𐰚𐰃𐰾𐰃

Old Turkic

Etymology

Inherited from Common Turkic *kiši (“person, people”). Cognate with Khalaj kişi (“woman”), Turkish kişi, Uzbek kishi, Bashkir кеше (keşe), Yakut киһи (kihi).

Noun

𐰚𐰃𐰾𐰃 (kis²i /kiši/)

1. man, human, person
   • 9th century CE, Irk Bitig, Omen 54

     𐰇𐰔𐰀:𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃:𐰾𐰃𐰓𐱅𐰃:𐰽𐰺𐰀:𐰚𐰃𐰾𐰃:𐰋𐰃𐰠𐱅𐰃:𐱅𐰃𐰼

     üza:t²ŋr²i:s²id²t²i:s¹r¹a:kis²i:b²il²t²i:t²ir²

     /üzä täŋri äšidti asra kiši bilti ter/

     Heaven above heard it; people below understood it, it says.

2. wife
   • 9th century CE, Irk Bitig, Omen 29

     𐰆𐰍𐰞𐰃𐰣:𐰴𐰃𐰾𐰃𐰾𐰃𐰤:𐰆𐱃𐰆𐰔𐰢𐰑𐰸:𐰖𐰣𐰀:𐱃𐰆𐰸𐰆𐰔𐰆𐰣:𐰉𐰆𐰽:𐰴𐰆𐰪:𐰆𐱃𐰢𐰃𐰾

     uǧl¹in¹:qis²is²in²:ut¹uzmd¹q̊¹:y¹n¹a:t¹uq̊¹uzun¹:b¹us¹:quń:ut¹mis²

     /oɣlïn kišisin utuzmaduq yana toquzon boš qoń utmïš/

     So far from losing his son and wife he yet won ninety loose sheep.

References

• Tekin, Talât (1968) “kiši”, in A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic (Uralic and Altaic Series; 69), Bloomington: Indiana University, →ISBN, page 351
• Tekin, Talât (1993) “kişi”, in Irk Bitig: The Book of Omens, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 58
• Clauson, Gerard (1972) “kişi:”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 752
• Starostin, Sergei, Dybo, Anna, Mudrak, Oleg (2003) “*kiĺi”, in Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8)‎^[1], Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill