Name of Turkey

The English for Turkey is derived via Old French Turquie from the Medieval Latin Turchia, Turquia, Greek Τουρκια. It is first used in Middle English (as turkye, torke, later Turkie, Turky), attested in Chaucer, ca. 1369.^[1][2] The Greek and Latin terms were mostly synonymous with Tartary, including Khazaria and the other khaganates of the Central Asian steppe, until the appearance of the Seljuks and the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the 14th century, reflecting the progress of the Turkic expansion. By contrast, the Persian derivation Turkestan remains mostly applied to Central Asia. Modern Persian itself with ترکیه chooses a derivation with the Arabic nisba suffix. The name for Turkey in the Turkish language, Türkiye also contains the nisba, as -iye. Icelandic with Tyrkland and Hungarian with Törökország "Turk-land" use native forms of derivation.

The name is derived from the ethnic self-designation türk. This ethnic designation finds early attestation in the form of "tie-le" (铁勒) or "tu-jue" (突厥), name given by the Chinese to the people living south of the Altay Mountains of Central Asia as early as 177 BC;^[1] The first known mention of the term türk applied to a Turkic group was in reference to the Göktürks in the 6th century. A letter by Ishbara Qaghan to Emperor Wen of Sui in 585 described him as "the Great Turk Khan."^[3] The Orhun inscriptions (735 CE) use the terms Turk and Turuk. The first recorded direct use of the term "Türk" or "Türük" as an autonym is attested in the Orkhon inscriptions of the Köktürks (Blue Turks) of Central Asia (c. 8th century).

See also

• Turkestan
• Turkic expansion

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Harper, Douglas. "Turk". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Turk. Retrieved 2006-12-07. 
2. ^ American Heritage Dictionary (2000). "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition - "Turk"". bartleby.com. http://www.bartleby.com/61/92/T0419200.html. Retrieved 2006-12-07. 
3. ^ 卷099 列傳第八十七突厥鐵勒- 新亞研究所- 典籍資料庫