𐰴𐰃𐱁𐰞𐰍

kışlağ is a place noun connected with kışla- “to spend the winter”, originally meaning “winter quarters, wintering place”. The final consonant of the Old Turkic form is -ğ; it should not be confused with the distinct Turkic nominal suffix -(ı)k. Forms such as Chagatai kışlak nevertheless continue the same word: Chagatai changed coda /g/ to /k/ (i.e., final k in Chagatai kışlak reflects an earlier ğ/g rather than a separate -(ı)k suffix).

The later history of the word is complicated by the coexistence, in several Turkic languages, of a regularly developed reflex of Old Turkic kışlağ and a parallel form in final kışlak.

1. In Turkey Turkish and Azerbaijani Turkish, regular Oghuz loss of coda ğ/g produced kışla, meaning “barracks” today, while kışlak preserves the older association with a wintering place.
2. Uzbek shows what Erdal calls a “split survival”: regularly developed qishlov retains the older meaning “winter camp”, while qishloq “village” continues literary Chagatai qışlaq.
3. Comparable doublets occur in Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Bashkir and Tatar.

Their coexistence should not, however, be taken to mean that all forms in -k arose by the same historical process. The table below records these parallel forms without treating -k as an alternative realization of the suffix -ğ.

Form	Meaning	Form	Meaning
Azerbaijani Turkish
qışla	“barracks”	qışlaq	“winter camp, winter pasture”
Turkey Turkish
kışla	“barracks”	kışlak	“winter camp”
Uzbek
qishlov	“winter camp, winter quarters”	qishloq	“village”
Kyrgyz
kıştoo	“wintering place”	kıştak	“settlement, village”
Kazakh
qıstaw	“wintering place”	qıstaq	“winter settlement”
Bashkir
qışlaw / qıştaw	“wintering place”	qıştaq	“winter settlement”
Tatar
qışlaw	“wintering place”	qışlaq	“winter settlement; kishlak”

Erdal (2016) specifically identifies Turkish kışlak as a later borrowing for which Chagatai Turkic is one possible source, and describes Uzbek qishloq as continuing literary Chagatai qışlaq. The parallel forms in the other languages need not have the same historical origin. Compare also the modern cognates of bitig.