Comparing the Names of Animals in the Altun Yaruk Sudur Text with Their Chinese Equivalence
Hacer TokyürekThe Old Uyghur literature is a translation literature in which texts have been translated from many languages. The majority of these are texts with religious content. Even though these religious texts are related to Buddhism, Manichaeism, and other religions, concepts and conceptual areas can be seen in these texts that reflect the Turkish mental structure. One of these conceptual areas involves anima-related vocabulary. This paper compares the animal names mentioned in the Old Uyghur Altun Yaruk Sudur text with the T0663 and T0665 versions of the Sutra of Golden Light, which has three versions in Chinese. When examined in general terms, the Old Uyghur Altun Yaruk Sudur text and the Chinese texts do not coincide exactly with one another, because while the Chinese texts are shorter, the Old Uyghur text is longer. This shows that translators had made some omissions while translating, and as a result, the Old Uyghur text has acquired the identity of a translation copyright rather than a translation. In addition, 39 animal names with Chinese equivalents have been identified in the Altun Yaruk Sudur text, and comparing them with the Chinese text reveals how many of the words are semantically equivalent or not. Thus, the article reveals how much the Uyghur translator adhered to or deviated from the text while translating, as well as how animal names were reflected in the Old Uyghur mental structure.
Altun Yaruk Sudur Metnindeki Hayvan Adlarının Çince Denklikleri ile Karşılaştırılması
Hacer TokyürekBir çeviri edebiyatı olan Eski Uygur Edebiyatında pek çok dilden metin tercüme edilmiştir. Bunların büyük bir çoğunluğu da özellikle dinî içerikli metinlerdir. Bu dinî içerikli metinler her ne kadar Budizm, Manihaizm ya da diğer dinlerle ilgili olsa da metinlerin içerisinde Türk zihin yapısını yansıtan kavramları ve kavram alanlarını görmek mümkündür. Bu kavram alanlarından biri de havyanlar ile ilgili söz varlığıdır. Çalışmada Eski Uygurca Altun Yaruk Sudur metninde geçen hayvan adları Çince üç versiyonu bulunan Sūtra’nın T0663 ve T0665 versiyonları ile karşılaştırılmıştır. Genel itibarıyla incelendiğinde Eski Uygurca Altun Yaruk Sudur metni ile Çince metinler birbiriyle birebir örtüşmemektedir. Çünkü Çince metin daha kısayken Eski Uygurca metin daha uzundur. Bu da mütercimlerin çeviri yaparken bir takım tasarruflarda bulunduklarını, bundan kaynaklı olarak da metnin çeviriden ziyade tercüme-telif hüviyeti kazandığını göstermektedir. Bunun yanında konuyla ilgili olarak Altun Yaruk Sudur metninde Çince denkliği bulunan 39 hayvan adı tespit edilmiş ve bunlar Çince metin ile karşılaştırılarak kelimelerin anlamsal denkliklerinin olup olmadığı tespit edilmiştir. Böylece Uygur müterciminin çeviri yaparken metne ne kadar bağlı kaldığı ya da kalmadığı da ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Bunun yanında Türk zihin yapısındaki hayvan adları ortaya konulmuştur.
When examining the Old Uyghur literature in general terms, religious texts in particular were translated from languages such as Chinese, Sogdian, and Tocharian, and therefore Old Uyghur has been described as a translation literature. One of these translated texts is the Altun Yaruk Sudur text, which was translated from Sanskrit to Chinese and then from Chinese to Uyghur. Each translation text contains additions and deletions, with three different versions of this text occurring in Chinese. These texts are included in T0663, T0664, and T0665 in Volume 16 of the Taishō texts. The Old Uyghur Altun Yaruk Sudur text has been translated from the Chinese version T0665. This text and the Old Uyghur text are not precisely compatible. For example, because the Süü section of the Altun Yaruk Sudur text was not included in the T0665 version, Zieme compared his work with T663. This may be an indication that the translator had also known other versions. In addition, when comparing the Chinese T0665 text to the Uyghur equivalent, the texts are seen to not have full equivalence, with the Chinese text here being shorter and the Old Uyghur text longer. The best example of this situation is Chapter 6 of Book 4 of the Altun Yaruk Sudur text. This is an indication that the translator did not just translate the work but also copyrighted the work. In addition, when examining the semantic equivalence of the Old Uyghur text to the Chinese text, the original Chinese text and the Uyghur text are understood to not be semantically equivalent, which means that the Uyghur translator had acted very liberally when translating. Therefore, one may need to be careful when interpreting Uyghur words or texts by looking directly at the Chinese text.
Although the Altun Yaruk Sudur text is a religious text, many conceptual areas in the text should be evaluated separately due to the fact that the vocabulary is Turkish, one of these being the area of animal concepts. The animal world has a very important place for Turks, as for other peoples. Therefore, historical texts should be examined carefully in order to reveal the animal world and the geography of the Turks. Attention should be paid to the texts in which these animal names are used, and whether these texts are translations or not should also be considered within the scope of evaluation. Thus, the animal world or geography will perhaps be better revealed based on the animal names in Turkish texts. Thirty-nine animal names have been identified in the Altun Yaruk Sudur text, and these can be listed as: adgır [stallion], arslan [lion], at [horse], balık [fish], bars [Siberian leopard], böri [wolf], çaluk atlıg kurtk(ı) ya [leech], çipin çivez [fly and mosquito], enük [baby of wild animals], eşgek [donkey], iŋek [cow], irbis [Siberian panther], kara kab/vuŋ [black bee], karakuş [hawk, eagle], iŋek [crow], karsak [steppe fox], kaz [goose], keyik [wild, wild animal], koyn [sheep], kögürçgen atay [baby pigeon], kurt koŋguz [wolf and insect, worm and insect], kuş [bird], kuş kuzgun [bird; raven], laçın [falcon], manu [steppe cat, Pallas’ cat], müyüz baka [turtle, tortoise], ödirek [duck], sarıg öŋlüg kuşgaçk(ı)ya [oriole, Oriolus chinensis], semirgük [wren], sıçgank(ı)ya [little mouse, rat], siŋekkeye [little fly, housefly], takugu [chicken], tavışgan [hare, rabbit], tilkü [fox], toŋuz [pig], ud [cattle], ügi [owl], yılkı [animal], and yuy kuş [peacock]. Here, the article has compared all the animal names mentioned in the Uyghur text to the Chinese equivalents in order to reveal which words are semantically related to the Chinese text and understand how much the translator had adhered to the text and how freely he had acted. This allows one to estimate which animals were present in the Turkish geography.
