THE LEXICAL SYSTEM OF THE WRITTEN MONUMENT «DANA HIKAR» AND ITS HISTORICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

The article presents a historical-linguistic analysis of the lexical composition of
one of the monuments of Old Turkic written heritage, “Dana Hikar.” The monument is language
enables the identification of key features in its vocabulary, semantic organization, and culturally
informed cognitive patterns during the period of early Turkic literary language formation. The aim
of the study is to characterize the lexical units of the text from thematic-semantic, structural, and
etymological perspectives and to determine their role in the historical development of the
language. The published versions of the «Dana Hikar» text served as the research material. The
study employed comparative-historical and descriptive methods, as well as semantic field and
componential analysis. The lexical units were classified into native Turkic vocabulary, borrowed
elements, and fixed expressions. The findings demonstrate that the predominant layer of the
monument’s vocabulary consists of Common Turkic native lexicon. Lexical units related to social
structure, governance, moral values, and everyday life are widely represented. In addition,
borrowings from Arabic and Iranian languages denoting religious-ethical and abstract concepts
were identified. The text actively employs metaphorical expressions, didactic formulae, and
paremial constructions. The interaction of lexical strata reflects the level of development of the
Old Turkic literary language and the cultural contacts of the period. The vocabulary of the «Dana
Hikar» monument constitutes a significant source for studying the lexical composition, semantic
structure, and worldview system of the Old Turkic language. The lexical units of the text reveal
the historical continuity of Turkic languages and the formation of literary language norms.