Age and Gender-Based Nominations for Cattle in the Yakut Language in Comparison with Turkic and Mongolian Languages

Abstract

The paper analyses naming cattle regarding their age and sex in Yakut in comparison to other Turkic and Mongolic languages. The historical-comparative study of Yakut cattle terms representing an early layer of native vocabulary revealed their lexical parallels in Turkic and Mongolic languages. Ten of seventeen analyzed Yakut word stems have Turkic and Mongolic parallels: ынах ‘cow’, оҕус ‘an adult male, bull’, ньирэй ‘calf’, торбос ‘calf during its first summer after birth’, бороон/борооску ‘calf during its first winter’, бургунас ‘heifer, a young female before she has had a calf of her own under three years of age, кунан ‘a young male of 3 to 4 yrs. of age’, субай (субан) ‘a dry cow’, буос ‘a springer’ (of cow), in-foal (of mare), pregnant (of some female animals), үтүрүм ‘a cow that has had calves for a few years in a row’. The other seven are of Turkic origin: тыһаҕас ‘2 yrs. old female or male’, тиҥэһэ ‘young cattle during the third year of age’, субан ‘a dry cow’, кытарах ‘dry’, уулаах ‘a springer’ (of cow), in-foal (of mare), pregnant (of some female animals), туҥуй ‘a young female that she has had its first calf’. Investigation of native vocabulary of material culture, including that related to animal husbandry, is of great scientific interest and potential.