Reconstruction:Proto-Turkic/ayran

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.

Attested in every branch of Turkic except in Arghu and in Siberian languages (except Khakas, see below). No majority consensus on the origin, but probably from *adïr- +‎ *-gan.

• Róna-Tas and Berta suggest a derivation from Proto-Turkic *ayïr- (“to separate”) for the Oghur branch and its descendants, refusing any possible relation with the following:
  1. An intermediary *yaδaq/ŋ ("churned butter, butter leftover") by Ligeti (1960, 1986), a denominal reflex derived from Proto-Turkic *yād- (“to churn butter”) (whence Khalaj یاماق (yâmaq, “to churn butter”)). The same root would also be compared to the native name of the Ural river, (which in Proto-Turkic is *yāyïk (cf. Ancient Greek Δάϊξ (Dáïx), Δαΐχ (Daḯkh), Γεήχ (Geḗkh) and archaic Russian Яик (Jaik))) by Clauson (1972), also rejected by the authors.
  2. Proto-Turkic *ạguŕ (“colostrum, beestings”) (whence the hypothetical Middle Chuvash form *ïră ("an aciduous liquid remaining after butter has been separated from milk or cream")), proposed by Räsänen (1969) and Doerfer (1963, 1975).
  3. Proto-Turkic *ïrga- (“to rock, to pump, to move something from one side to another, to swing”), which is deemed as semantically unsatisfactory.
  4. Old Chinese 酪 (*ɡ·raːɡ) (and Middle Chinese 酪 (lɑk̚)) by Pulleybank (1962), who reconstructs this root as *agïrag and posited that this word is a Xiong-Nu word re-analyzed by Turkic and Mongolic speakers as *ayï- instead of *agï-.
  • Agyágasi (2019) demonstrates that historical Chuvash forms and loanwords at large support Róna-Tas's and Berta's etymology.
• Räsänen (1969), on a different entry than the one above, tentatively adopts the root term as Proto-Turkic *adïr- for all Turkic languages except Yakut аараһ (aarah) (which is borrowed from Mongolic *ayïrag). He also thinks that a relation between *ayran and Mongolic *ayïrag exists, but no direction of borrowing or a cognate relation is given by him.
• Yegorov (1964) follows the same argument, saying that Chuvash уйран (ujran, “buttermilk”) is related to Chuvash уйӑр (ujăr, “to separate, to split”).

• Clauson (1972) rejects any relation with Proto-Turkic *adïr- (“to separate”) on the basis of Karakhanid form, and posits that "...but it is very odd that such a sound change should have occurred in and it is prob merely a false etymology."
• Nişanyan suggests that the drink in question is an Oghuz "Kulturwort", and therefore it spread to other languages via Oghuz Turks. This would explain the problematic -y- sound before -r- in Karakhanid and Khakas reflexes, where the expected reflexes from a genuine Proto-Turkic root would be *aδran and *aźran respectively.

• Altaicists, on the other hand, compare this word with Proto-Mongolic *ayïrag (“koumiss”) (thus Mongolian айраг (ajrag)), Ulch аяра- (“to take fat off butter while it is melting”) and Nanai аярахо (ajaraho, “spoon for taking fat off”), deriving the word from the "Proto-Altaic" noun **ăyVrV ("sour milk, fat melt") (EDAL's V stands for an undetermined vowel sound).

It should be noted that this word was first attested in Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk (11th century), not found in any pre-Islamic texts.

*ayran

1. buttermilk, airan (doogh, tan)

• Oghur: *ayraɣ
  • →? Proto-Mongolic: *ayïrag
    • Mongolian: айраг (ajrag, “koumiss”)
  • Old Chuvash: *ï̄raɣ^[1]
    • → Old Hungarian: yiro (i:ro:)
      • → Hungarian: író
    • Middle Chuvash: *yăra(n)^[2]
      • → Eastern Mari: йыра (jyra)
      • Chuvash: уйран (ujran)^[3]
        • → Russian: урень (urenʹ)

• Common Turkic: *ayran

• Agyágasi, Klára (2019) Chuvash Historical Phonetics (Turcologica; 117), Wiesbaden: Harrssowitz, pages 86, 130
• Clauson, Gerard (1972) “ayra:n”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 276
• Jegorov, V. G. (1964) “Proto-Turkic/ayran”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ čuvašskovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Chuvash Language] (in Russian), Cheboksary: Čuvašskoje knižnoje izdatelʹstvo, page 270
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “Proto-Turkic/ayran”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Räsänen, Martti (1969) Versuch eines etymologischen Wörterbuchs der Türksprachen (in German), Helsinki: Suomalais-ugrilainen seura, page 12
• Róna-Tas, András, Berta, Árpád, Károly, László (2011) West Old Turkic: Turkic Loanwords in Hungarian (Turcologica; 84), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pages 464-470
• Starostin, Sergei, Dybo, Anna, Mudrak, Oleg (2003) Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8)‎, Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill
• Ünal, Orçun (2019). Klasik ve Orta Moğolca Söz Varlığında Türkçe Kökenli Kelimeler I (A–D). Journal of Old Turkic Studies, 3(2), 502-615.