Roza Tadinova
Institute of Linguistics of RAS

The word igä in the belief of Turkic ethnicities

47th Meeting of the PIAC, Cambridge 2004

In the article the word igä, spirit-master, is analyzed which was an important compound part of the traditional world outlook of ancient Turkic ethnicities. The word igä as preserved in Turkic languages and kept alive by native speakers till our days conveys ancient belief systems: tengrianism and shamanism. Various versions of the etymology of this word are considered.