Turkic runes: history and meaning of symbols

The word "rune" comes from the Old Norse root, which means "whisper, secret, secret." So the ancient Germans called signs, which, in addition to the written application, were used as magic symbols. The magic power of runes is now of interest to many researchers. Interestingly, a similar script was found not only in Europe, but also in Asia. These runes were called Turkic.

What are runes?

Runes are elements of a special alphabet that differs from others in that, in addition to communicative functions, they also performed the role of sacred knowledge.

These sacred elements have their origin from the Scandinavian lands. Runic writing was used to exchange information. Runes were drawn on rocks, stones and narrated about the legends and myths of Scandinavia. Most often, noble surnames were engaged in drawing the runes, which everywhere left their signatures of titles even in temples. But there were commoners who knew grammar, who also engaged in engraving.

The rune is a drawn symbol that conveys the phonetics of a single letter or syllable. They denote both vowels and consonants.

There are a huge number of rune rows. We will talk about one of them in this article. In particular, about the runes found in Asia.

Theories of the origin of the Turkic runic tradition

When the Turkic runes were first discovered, many researchers began to study their origin.

V. Thomsen in 1882 deciphered the Turkic runic script. And he suggested that this writing originates in Aramaic writing mixed with Pahlavian and Sogdian. Domestic scientist V. Livshits shared Thomsen's theory and thought through the stages of changing Aramaic writing, which led to the formation of the Turkic runic script.

Another Russian scientist N. A. Aristov believes that the Turkic runes arose from tamgin signs that existed before Aramaic writing. And E. Polivanov suggested that the symbols of runic writing resemble elements of Sogdian writing.

The most grounded theory of the origin of Turkic writing is Sogdian influence. The oldest Turkic inscription dates back to 570 year of our era - Bugutskaya stella (Mongolia, the region of the Orkhon River).

Studies of ancient Turkic writing

The first information about ancient Turkic monuments with runic inscriptions appeared during the time of Peter I. A detailed study of the monuments began in the first half of the 18th century after the expeditions of Messerschmidt and von Strallenberg in 1721-1722 to the Minusi steppes.

In 1889, N. M. Yadrintsev discovered Orkhon monuments with runic writing in Mongolia. After this discovery, one could judge the grammatical structure of writing. And in 1893, W. Thomsen, a famous philologist, deciphered these inscriptions.

Subsequently, historical monuments of the Turkic runic writing were also discovered near the Yenisei River. About 40 Finnish expeditions were sent to this area, translations of the Yenisei inscriptions were made. And in the middle of the 20th century, the domestic scientist S. E. Malov published the texts of the Orkhon and Yenisei monuments of the Turkic runic script.

The difference between eastern and western runic writing

Having studied the ancient Turkic runic writing, looking at the alphabet of Turkic runes, even the most ignorant can assume that they are very reminiscent of the West Germanic runes in similarity of spelling.

Scientists offer several options for the emergence of the Turkic runic script:

1. Turkic runes are of pure Germanic origin. That is, the runes found in the east originate in the west.
2. Ancient Turkic runes are more ancient than western ones. Therefore, the Germanic runes came from the eastern Turkic runes.
3. Oriental runes are in no way connected with the German ones.
4. And, finally, both the western and eastern runes have one common ancestor.

Yes, the ancient Turkic runes are very reminiscent of Germanic letters. However, phonetics is different. For example, the ancient Germanic rune Otal reads like a Russian "o".

Exactly the same rune of Turkic origin is read as "b", "eb." The graphemes are identical, but the phonetics are different.

However, if we look at the vocabulary, we will see that the Otal rune means "home, native land". And the Turkic rune means "hut, shack." That is, the lexical content of the runes is similar. Therefore, it is not necessary to speak of complete dissimilarity, as well as of different origin.

The magical properties of the eastern runes

Many researchers believe that in ancient times the runes bore not only the meaning of writing to transmit information to descendants, but also were some kind of magical elements with which you could do magic.

In the modern world, the use of runes for magic is widespread. Turkic runes are especially popular. There are several reasons for this:

1. They have a small number of meanings.
2. There are paired runes, the meaning of which varies depending on whether they are nearby or one at a time.
3. 9 runes can be written in two ways
4. The eastern rune defines not just a specific object or process, but gives a characteristic to them.
5. Runes are determined by an adjective.

Most often, modern runologists use runes as a protective amulet. At the same time combining western and eastern. The Turkic runes in this case play the role of refinement in magical protection. With their help, it is easy to choose the necessary adjective for the amulet.

For example, in order to make such an amulet, you need to choose a rune that will indicate the object of protection, then a rune that reflects the danger threatening the object. And then we choose the Turkic oriental rune for an adjective that enhances the effect of reflective power.

In addition to the manufacture of protective amulets, with the help of Turkic runes, one can guess. To do this, you must always carry a bag with them. And use at the right time, mentally asking a question and pulling out of the bag. Turkic runes and their meaning can be found further.

The interpretation of the ancient Turkic runes

The interpretation of the runes is associated with magic, so serious scientists do not study the mystical side. Although many do not exclude the possibility of a connection between runic writing and magic.

The meaning of the Turkic runes is given below in the table.

This interpretation of the ancient eastern runes is provided by the runologists Mylene Maelinhon and Liri Kavvira.

Photo of Turkic runes

Below you can find photos of ancient monuments of the Eastern runic script.

These monuments are of Turkic origin.

The photo shows that the runes are located close to each other, without indentation.

Researchers found that Turkic runes can be read both from right to left, and from left to right.

The found monuments are high steles with inscriptions. In most cases, they describe myths, legends and the history of Turkic peoples.

The history of the eastern runes is very ancient. It is impossible to determine the exact origin of the alphabet of Turkic runes. It remains only to speculate and seek the foundations for a particular theory. The fact that ancient Turkic runes existed and were the first letters for subsequent Turkish writing remains an undoubted fact.