Reconstruction:Proto-Turkic/bēg

This Proto-Turkic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Turkic

Etymology

There are different theories about the further etymology of the word.

According to one theory the word may ultimately come from Middle Chinese 百 (MC paek, “hundred”),^[1] 佰 (MC paek, “the head of a hundred men”),^[2] or 伯 (MC paek, “eldest brother, father's older brother > count”) ~ 霸 (MC paek, “hegemon”).
Another theory states that the word may have its origins in Middle Iranian,^[3] specifically Sogdian [script needed] (baga, “lord, master”) or Old Persian 𐏎 (BG, “god”), all from Proto-Iranian *bagáh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *bʰagás (“god”, literally “dispenser”).^[4]

However, German Turkologist Gerhard Doerfer assessed the derivation from an Iranian language as quite uncertain and pointed out that the word may be genuinely Turkic.^[5]^[6]

Probably a similar Turkic form gave rise to Late Proto-Slavic *bãnъ (“ruler”).^[7]

Noun

*bēg

lord

Derived terms

*bēgen-

Descendants

Oghur:
- Chuvash: -пӳ (-pü), пăй (păj)
Common Turkic:
- Proto-Oghuz:
  - West Oghuz:
    - Old Anatolian Turkish: بك (beg)
      Azerbaijani: bəy
      
      Gagauz: bey
      
      Ottoman Turkish: بك (bey) (see there for further descendants)
      Turkish: bey
  - East Oghuz:
    - Turkmen: beg
- Karluk:
  - Karakhanid: باك
    - Khorezmian Turkic:
      Chagatai:
      Uzbek: bek
      
      Uyghur: بەگ (beg)
- Kipchak:
  - Kipchak:
    - North Kipchak:
      Bashkir: бей (bey), бәк (bək), бик (bik)
      
      Tatar: бәк (bäk)
    - West Kipchak:
      Crimean Tatar:
      
      Karachay-Balkar:
      
      Kumyk:
      
      Urum:
    - South Kipchak:
      Kazakh: бек (bek), би (bi)
      
      Karakalpak:
      
      Nogai: бий (biy)
    - East Kipchak:
      Kyrgyz: бек (bek), бий (biy)
      
      Southern Altai: бек (bek), бий (biy)
- Old Turkic: 𐰋𐰏 (beg)
- → Classical Persian: بیگ (bēg)
  - Iranian Persian: بیگ (beyg)
  - → Arabic: بيك (bēg)
  - → Bengali: বেগ (beg)
  - → Punjabi: بیگ (beg)
  - → Sindhi: بيگُ
  - → Urdu: بیگ (beg)

References

Clauson, Gerard (1972) “be:g”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 322

^ “bey.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.‎^[1], 22 March 2008 (last accessed)
^ Clauson, Gerard (1972) “be:g”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 322
^ Jamshid Ibrahim. Kulturgeschichtliche Wortforschung: persisches Lehngut in europäischen Sprachen. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1991, p. 58.
^ Carter Vaughn Findley, Turks in World History, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 45: "... Many elements of Non-Turkic origin also became part of Türk statecraft [...] for example, as in the case of khatun [...] and beg [...] both terms being of Sogdian origin and ever since in common use in Turkish. ..."
^ “Baga”, in Encyclopædia Iranica, 22 August 2011 (last accessed)
^ “Beg”, in Encyclopædia Iranica, 7 May 2011 (last accessed)
^ Matasović, Ranko; Jojić, Ljiljana; Anić, Vladimir; Pranjković, Ivo; Goldstein, Ivo; Goldstein, Slavko, eds. (2004), Hrvatski enciklopedijski rječnik (in Croatian), vol. 2 (2nd ed.). P. 55.

[1] “bey.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.‎^[1], 22 March 2008 (last accessed)

[2] Clauson, Gerard (1972) “be:g”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 322

[3] Jamshid Ibrahim. Kulturgeschichtliche Wortforschung: persisches Lehngut in europäischen Sprachen. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1991, p. 58.

[4] Carter Vaughn Findley, Turks in World History, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 45: "... Many elements of Non-Turkic origin also became part of Türk statecraft [...] for example, as in the case of khatun [...] and beg [...] both terms being of Sogdian origin and ever since in common use in Turkish. ..."

[5] “Baga”, in Encyclopædia Iranica, 22 August 2011 (last accessed)

[6] “Beg”, in Encyclopædia Iranica, 7 May 2011 (last accessed)

[7] Matasović, Ranko; Jojić, Ljiljana; Anić, Vladimir; Pranjković, Ivo; Goldstein, Ivo; Goldstein, Slavko, eds. (2004), Hrvatski enciklopedijski rječnik (in Croatian), vol. 2 (2nd ed.). P. 55.

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