𐰀𐰞𐰀

aːla

Meaning:
mottled, dappled, spotted, variegated

a:la denotes a variegated or irregular pattern of colour: “mottled, dappled, spotted, piebald”. It is attested in Irık Bitig 2 in ala atlıg yol täŋri män “I am the road god with a dappled horse”. In Old Uyghur texts ala also denotes blotchy or affected skin, including rashes and, in some expressions, leprous lesions. From the sense “variegated, uneven” developed figurative meanings such as “divided, discordant, treacherous”.

The first vowel was long, as confirmed particularly by Turkmen āla. The conventional Proto-Turkic reconstruction is *āla, but an 8th-century Tibetan source has Hala yuntlug “possessing parti-coloured horses”, and Khalaj preserves hāla bula “variegated”; Erdal therefore regards an earlier initial *h- as possible. Mongolic alaɣ “variegated” is comparable, but the historical relationship and direction of borrowing are disputed.

In modern languages

Select a region to see the cognate.
Language Cognate
Turkmen aːla
Turkish (Azerbaijan) ala
Turkish (Türkiye) ala
Salar ala
Gagauz The cognate has disappeared from this language.
Crimean ala
Uyghur ala
Uzbek ola
Kazakh ala
Nogai ala
Siberian Tatar No cognate has been entered for this language yet.
Kyrgyz ala
Altai ala
Alan ala
Kumyk ala
Tatar ala
Bashkir ala
Tıva ala
Khakas ala
Sakha (Yakut, Dolgan) ala
Khalaj hāla
Chuvash ula

Examples

Irıq Bitig
1

Translations

German:
gescheckt, gefleckt, bunt
Russian:
пёстрый, пегий, пятнистый
Turkish (Azerbaijan):
ala
Turkish (Türkiye):
ala

  • Hendrik Boeschoten (2022) A dictionary of early middle Turkic p. 24
    ala¹ 1. ‘parti-coloured, dappled, pied’ (g.); ala mončuqlar ‘parti-coloured beads’ (QA); ala aṭ ‘dappled horse’ (QA, XŠ); ala köz ‘having bluish-black eyes’ (QK) | alača ‘pied’ (AH, CCb gestrift); alača bulača ‘piebald’ (DM) [krg. ala bula] | alan qulan ‘dappled’ (CCb) [krg. ala kula].
    ala¹ 2. ‘leper’ (g.); ala tänlig ‘leper’ (QT3, KA) | alalïq¹ ‘leprosy’ (QT2, IM, QA) / alaluq (QT2).
    ala¹ 3. ‘leprosy’ (QA); ala yinlig ‘leprous’ (QT4) | alalïġ ‘leper’ / alalu (IMa) | alasïz ‘without disease’ (QT3, QT4).
  • Dr. Jens Wilkens (2021) Handwörterbuch des Altuigurischen: Altuigurisch – Deutsch – Türkisch | Eski Uygurcanın El Sözlüğü: Eski Uygurca – Almanca – Türkçe p. 27
    1 ala bunt, gescheckt || karışık renkli, renkli, alaca, benekli; Ausschlag, Hautausschlag, Ekzem || ciltteki kırmızı lekeler, kızarıklık, egzama (s./bk. Mo. alaγ)
    ala (a)tl(ı)g (r) mit geschecktem Pferd || alaca atlı
    ala ät Aussatz, von Lepra befallene Hautstelle || cüzzam, lepraya yakalanmış cilt bölgesi
    ala ätlig an Lepra leidend || cüzzamdan acı çeken, cüzzamlı
    [a]la böz bunter Baumwollstoff || karışık renkli keten bezi
    ala bula verschieden, unterschiedlich, mannigfaltig || çeşitli, değişik türde, türlü türlü
    ala kiši an Ausschlag leidende Person || ciltteki kırmızı lekelerden acı çeken kişi
    ala yip bunter Faden || renkli ip
  • Международная Тюркская Академия (2016) Древнетюркский словарь
    пегий, в яблоках
  • Sergei Starostin, Anna Dybo, Oleg Mudrak (2003) Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages p. 291
    PTurk. *āla variegated (пестрый): OTurk. ala (OUygh.); Karakh. ala (MK); Tur. ala; Gag. ala-ǯa; Az. ala; Turkm. āla; Sal. ala; Khal. hala-bula; MTurk. ala; Uzb. ɔla; Uygh. ala; Krm. ala; Tat. ala; Bashk. ala; Kirgh. ala; Kaz. ala; KBalk. ala; KKalp. ala; Kum. ala; Nogh. ala; SUygh. ala; Khak. ala; Shr. ala; Oyr. ala; Tv. ala; Chuv. ola; Yak. ala.
    ◊ EDT 126, VEWT 15, ЭСТЯ 1, 129-130, TMN 2, 95-97, Федотов 2, 274, Лексика 607.
  • Talat Tekin (1993) Book of Omens
    ala [aːla] mottled, dappled, spotted
  • Gerard Clauson (1972) An etimological dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish p. 126
    a:la: lit. ‘parti-coloured, dappled, mottled, spotted, blotchy’; hence metaph. ‘hypocritical, treacherous’, and the like. S.i.a.m.l.g., often in jingles like ala bula and as the first element in compound names for birds, animals, plants, etc. See Doerfer II 518.
    Türkü viii ff. a:la: (sic) atlı:ğ yol (or yul) teŋri: men ‘I am the god of the road (or ‘spring’?) with a dappled horse’ IrkB 2: Uyğ. viii ff. Civ. kayu kişiniŋ eti ala bolsar ‘if a man’s flesh becomes blotchy’; (a remedy is described) alası keter ‘the blotches disappear’ H I 48-50; similar phr., different remedy TT VII 23, 4-5 (hardly ‘leprous’ as there translated, the remedies mentioned would be quite ineffective for leprosy): xiv Chin.-Uyğ. Dict. mang ‘variegated, parti-coloured’ (Giles 7,659) ala Ligeti 128: Xak. xi a:la: (spelt ala:, but in a section containing only words beginning with a:-) al-abraṣ mina’l-insān of a man, ‘leprous’; and one says a:la: at al-arqaṭ mina’l-xayl ‘a dappled horse’; and one says beg xa:nka: a:la: boldı: xalafa’l-amiru’l-malik wa xaraca 'alayhi wa wafaqa ma' 'aduwwihi ‘the beg opposed the king, revolted against him, and came to terms with his enemies’: a:la: (spelt ala:) the name of a summer station (muṣṭāf) near Fergana: a:la: (spelt ala:) yığa:ç ism mawḍi' bi’l-tağr ‘the name of a place on the border’ (between Moslem and pagan countries) Kaş. I 81; ala: (in a section for words with short initial vowels) al-abraṣ I 91 (prov., metaph. meaning); (who knows which ravens are the old ones?) kişi: ala:sın kim tapar ‘who knows the secret thoughts in (men’s) breasts?’ I 425, 12: xiii(?) Tef. ala ‘leper’ 48: xiv Muh. (in a list of colours of horses) al-ablaq ‘dappled’ a:l (sic) Muh. 70, 5; (çapar, in margin) a:l:a Rif. 171 (the text is obviously corrupt here, see 2 a:l; çapar is a Pe. l.-w.): Çağ. xv ff. ala luğa, ala böke the names of two different water birds Vel. 30; ala (1) ‘dull red’ (error, confused with 2 a:l) ...; (2) anything ablaq in general, and baraṣ ‘leprosy’ in particular San. 49r. 23: Xwar. xiv ala (of a horse) ‘dappled’ Qutb 7; (of clothes) ‘parti-coloured’ Nahc. 55, 1: Kom. xiv ‘dappled’ ala CCG; Kip. xiii ala: ku:ş ‘a speckled bird’ Hou. 29, 7: xiv ala: ‘dappled horse’, also called alaca: Id. 20: xv ‘a blood-shot eye’ ala: kö:z Kav. 60, 12; ablaq ala: Tuh. 4a. 3; 4b. 5: Osm. xiv to xvii ala normally ‘parti-coloured’; but sometimes ‘treacherous’ seems to be implied; in several texts TTS I 16; II 22; III 14; IV 14.
  • M Räsänen, I Kecskeméti (1969) Versuch eines etymologischen Wörterbuchs der Türksprachen p. 15
    uig. mtü. Radl. »alle Dialekte» ala ‘bunt, scheckig’, trkm. āla ‘пегий’, jak. (В.) ala ‘scheckig’, čuv. ula, tar. ali, soj. aly; čag. otü. ala-bula ‘verschiedenfarbig’, kaz. ala-kəla, kzk. ala-γula; osm. az. ala-ža ‘bunt’, kkir. kaz. ala-ča; tel. ala-myk, šor. alamdyk ‘bunt’
    ~ mo. (KWb. 6–7) alaq ‘bunt’ ...
    S. Joki 61