MAIASP. 2021. No. 13 Paul David Buell ( Some Notes on Proper Names and Official Titles in the Mongɣol-un
niɣuca tobčiyan: inal/inanča/inaq DOI: 10.53737/2713-2021.2021.62.23.028 Access this
article (PDF File) Pages: 841—851 |
Mongɣol-un niɣuca tobčiyan, the
“Secret History of the Mongol,” is the only work of its kind from the era of
the Mongolian world Empire, it has a complex history
as a text but was originally written in (Middle) Mongolian. It is a
linguistically very rich source, not only for the Mongols but
for many other groups who are seen allied with or appear fighting against the
Mongols, the latter bearers of the power of Eternal Heaven and of the potent
sanction of the ancestors. Thus, in addition to overt political assertions to
guide the new Mongolian Empire, and its rulers’ managers, and commanders, and
containing carefully selected and crafted statements
of events of myth and history. These are designed to buoy up the imperial
state of affairs and Mongolian society in general,
Adapted documents and even works of a literary character are among the
devices used to this end. Given its nature, it is only to
be expected too that the “Secret History” also is a rich source of a full
history behind the scenes of told by the personal names and epithets, and
titles of Mongols, but also the names, epithets, and titles of many
non-Mongols who had military, political and diplomatic contacts with the
Mongols in the early 13th century. These names, epithets,
and titles tell entirely their own story. Thus, grasping their potential
importance, these names, epithets and, titles have been
studied by many researchers, from a variety of perspectives. Here,
we, a Mongolist and a Turkologist,
have banded together, to follow in the footsteps of these investigators who
have gone before, offering our historical-comparative analysis of the related
words inal/inanča/inaq, and their semantic and
morphological structure, examined within a larger context of the “Secret
History” and its monumental, literary linguistic and cultural world. Our analysis will be primarily based on the “Secret History,” but
also on other historical texts and documents, as well as information offered
by Mongolists, but also provided by those in
closely related disciplines, in Turkology in
particular, for example, this is only natural since Mongols and Turks closely
interacted in building an empire, and the new, often mixed cultures that
emerged from it. |
Key words: Mongɣol-un niɣuca tobčiyan,
Middle Mongolian, personal name, title, *ına-. |
Received
July 21, 2021 Accepted
for publication August 12, 2021 |
About the authors: Buell Paul David ( E-mail: paul.buell@ung.edu Erk Kutluay (Bornova/İzmir, E-mail: kutluay.erk@windowslive.com |