al- is a highly polysemous inherited verb whose semantic centre is bringing something into oneās possession or control. Depending on the context, it means ātake, seize, capture, receive, accept, collect, removeā and, of a man, ātake a wifeā. The meaning ābuyā was originally expressed especially by satgın al- ātake as sold, buyā, after which the qualifier could be omitted.
As an auxiliary after a converb, al- can indicate that an action is performed for the subject or the subjectās own party. This self-benefactive use is already attested in Old Turkic. Frequent sequences such as alıp bar- ātake awayā and alıp kƤl- ābringā could later fuse into new verbal stems.
The later construction in which a vowel converb followed by al- expresses ability (as in modern Kazakh, Kyrgyz, etc.) is not securely attested in the Old Turkic corpus.