É. Apor (ed.): Codex Cumanicus. Ed. by Géza Kuun with a Prolegomena to the Codex Cumanicus by Lajos Ligeti. (Budapest Oriental Reprints, Ser. B 1.)
L. Ligeti: Prolegomena to the Codex Cumanicus
PROLEGOMENA TO THE CODEX CUMANICl'S 21 ample: bayov [baivow] «colour» (Grönbech, Wb. 48), correctly boyov [boiyow]. The latter form occurs already in Kuun's book (p. 18:25); Clauson {ED 302, s. v. boduy) also gives the boyow «dye» form, but confused by the false reading of Grönbech, he inserts a question mark after the correct reading, which is a regular derivative of the Old Turkish boduy. Boyow [boiyow] «dye» is a later insertion in the Italian part followed by the German translation «varbe». It should also be noted that the German glossator failed to realize that the word he recorded had already been included in the Italian part in its correct place, with the related verbal family (p. 54:8—12; Kuun, pp. 58 — 59). It appears there in the regular form, boya «dye», in conformance with the dialect of the Italian part. Certain amount of standardization, of course, has to be used in making the transcription. Its extent, however, cannot be arbitrary, as it cannot neglect differences that might possess the value of distinguishing a language or dialect. The distinction between the open and closed e belong to this category. Grönbech ignores it and misleadinglv transcribes the Montecasino a (a) into á. Gabain essentially follows Grönbech's method. As is well known, in some of the Kipchak tongues the phoneme e is closed in the first syllable, and open in the second (and in the rest). Traces of this characteristic are apparent in both parts of the Codex, though the transcription is inconsistent. There is no standardization in our transcription. We simply respect the written form of the Codex. Thus, our a corresponds to a in place of the I a, and G « or rarely ae. In all other cases the original e letter is retained. Controversial cases can easily be resolved by consulting Grönbech's method of references: the transcribed form is given first, followed [in brackets] by the original form of the Codex in transliteration: I birlii \birla~\ «together» — G bila [bilx ] I incka [in<jka~\ «thin» — G intkd [inckct] I kerak [cherac] «necessary» G kerek [kerek, kerec\ I kertma [chertma ] «pear» G terma [(erma] «uterus» Variant notations: G bezgek [bezgek] «ague»; arnyak [àmgak] «suffering»; agac [ágác] «being». In the latter two cases and in other similar ones both Grönbech and Gabain decided upon the emgek, egee transcription. Drimba retained the a, and I share his view. The open a occurs in the Codex as a continuation of the former a after y or c (Németh: BOH II, 56 — 57; Gabain, Fundamenta I, 51). Gabain extended this explanation to o and u as well. This form of palatalization is detectable in certain Kipchak languages (Tatar, Bashkir) today. The examples are found in the «German» part of the Codex: canak [canak] «dish, mug»; capcaciq [éácacik, sic] «little barrel»; cax[caH ] «time»; yay [yay] «summer»; yalci [yàlci] «daywage man»; yalin [yàlin] «flame».
