𐰖𐰀𐰖𐰞𐰍

yaylağ is a place noun connected with yayla- “to spend the summer”, originally meaning “summer quarters, summering place, summer pasture”. The final consonant of the Old Turkic form is -ğ; it should not be confused with the distinct Turkic nominal suffix -(I)k. Forms such as Chagatai yaylak nevertheless continue the same word: according to Erdal, Chagatai changed coda /g/ to /k/. Thus, the final k in Chagatai yaylak reflects an earlier ğ/g rather than the original -(I)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 yaylağ and a parallel form of the yaylak type.

1. In Turkey Turkish and Azerbaijani Turkish, regular Oghuz loss of coda ğ/g produced yayla. Alongside these forms, yaylak is also used for a summer pasture or summering place.
2. Uzbek has both yaylov and yayloq, both meaning “summer pasture”. The former represents the development of final ğ/g toward w/v, while the latter belongs to the Chagatai-type development in -q.
3. Standard Kyrgyz jayloo continues an earlier form in -aw, with regular aw > oo, while dialectal jaylak is also attested with the same basic meaning.

Unlike the corresponding forms of kışlağ, these doublets have generally remained semantically close to one another. Their coexistence should not, however, be taken to mean that all forms in -k/-q arose by the same historical process. The table below records the parallel forms without treating -k/-q as an alternative realization of the suffix -ğ.

Form	Meaning	Form	Meaning
Azerbaijani Turkish
yayla	“plateau; summer pasture”	yaylaq	“summer pasture, summering place”
Turkey Turkish
yayla	“highland, plateau; summer pasture”	yaylak	“summer pasture”
Uzbek
yaylov	“summer pasture”	yayloq	“summer pasture”
Kyrgyz
jayloo	“summer pasture”	jaylak	“summer pasture” (dialectal)

Erdal (2016) derives Turkish yayla and Turkmen ýaýla from the regular Oghuz loss of final ğ/g, while Chagatai yaylak reflects the change of coda /g/ to /k/. Other regular developments include Kazakh jaylaw, with ğ/g > w, and Kyrgyz jayloo, with subsequent aw > oo. Khakas čaylağ and Tuvan čaylağ preserve the final consonant. Compare also kışlağ and the modern cognates of bitig.