Kalbak-Tash XVII (A-40)

Description

The inscription is located on plane III; it is the utmost left inscription at the bottom; it is one vertical line. The length of the line is 17,1cm. The inscription has 9 signs, their height varies. The first signs are mostly 3,2–3,5 cm high; the rest of the signs gets smaller and smaller to the end: from 5,1 to 3,7cm. It was discovered by V. D. Kubarev in 1987. D.D. Vasil’ev considers that it is a part of an inscription that is considered by I.L. Kyzlasov to be two different ones; he gives them two numbers: Kalbak-Tash XVII and XVIII. D.D. Vasil’ev published both of them as one inscription under the number А-49.

Reading of D.D. Vasil’evа

Runic transliteration:

Transcription: atı yeg içi yıpar ini esizim e…

Translation in to Turkish: Onun adı Yeg eçi Yıpar ini heyhat!”

(Vasil’ev 1995: 94)

Translation into English (by the authors): His name is Yeg Ichi Yypar Ini. Oh, pity! Oh, grief to me!

Reading of I. L. Kyzlasov

Transliteration: t¹ (j²) g č (a) k p r ¹{a}

Transcription: t(a)jγ(a)č.. q(a)p(a)r

Translation: Those who leave (the way of the faith) are caught (by devils).

(Kyzlasov 2004: 85)

Reading of L.N.Tybykova, I.A. Nevskaya and M. Erdal

Runic transliteration:

Transliteration: t¹ b¹ g² č A y² p r¹ A

Transcription: t(a)bg(a)č-a y(ï)p(a)r-a / y(a)p(a)r-a

Translation: Chinese perfume / The Chinese are building (something).

Comments

1. The word ‘Chinese’ is transcribed as t(a)bg(a)č ~ t(a)vg(a)č. The third sound of this word was a bilabial fricative consonant β, which is rendered in the runic script by the sign b. The same sign also serves to render the plosive b. In the tradition of Western Turcology, for the transcription of the bilabial fricative sound the sign v is used; in IPA it means a labial-dental consonant. In Old Turkic, b and β were allophones of the same phoneme /b/. The fricative allophone was used between vowels and in the end of words; the plosive allophone was used in other positions.

2. g² in the word t(a)bg(a)č could be used to render a voiced backlingual plosive consonant in order to distinguish it from a fricative consonant that is usually denoted by the sign g¹.