary of the Uyghur Khanate inscriptions

One of the significant problems with Old Turkic inscriptions is that it is not known by which peoples’ or tribe’s Turkic language the inscriptions were written in. Although among the clans and persons who wrote and erected the large inscriptions of the Turkic and Uyghur Khanates, those of Köl Tegin, Bilge Kaghan, Şine Usu, Tariat, Tes and Karabalghasun I were identified, the peoples or clans having erected the other inscriptions are mostly unknown. The most serious problem encountered by researchers in consideration of the tribal seals present in the inscriptions is the uncertainty whether the seal belonged to the tribe that wrote or erected the inscription, or the tribe that was in power at that time. This paper investigates the inscriptions of the Uyghur Khanate. Our scrutiny is based on the examination of the peculiarities of the Uyghur Khanate inscriptions which cannot be observed in any other inscriptions of Mongolia, Yenisei, Altai and Kyrgyzstan. By substituting these peculiar words with other words to be found in other inscriptions, an attempt has been made to prove that these words are Uyghur dialectal words. After an inquiry whether the words were used subsequent to the runic period, etymological suggestions concerning the words have also been put forward.