Turkic runes: history and meaning of symbols

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The word "rune" comes from an Old Norse root that means "whisper, mystery, secret." So the ancient Germans called the signs, which, in addition to written use, were used as magical symbols. The magical power of runes is now of interest to many researchers. Interestingly, similar writing was found not only in Europe, but also in Asia. These runes are called Turkic.

What are runes?

Runes are elements of a special alphabet, different from others in that, in addition to the communicative function, they also performed the role of sacred knowledge.

These sacred elements originate from the Scandinavian lands. Runic writing was used to exchange information. Runes were drawn on rocks, stones and told about the legends and myths of Scandinavia. Most often, noble families were engaged in the inscription of runes, which left their signatures of titles everywhere, even in temples. But there were commonerswho knew grammar, who also did engraving.

A rune is a drawn symbol that conveys the phonetics of a single letter or syllable. They represent both vowels and consonants.

There are a huge number of rune rows. We will talk about one of them in this article. In particular, about the runes found in Asia.

Theories of the origin of the Turkic runic tradition

When the Turkic runes were first discovered, many researchers began to study their origin.

B. Thomsen in 1882 deciphered the Turkic runic script. And he suggested that this writing originates in the Aramaic script with an admixture of Pahlevian and Sogdian. Domestic scientist V. Livshits shared Thomsen's theory and thought through the stages of changing the Aramaic script, which led to the formation of the Turkic runic script.

Another Russian scientist N. A. Aristov believes that the Turkic runes arose from tamgin signs that existed before the Aramaic script. And E. Polivanov suggested that the symbols of runic writing resemble elements of Sogdian writing.

The most reasonable theory of the origin of the Turkic writing is the Sogdian influence. The oldest Turkic inscription dates back to 570 AD - the Bugut stele (Mongolia, Orkhon River region).

Research of ancient Turkic writing

The first information about the ancient Turkic monuments with runic inscriptions appeared during the time of Peter I. And a detailed study of the monuments began in the first half of the 18th century after the expeditions of Messerschmidt andStrallenberg in 1721-1722 in the Minusian steppes.

In 1889, N. M. Yadrintsev discovered Orkhon monuments with runic writing in Mongolia. After this discovery, it was possible to judge the grammatical structure of the letter. And in 1893, W. Thomsen, the famous philologist, deciphered these inscriptions.

Subsequently, historical monuments of Turkic runic writing were discovered near the Yenisei River. About 40 Finnish expeditions were sent to this area, translations of the Yenisei inscriptions were made. And in the middle of the 20th century, the Russian scientist S. E. Malov published the texts of the Orkhon and Yenisei monuments of Turkic runic writing.

The difference between Eastern and Western runic writing

Having studied the ancient Turkic runic writing, looking at the alphabet of Turkic runes, even the most ignorant one can assume that they are very similar to Western Germanic runes in terms of writing.

Scientists offer several options for the emergence of Turkic runic writing:

1. Turkic runes are of purely Germanic origin. That is, runes found in the east originate in the west.
2. Ancient Turkic runes are older than Western ones. Therefore, the Germanic runes originated from the Eastern Turkic runes.
3. Eastern runes have nothing to do with German ones.
4. And finally, both western and eastern runes have one common ancestor.

Yes, the ancient Turkic runes are very similar in writing to the German ones. However, the phonetics are different. For example, the ancient German rune Otal reads like the Russian "o".

Exactly the same rune of Turkic origin is read as "b", "eb". The graphemes are identical, but the phonetics are different.

However, if we look at the vocabulary, we will see that the Otal rune means "home, native land". And the Turkic rune means "hut, shack." That is, the lexical content of the runes is similar. Therefore, there is no need to talk about complete dissimilarity, as well as about different origins.

Magic properties of Eastern runes

Many researchers believe that in ancient times, the runes were not only the meaning of writing to convey information to descendants, but were also some kind of magical elements with which one could practice magic.

In the modern world, the use of runes for magic is ubiquitous. Turkic runes are especially popular. There are several reasons for this:

1. They have few meanings.
2. There are paired runes, the meaning of which changes depending on whether they are next to each other or one at a time.
3. 9 runes can be written in two ways
4. Eastern rune defines not just a specific object or process, but characterizes them.
5. Runes are defined by an adjective.

Most often, modern runologists use runes as a protective amulet. At the same time combining western and eastern. Turkic runes in this case play the role of clarification in magical protection. With their help, it is easy to choose the necessary adjective for the amulet.

For example, in order to make such an amulet, you need to pick up a rune that will designateobject of protection, then a rune reflecting the danger threatening the object. And then we will choose the Turkic eastern rune for an adjective that enhances the effect of the reflecting force.

In addition to making protective amulets, one can guess with the help of Turkic runes. To do this, you must constantly carry a bag with them. And use it at the right time, mentally asking a question and pulling it out of the bag. Turkic runes and their meaning can be found below.

Interpretation of ancient Turkic runes

The interpretation of runes is associated with magic, so serious scientists do not research the mystical side. Although many do not exclude the possibility of a connection between runic writing and magic.

The meaning of the Turkic runes is shown in the table below.

Rune	Meaning
I	gain
O	boomerang
U	support
A	light
Y	base
T	flame
S	delete
R	spearfish
N	growth
L	freedom
G	flexibility
D	hiding
B	hearth
Ng	denunciation
Z	cycle
Sh	threat
P	weakness
M	movementforward
Ch	debt
K	undermining
Q	ice
Nt	spy
Lt	speed
Ny	mixing
Nch	protection
Divider	pause

This interpretation of ancient Eastern runes is provided by runologists Mylene Maelinhon and Liri Kavvira.

Photo of Turkic runes

Below you can see photos of ancient monuments of oriental runic writing.

These monuments are of Turkic origin.

The photo shows that the runes are located close to each other, without indents.

Researchers have found that Turkic runes can be read both from right to left and from left to right.

The found monuments are high steles with inscriptions. In most cases, they describe the myths, legends and history of the Turkic peoples.

The history of Eastern runes is very ancient. It is impossible to determine the exact origin of the alphabet of the Turkic runes. It remains only to speculate and look for grounds for a particular theory. The fact remains undoubted that the ancient Turkic runes existed and were the first letters for subsequent Turkish writing.