Religious Concepts in the Language of the Written Monument Codex Cumanicus: Turkic Worldview and Semantic Evolution

Abstract

The article presents a linguistic analysis of the religious lexicon in the medieval manuscript «Codex Cumanicus». The research focuses on religious concepts such as payγambar (prophet), šeriat (sharia), oruç (fast), qurban (sacrifice), sadaqa/sadaγa (alms), täube (repentance), šükür (gratitude), sabur (patience), medet (help), and niуet (intention). The article examines their usage features in the language of the medieval manuscript, phonetic characteristics, and historical development. Historical-comparative, phonetic, and semantic methods were applied, and the adaptation features of Arabic-Persian terms to the Turkic linguistic environment were identified. As a result, it is shown that the religious lexicon of the manuscript is systematically formed, and the role of Turkic peoples in the religious and cultural system is reflected. The findings of the article can serve as an important scientific source for studying the historical lexicology and religious terminology of Turkic languages. By analyzing the semantic structure of the mentioned religious lexis, the authors identify the patterns of formation of confessional terms in the medieval Kipchak language. During the study, particular attention is paid to the linguo-cultural features resulting from the synthesis of Islamic concepts with the Turkic worldview. In this regard, the genetic continuity of the analyzed terminological layer with the lexical fund of the modern Kazakh language is scientifically substantiated.