äşgäk

Meaning:
donkey

äşgäk is directly attested in Old Turkic texts. The reduced variant äşäk is already early: loss of the medial velar reflects the fricative pronunciation of g; Dīwān Luġāt al-Turk also has äşyäk, showing g > y. Oghuz reflexes without a medial consonant nevertheless support original g, not k.

The etymology is disputed. Clauson tentatively derives äşgäk from äş- “to amble” as a deverbal noun, while Räsänen derives it from *eş “companion” plus diminutive -(g)äk. Starostin–Dybo–Mudrak compare it with Mongolic *elǯigen and Tungusic *eji-ken within their disputed Altaic reconstruction *eĺčgek > eşşgek. Ünal (2022) instead proposes *ät₂gä “donkey”, derived from *ät₂i “ear” with an original sense ‘eared (animal)’; this newer proposal remains hypothetical.

In modern languages

Select a region to see the cognate.
Language Cognate
Turkmen eşek
Turkish (Azerbaijan) eşşək
Turkish (Türkiye) eşek
Salar eşek
Gagauz eşek
Crimean eşek
Uyghur éşek
Uzbek eşak
Kazakh esek
Nogai eşek
Siberian Tatar The cognate has disappeared from this language.
Kyrgyz eşek
Altai eştek
Alan eşek
Kumyk eşek
Tatar işäk
Bashkir işäk
Tıva The cognate has disappeared from this language.
Khakas eştek
Sakha (Yakut, Dolgan) The cognate has disappeared from this language.
Khalaj äşgä
Chuvash The cognate has disappeared from this language.

Examples

No corpus links yet.

Translations

German:
Esel
Russian:
осёл
Turkish (Azerbaijan):
eşşək
Turkish (Türkiye):
eşek

  • Hendrik Boeschoten (2022) A dictionary of early middle Turkic p. 62
    äšgäk ‘donkey’ (QT1–4, MAn, KA, QA) / ešgäk (QA, QT4) / äšäk (QT2–3, IM, MA, KA, QA, XŠ, GUL, KT, TZ-1x with -č-) / ešäk (QA, XŠ, GUL, CC) / yäšäk (DM) | äšäklän= ‘to mount a donkey’ (QT5)
  • Dr. Jens Wilkens (2021) Handwörterbuch des Altuigurischen: Altuigurisch – Deutsch – Türkisch | Eski Uygurcanın El Sözlüğü: Eski Uygurca – Almanca – Türkçe p. 125a
    äšgäk Esel || eşek
    äšgäk süti Eselsmilch || eşek sütü
    äšgäk tözi Eselswurz || eşek kökü
    äšgäk ulag Relais-Esel (im Postsystem), Post-Esel || posta zincirindeki eşek
    äšgäkkä ogša- dem Esel (als Symbol der Trägheit) ähnlich sein || (tembelliğin sembolü olarak) eşeğe benzemek
    äšgäkn(ä)ŋ müyüzi Horn eines Esels (ein Adynaton) || eşeğin boynuzu (adynaton)
    ešgäk bašlap kälgüči Hüter der Esel, Eselstreiber || eşek çobanı
    ešgäk kälürgüči Beschaffer der Esel, Eselstreiber || eşek temin eden
  • Marcel Erdal (2004) A Grammar of Old Turkic p. 124
    On the other hand the repeated appearance of äšgäk ‘donkey’ as äšyäk in the DLT shows a process /g/ > /y/ in fronted surroundings in that text.
  • Marcel Erdal (2004) A Grammar of Old Turkic p. 122, §2.411
    Fricative pronunciation explains the early loss of this velar in the variant äšäk of äšgäk ‘donkey’.
  • Marcel Erdal (2004) A Grammar of Old Turkic p. 9
    The Oguz cognates of äšgäk ‘donkey’, buš-gak ‘asthma’ and the dative suffix +kA, which lack the velars of the quoted forms altogether, are certainly relevant for our view on the shape of these Old Turkic elements; they show that äšgäk and bušgak must have had g and not k although k would have been a possible reading of what is documented, and that there must, beside +kA, also have been an early variant dative suffix +gA.
  • Sergei Starostin, Anna Dybo, Oleg Mudrak (2003) Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages p. 503
    *ĕĺǯu donkey: Tung. *eji-ken; Mong. *elǯigen; Turk. *eĺgek.
    PTung. *eji-ken donkey (осел): Neg. ejxe; Man. ejxen; SMan. eixen (2218); Jurch. oh-hen; Ul. ejxe; Nan. ejxe.
    ◊ ТМС 2, 447.
    PMong. *elǯigen donkey (осел): MMong. elǯigan (HY 9), ūlǯige (IM), ilǯigen (LH), ilǯigän (MA); WMong. elǯige(n) (L 311); Kh. ilǯig, ilǯgen; Bur. elžege(n); Kalm. elǯŋne, ēlǯŋnə; Ord. elǯige(n); Mog. elǯiɣōn (Ramstedt 1906); Dong. enǯeɣe (Тод. Дн.); Bao. nǯige (Тод. Бн.).
    ◊ KW 119. Mong. > Oyr. älǯigän.
    PTurk. *eĺgek donkey (осел): OTurk. ešgek (OUygh.); Karakh. ešgek, ešjek (MK); Tur. ešek; Gag. iešek; Az. eššäk; Turkm. ešek; MTurk. ešek (Бор. Бад., Abush., Pav. C.); Uzb. ešäk; Uygh. ešäk; Krm. ešek; Tat. išäk; Bashk. išäk; Kirgh. ešek; Kaz. esek; KBalk. ešek; KKalp. ešek; Kum. ešek; Nogh. ešek; Oyr. eštek; Chuv. ažak.
    ◊ ЭСТЯ 1, 317-318, TMN 2, 65, EDT 260.
    ‖ KW 119, Владимирцов 323, Poppe 86. A Western isogloss. The phonology of the word strongly resists all attempts to regard it as an interlingual borrowing (Turk. > Mong. > TM, see, e.g., Rozycki 67), as well as attempts to derive it from Armen. eš etc.
  • Gerard Clauson (1972) An etimological dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish p. 260
    D eşgek ‘donkey’; prob. a Dev. N. connoting habitual action fr. 1 eş-, lit. ‘(an animal) which habitually ambles’. S.i.a.m.l.g. usually as eşek/éşek, in some NE dialects eştek. The parallel Dev. N. fr. 3 eş-, eşgek, ‘an oar’ is not noted before the medieval period (Çağ., Kom., Kip.), and also s.i.m.m.l.g., but usually as eşkek or the like. See Doerfer II 486. Uyğ. VIII ff. Man.-A M I 16, 11-12 (kaç): Bud. eşgek karnında ‘in the womb of a donkey’ U III 26, 21; a.o. Suv. 341, 22: Civ. eşgek tüsin ‘the hair of a donkey’ H I 103-4; (one cart, one cow) üç eşgek ‘three donkeys’ USp. 55, 25; eşek (sic) occurs several times in USp. 3, a late text: Xak. XI eşgek al-ḥimār ‘donkey’ in one of the two pronunciations of eşye:k (sic); the -y- in the latter is changed from one of the two repeated letters (ḥarfayi’l-taḍyīf) as occurs in Ar. (three examples quoted, but the phonetic phenomenon is quite different) Kaş. I 111; eşyek (sic) al-ḥimār; another pronunciation is eşgek but eşyek is more correct (afṣaḥ) Kaş. I 114; spelt eşye:k in I 244 (artıl-) and five o.o., and eşe:k (?error for eşye:k) in II 246, 9: XIII(?) Tef. eşgek/eşek ditto 86-7: XIV Muh. al-ḥimār eşek Mel. 70, 7; Rif. 171: Çağ. XV ff. éşek (‘with -k-’) eşek Vel. 62 (quotn.): Xwar. XIV eşek ‘donkey’ Qutb 22; eşek 52: Kom. XIV ‘donkey’ eşek CCI, CCG; Gr.: Kip. XIII al-ḥimār eşek Hou. 12, 14: XIV ditto Id. 14: XV ditto Kav. 28, 11; 31, 7; 61, 22; Tuh. 13a. 4.
  • M Räsänen, I Kecskeméti (1969) Versuch eines etymologischen Wörterbuchs der Türksprachen p. 51
    mtü. äšäk, äšjäk, äškäk ‘Esel’, Hts. AH. čag. osm. usw. äšäk, kar.L. äšäk, kzk. esäk, osm. eššäk, blk. krč. ešek, tel. šor. äštäk, kaz. išäk (> čuv. Ašm. 2:210 ašak; russ. Vasm. 1:492 ишак; čer. TLČ 26 ešak)
    < *eš ‘Genosse’ + Dimin. -(g)äk
    Nach Poppe (86) tü. ~ mo. (KWb. 119) elǯigen ‘Esel’ (> oir. äljigän, soj. P. elči-gen)