Lexical-semantic equivalents of Altai labor verbs
in Turkic languages of Southern Siberia and Kipchak languages

The paper is focused on lexical-semantic correspondences between Altai verbs in Kipchak
languages belonging to various sub-groups, as well as in Southern Siberian Turkic languages
(Khakas, Tuvan). The unique traits of lexical-semantic correspondences in the languages concerned
are revealed in various lexical-semantic groups of verbs (denoting behavior, labor, relationships,
and emotions). The general trends regarding lexical-semantic correspondences are:
1) a significant amount of Mongolian borrowings in Siberian and Siberian-Kyrgyz correspondences;
2) secondary affixal formations among the Siberian and Siberian-Kyrgyz correspondences;
3) similar semantic changes in South Siberian languages. Every lexical-semantic group is unique
in how the all-Turkic words, as well as Altai verbs in Siberian and non-Siberian languages, correspond
to each other. Certain similarities are found in verbs denoting intellectual activity, personal
relationships, and emotional states. In these groups, Siberian-Kyrgyz correspondences are less
common, Altai-Tuvan correspondences are more common compared to Altai-Khakas ones, due
to Mongolian influences in Altai and Tuvan. Mongolian elements are predominant among Altai-
Tuvan correspondences. On the contrary, in groups of verbs of behavior and labor, a predominance
of Altai-Khakass correspondences in groups of verbs denoting behavior and labor and
an increasing number of common Siberian-Kyrgyz lexemes are observed. The peculiarity of verbs
of behavior is a relatively small number of common Turkic lexemes and a large variety of derivational
affixes with common roots.
All these groups have a large number of correspondences uniting the Southern Siberian languages
under investigation, with a significant part of them being borrowings from the Mongolian
languages. Among the non-borrowed Southern Siberian correspondences, late derived forms with
new meanings are also found. Another proof of the lexical-semantic connection between these
languages is the fact that there are correspondences derived from all-Turkic roots with affixes
different from those in other Turkic languages, as well as common semantic changes in all-Turkic lexemes. One can also observe a large number of lexemes uniting Altai and Khakas with the
Kipchak languages (in contrast with Altai and Tuvan). It suggests that some Kipchak languages,
including the language of the Yenisei Kyrgyz, influenced the formation of these languages. It is
somewhat less obvious for the Tuvan language but correct for Altai and Khakas. However, the
data show that there is only a small number of solely Altai-Kipchak correspondences (excluding
Altai-Kyrgyz) without any correspondences in other Siberian languages.