Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk

{{Short description|Earliest known dictionary of Turkic Languages}}

{{Infobox manuscript

| name = Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk
{{nobold|{{lang|ar|ديوان لغات الترك}}}}

| location = Presidential Library{{cite web |url=https://www.sabah.com.tr/galeri/turkiye/baskan-erdogan-millet-kutuphanesinin-acilisini-yapti-ve-duyurdu-onemli-eserler-burada-gorulebilecek |title=Başkan Erdoğan Millet Kütüphanesinin açılışını yaptı ve duyurdu! Önemli eserler burada görülebilecek |publisher=Sabah |accessdate=2020-02-20}}

| image = Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk (original).jpg

| width =

| caption = Early world map from Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk{{cite book |last1=Yong |first1=Heming |last2=Peng |first2=Jing |title=Chinese Lexicography: A History from 1046 BC to AD 1911 |date=14 August 2008 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-156167-2 |pages=379–380 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NYFBtTUZFxEC&pg=PA379 |language=en}}

| Also known as = Compendium of the languages of the Turks

| Type = Dictionary

| Date = 1072-74

| Place of origin = Baghdad

| Language(s) = Arabic
Khaqani Turkic

| Scribe(s) =

| Author(s) = Mahmud al-Kashgari

| Compiled by =

| Illuminated by =

| Patron = Kara-Khanid Khanate

| Dedicated to = Abbasid caliphs

| Material =

| Size =

| Format =

| Condition =

| Script = Arabic script

| Contents = Comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages

| Illumination(s) =

| Additions =

| Exemplar(s) = One

| Previously kept = National Library of Turkey

| Discovered = Ali Amiri

| Other =

| below =

}}

The {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk}} ({{langx|ar|ديوان لغات الترك}}; translated to English as the Compendium of the languages of the Turks) is the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, compiled between 1072–74 by the Kara-Khanid scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari, who extensively documented the Turkic languages of his time.Kemal H. Karpat, Studies on Turkish Politics and Society:Selected Articles and Essays, (Brill, 2004), 441.{{cite book|author1=Heming Yong|author2=Jing Peng|title=Chinese Lexicography : A History from 1046 BC to AD 1911: A History from 1046 BC to AD 1911|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NYFBtTUZFxEC&pg=PA379|date=14 August 2008|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-156167-2|pages=379–80}}

Importance

Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk was intended for use by the Caliphs of Baghdad, who were controlled by the Seljuk Turks. It has a map that shows countries and regions from Japan (Cabarka / Jabarka) to Egypt. The book also included the first known map of the areas inhabited by Turkic peoples.[https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/divanu-lugatit-turk DÎVÂNÜ LUGĀTİ’t-TÜRK (Turkish)] TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi. Retrieved 30 June 2020. The book was dedicated to Abu'l-Qasim Abdullah in Baghdad in 1077. The manuscript has 638 pages, and about 7500 Turkish words explained in the Arab language.{{cite web |title=ديوان لغات الترك (Dîvânu Lugâti't-Türk) (Kitap) |url=https://evrimagaci.org/eser/-dvnu-lugtitturk-3176 |website=Evrim Ağacı |language=tr}}

The compendium documented evidence of Turkic migration and the expansion of the Turkic tribes and Turkic languages into Central Asia, Eastern Europe and West Asia, mainly between the 6th and 11th centuries. The region of origin of the Turkic people is suggested to be somewhere in Siberia and Mongolia. By the 10th century most of Central Asia was settled by Turkic tribes such as Tatar, Kipchaks, Türkmen, etc. The Seljuq dynasty settled in Anatolia starting in the 11th century, ultimately resulting in permanent Turkic settlement and presence there. Meanwhile, other Turkic tribes either ultimately formed independent nations, such as Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, and others new enclaves within other nations, such as Chuvashia, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, the Crimean Tatars, the Uyghurs in China, and the Sakha Republic in Siberia.{{Cite book |last=Tekeli |first=Sevim |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/696830 |title=The oldest map of Japan drawn by a Turk Mahmud of Kashgar and the map of America by Piri Reis |publisher=Atatürk Cultural Center |year=1986 |pages=665–671|author-link=Sevim Tekeli}}{{Cite web|url=https://muslimheritage.com/the-oldest-map-of-japan-drawn-by-mahmud-of-kashgar/|title=The Oldest Map of Japan Drawn by Mahmud of Kashgar|date=3 January 2007}}

Content

Mahmud al-Kashgari's comprehensive dictionary, later edited by the Turkish historian, Ali Amiri,Ali Amiri, R. Mantran, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, ed. H.A.R. Gibb, J.H. Kramers, E. Levi-Provencal and J. Schacht, (E.J. Brill, 1986), 391. contains specimens of old Turkic poetry in the typical form of quatrains of Persian literature ({{langx|az|dördəm}}, Persian {{lang|fa|رباعیات}} ruba'i; {{langx|tr|dörtlük}}), representing all the principal genres: epic, pastoral, didactic, lyric, and elegiac.

The words from Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk were used during the Turkification attempts shortly after the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, including atasagun.{{cite journal|author=Varis Abdurrahman|title=Tarihi Türk Şehri Balasagun Hakkında Yeni İncelemeler|journal=Belleten|volume=67|issue=250|year=2003|doi=10.37879/belleten.2003.771|pages=771–780|language=tr}}{{cite journal|author=Hamza Zülfikar|title=Fark Edilmeyen Türkçedeki Oldubittiler|journal=Türk Dili|date=January 2014|volume=CVI|issue=745|page=25

|url=https://tdk.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/20140108.pdf|language=tr}}

Two main Turkic dialects were emphasized in the work. One of these is Khaqani Turkic, which is described as the "most subtle and elegant of the Turkic dialects", and the other is Oghuz (Western) Turkic, which is defined as "the easiest of the Turkic dialects". Although the book focuses on Khaqani Turkic, an important place is also given to Oghuz Turkic. The number of words taken as headings in the book is around 8,000. Accordingly, there are 185 words from the Oghuz dialect, 45 from the Kipchak dialect, 39 from the Chigil dialect, 36 from the Argu dialect, 23 from the Yagma dialect, 13 from the Kençek dialect, 7 from the Tuhsi, 4 from the Suvar, each two 2 from the Khotan, Yabaku, and Kay dialects were recorded.{{TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/divanu-lugatit-turk|title=DÎVÂNÜ LUGĀTİ’t-TÜRK ديوان لغات الترك Kâşgarlı Mahmud tarafından Araplar’a Türkçe’yi öğretmek ve Türkçe’nin Arapça kadar zengin bir dil olduğunu göstermek maksadıyla yazılan ilk Türk dili sözlüğü.|author=MUSTAFA S. KAÇALİN}}

Location

It has been previously housed at the National Public Library in Istanbul,Roudik, Peter, The History of the Central Asian Republics, (Greenwood Press, 2007), 175. and later in the Millet Manuscript Library (Millet Yazma Kütüphanesi), with inventory number Arabi Kit. 4189.{{Cite news |title=Compendium of the Turkic Dialects |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/compendium-turkic-dialects |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241202042011/https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/compendium-turkic-dialects |archive-date=2024-12-02 |access-date=2025-01-06 |work=UNESCO Memory of the World |language=en}} As of February 2020 it is on display at the Presidential Library in Ankara.{{cite web |url=https://www.sabah.com.tr/galeri/turkiye/baskan-erdogan-millet-kutuphanesinin-acilisini-yapti-ve-duyurdu-onemli-eserler-burada-gorulebilecek |title=Başkan Erdoğan Millet Kütüphanesinin açılışını yaptı ve duyurdu! Önemli eserler burada görülebilecek |publisher=Sabah |accessdate=2020-02-20}}