Personal names of the yenisei qïrqïz of the 9th century a.D. (based on chinese sources and old turkic runic writing monuments of the yenisei river basin)

Abstract

The paper attempts to identify historical characters of the Yenisei Qïrqïz people of the 9th century documented in Chinese written sources, by reconstructing the pronunciation of the names and titles cited and comparing them with the data of Old Turkic runic writing monuments found on the territory of the Yenisei River basin. The undertaken reconstruction of the Middle Chinese pronunciation builds on the system of the Canadian sinologist E. G. Pulleyblank. Drawing from previous research, the author suggests formal correspondences for eight out of the ten Qïrqïz characters mentioned in Chinese sources in the onomasticon of Yenisei runic epitaphs. For the most part, these correlations rely on personal names matching, either exact or partial, that is, manifested in combinations of individual elements. In some cases, the correspondences between the data in Chinese sources and certain biographical episodes in Yenisei epitaphs suggest full equivalence of the mentioned historical figures. On some occasions, particularly those related to the dating of inscriptions, the arguments are backed by archaeological findings. The author also notes the prospects of dating the Yenisei runic monuments based on an integrated approach to their further exploration.