𐰴𐰆𐰨𐰆𐰖

qunčuy

Meaning:
princess, noble woman, wife of a beg
Details:
From the Chinese phrase kung chu “daughter of the emperor”, a title that entered Turkic usage through marriages in which daughters of the Chinese emperor were given as brides to favoured xağans (Clauson 1972). The word soon broadened to mean “consort, wife”, even when neither spouse was royal.

In modern languages

Select a region to see the cognate.
Language Cognate
Turkmen -
Turkish (Azerbaijan) -
Turkish (Türkiye) -
Salar -
Gagauz -
Crimean -
Uyghur -
Uzbek -
Kazakh -
Nogai -
Siberian Tatar -
Kyrgyz -
Altai -
Alan -
Kumyk -
Tatar -
Bashkir -
Tıva -
Khakas -
Sakha (Yakut, Dolgan) -
Khalaj -
Chuvash -

Examples

Translations

German:
Prinzessin, adelige Frau, die Frau des Herrn, edle Dame
Russian:
принцесса, знатная дама, жена бека
Turkish (Azerbaijan):
şahzadə xanım, bəy xanım
Turkish (Türkiye):
prenses, soylu kadın, bey eşi
  • Clauson (1972) An etimological dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish p. 635
    F kunçu:y the Chinese phr. kung chu ‘daughter of the emperor’ (Giles 6,568 (q.v.) 2526), which reached the Türkü when actual (or more often alleged) daughters of the Chinese Emperor were sent as brides to favoured xağans. It soon came to be used for ‘consort, wife’, even when neither husband nor wife were in fact royal. N.o.a.b., but also noted in Pe., Doerfer III 1585. Türkü viii (their ruler was Bars Beg) xağan atığ bunta: biz bertimiz, siŋlim kunçuyu:ğ bertimiz ‘we thereupon gave him the title of xağan and my younger sister as consort’ I E 20, II E 17; (my mother, the xatun, my stepmothers, my elder sisters, my daughters-in-law) kunçuylarım ‘my consorts’ I N 9: viii ff. (a beg . . . came to his residence) üçü:nç kunçu:yı: urı:lanmış ‘his third wife had given birth to a son’ IrkB 5: Man. (in a list of dignitaries, etc.) kunçuylar ‘the royal consorts’ TT II 8, 64; (in a similar list) teŋriken kunçuy ‘the devout royal consort’ M III 36, 4 (ii): Yen. kunçu:y, often in the phr. kuyda: kunçu:yım ‘my consort in the women’s apartments’ (see 1 kuy), is included in the standard list of persons from whom the deceased is parted by death Mal. 27, 2 etc.: Uyğ. viii ff. sizler lu xanı kunçuyı mu sizler ‘are you consorts of the dragon king?’ PP 43, 3-4; içlig kunçuylar ‘pregnant wives’ TT X 37-8; a.o. U III 54, 5 (II 23, 19, kıl-): Civ. (if a child is misplaced) kayu kunçuylarnıŋ karnınta ‘in the womb of any married woman’ TT VII 27, 15; a.o.? kunşı TT I 156 (utlı:lığ): O. Kır. ix ff. as in Türkü viii ff. Yen.: Xak. xi kunçu:y al-sayyida mina’l-nisā’ ‘a noblewoman’ one step (bi-daraca) below the xātūn; hence one says ka:tu:n kunçu:y Kaş. III 240.