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Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk ديوان لغات الترك
Presidential Library
Early world map from Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk
Also known as	Compendium of the languages of the Turks
Type	Dictionary
Date	1072-74
Place of origin	Baghdad
Language(s)	Arabic Khaqani Turkic
Author(s)	Mahmud al-Kashgari
Patron	Kara-Khanid Khanate
Dedicated to	Abbasid caliphs
Script	Arabic script
Contents	Comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages
Exemplar(s)	One
Previously kept	National Library of Turkey
Discovered	Ali Amiri

The Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk (Arabic: 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.

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. 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.

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.

Content

Mahmud al-Kashgari's comprehensive dictionary, later edited by the Turkish historian, Ali Amiri, contains specimens of old Turkic poetry in the typical form of quatrains of Persian literature (Azerbaijani: dördəm, Persian رباعیات ruba'i; Turkish: 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.

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.

Location

It has been previously housed at the National Library in Istanbul, but as of February 2020 is in display at the Presidential Library in Ankara.

See also

• Kutadgu Bilig, another book in Karakhanid dated to the 11th century.

References

1. ^ "Başkan Erdoğan Millet Kütüphanesinin açılışını yaptı ve duyurdu! Önemli eserler burada görülebilecek". Sabah. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
2. Yong, Heming; Peng, Jing (14 August 2008). Chinese Lexicography: A History from 1046 BC to AD 1911. OUP Oxford. pp. 379–380. ISBN 978-0-19-156167-2.
3. ^ Kemal H. Karpat, Studies on Turkish Politics and Society:Selected Articles and Essays, (Brill, 2004), 441.
4. ^ Roudik, Peter, The History of the Central Asian Republics, (Greenwood Press, 2007), 175.
5. ^ 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.
6. Heming Yong; Jing Peng (14 August 2008). Chinese Lexicography : A History from 1046 BC to AD 1911: A History from 1046 BC to AD 1911. OUP Oxford. pp. 379–80. ISBN 978-0-19-156167-2.
7. DÎVÂNÜ LUGĀTİ’t-TÜRK (Turkish) TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
8. "ديوان لغات الترك (Dîvânu Lugâti't-Türk) (Kitap)". Evrim Ağacı (in Turkish).
9. Tekeli, Sevim (1986). The oldest map of Japan drawn by a Turk Mahmud of Kashgar and the map of America by Piri Reis. Atatürk Cultural Center. pp. 665–671.
10. "The Oldest Map of Japan Drawn by Mahmud of Kashgar". 3 January 2007.
11. Varis Abdurrahman (2003). "Tarihi Türk Şehri Balasagun Hakkında Yeni İncelemeler". Belleten (in Turkish). 67 (250): 771–780. doi:10.37879/belleten.2003.771.
12. Hamza Zülfikar (January 2014). "Fark Edilmeyen Türkçedeki Oldubittiler" (PDF). Türk Dili (in Turkish). CVI (745): 25.
13. MUSTAFA S. KAÇALİN (1988–2016). "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.". TDV Encyclopedia of Islam (44+2 vols.) (in Turkish). Istanbul: Turkiye Diyanet Foundation, Centre for Islamic Studies.
14. King, Anya H. (9 January 2017). Scent from the Garden of Paradise. Musk and the Medieval Islamic World. BRILL. p. 120. ISBN 978-90-04-33631-5.

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