A LATE CHAGATAI MANUSCRIPT CONTAINING THE BIBI SESHANBA PARABLE

Authors : Serkan Çakmak

Pages : 85-98

Doi:10.59257/turkbilig.1517535

View : 112 | Download : 68

Publication Date : 2025-06-26

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Local colloquialism increasingly influenced the formation of the late Chagatai written language. The vernacularization brought about a great deal of innovation, ranging from orthography to vocabulary in the literary language. Vernacular influences are especially intense in folk texts. In order to identify the local elements and innovations in the late Chagatai written language that are not present in classical texts, this paper focuses on a folk text. This text expresses the Bibi Seshanba parable, which is the core of the Oshi Bibi Seshanba ritual, and describes how the people should perform it. Researchers were able to identify, to date, only three lithographed copies of the narration. However, there is also an unknown manuscript copy. The unknown manuscript copy is the primary focus of our investigation. The Uzbek Sufi lodge in Jerusalem houses the manuscript in question. The research framework provides general information about the Bibi Seshanba parable and ritual, describes and transcribes the manuscript, translates it into English, and explores the local elements and innovations in the text\\\'s language. In transcription and translation, it has been referred to the lithographed copies to complete the missing parts. While analyzing the phonology, morphology, and vocabulary of the text, the findings were compared with their counterparts in modern Uzbek and Uyghur languages to determine the origin of local elements. Consequently, it has been revealed that the manuscript, which lacks any colophon about its penned time, was written in the late Chagatai written language, which bears traces of the local colloquial languages of the period.
Keywords : Geç Çağatayca, Bibi Seşenbe kıssası, yerelleşme, konuşma dili, yazma, Uygur, Özbek.

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