About the Namings of Horse Colours in the Altaic Languages
50th Annual Meeting of the PIAC, Kazan 2007
Horses’ colours are rather various in the Altaic languages. The abundance of the namings of horses’ colours in the Altaic languages appeared in early antiquity. The appearance of the namings of horses by colour is a characteristic phenomenon which has its own history. [Kobusname, Tashkent, 1968, pg. 68-69].
A colour of horsehair integument, a different colour of horses’ coat, has an important meaning in horse-breeding. Being the most obvious and natural sign, it distinguishes horses, taking into account their entire colour shades.
Formation and spreading of the namings of colours is connected with the nation’s historical past, its idea about real life and level of social and economic development of the society. The namings of many horse colours, existing nowadays, are known to have meant similar concrete things by colouring in antiquity.
Colours are generally reproduced by adjectives of colour of the given language.
As it is known, the Altaic languages as a macrofamily of languages are united on the basis of cobelonging to the Turkic, Mongol and Tungus-Manchu languages.
So, for example, in Tatar as one of the Turkic languages there are nearly forty namings of horse colours: zhiren ‘chestnut’, chaptar ‘liver-chestnut’, burly ‘roan’, almachuar ‘grey in apples’ and so on.
For example, the colour zhiren in the Tatar language means a chestnut horse, this colour of the Tatar language corresponds in the Altaic language to d’eren ‘chestnut’, in the Bashkir language to eren ‘chestnut’, in the Koumyk language to zhiyren ‘chestnut’, in the Mongol language to zheerd ‘chestnut’. As many other colours chestnut horses have various shades of chestnut colour. In the Kirghiz language it is zherde ‘chestnut’, in the Altaic language — zheeren ‘chestnut’, in the Turkmen language — zheren ‘chestnut’, in the Chuvashian language — zhuren ‘chestnut’, in the Yakut language — kytarhoi engneeh ‘chestnut’, in the Karakalpak language — zhiyren ‘chestnut’, in the Uzbek language — zhiyron ‘chestnut’, in the Buryat language — zeerde ‘chestnut’, in the Kalmyk language — zeerd ‘chestnut’, in the Kirghiz language — zherde ‘chestnut’, in the Karachai-Balkar language — k’yzg’yldym sary ‘chestnut’. This horse has chestnut hair, its mane and tail are also chestnut.
As it can be seen, in many Altaic languages the difference of the colour naming zhiren ‘chestnut’ is only revealed in phonetic variations except the Yakut kytarhoi engneeh ‘chestnut’.
In the Manchu language chabdari means a liver-chestnut horse: chestnut-yellow with a white mane and a white tail, liver-chestnut. In the Mongol language it is cabdar, in the Buryat language — sabidar ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Altaic language — chabdar ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Kirghiz language — chabdar ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Tatar language — chaptar ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Chuvashian language — chuptar ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Bashkir language — saptar ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Kazakh and Karakalpak languages — shabdar ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Altaic language — chaldar ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Buryat language — sab’dar ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Bashkir language — saptar ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Kalmyk language — cevdr ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Kirghiz language — chabdar ‘liver-chestnut’, in the Azerbaijan language — ak kuren ‘liver-chestnut’. This horse has chestnut hair, brown (close to bay) to chocolate, with the mane and tail of whitish colour but slightly lighter than stature.
The difference in the horse colour naming chaptar ‘liver-chestnut’ in many Altaic languages also exists only in phonetic variations.
In the Tatar language tury means a bay horse, in the Kirghiz language — toru ‘bay’, in the Turkmen language — dor ‘bay’, in the Chuvashian language — tury ‘bay’, in the Uzbek language — turik ‘bay’, in the Altaic language — ker ‘bay’, in the Yakut language — turachas ‘bay’, in the Karakalpak language — tory ‘bay’, in the Mongol language — heer ‘bay’, in the Bashkir language — tury ‘bay’, in the Kalmyk language — ker ‘bay’, in the Kirghiz language — toru ‘bay’, in the Karachai-Balkar language — toru ‘bay’, in the Azerbaijan language — keher ‘bay’. This horse has a dark-brown hair, black mane and tail.
As is seen here, there is a difference only in phonetic changes except the colour in the Mongol language heer ‘bay’, Kalmyk ker ‘bay’, Azerbaijani keher ‘bay’ which are loan-words from the Persian language.
In the Tatar language kara means a black horse,in the Kirghiz language — kara ‘black’, in the Turkmen language — gara ‘black’, in the Uzbek language — kara ‘black’, in the Altaic language -kara ‘black’, in the Yakut language — suar hara ‘black’, in the Karakalpak language — kara tory ‘black’, in the Uzbek language — kara ‘black’, in the Buryat language — hara ‘black’, in the Bashkir language — kara ‘black’, in the Kalmyk language — har ‘black’, in the Kirghiz language — kara ‘black’, in the Karachai-Balkar language — k’ara ‘black’, in the Azerbaijani language — gara ‘black’.
This horse has black hair, its mane and tail are also black. Here the same picture as above is observed.
As to other namings of horse colours in the Altaic languages the same picture is observed, many namings coincide with some phonetic changes.
Thus, in the Altaic languages various colour shades of horses have an exact and differentiating terminology, the part of which appeared in early antiquity. A great number of horse colours and the ways of their nomination are suggestive of the fact that the horse had an important role in the life of the Altaic people for many years.