Loanwords & native alternatives
The most commonly used foreign words in Turkish, Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and Uyghur — each paired with native alternatives built from Proto-Turkic roots. Includes greetings & goodbyes — many everyday greeting words (merhaba, selam, salom, elveda, xayr, rahmat) are Arabic loans that carry Islamic religious context; each language has an older, native, secular alternative that is often less well-known today. The pan-Turkic *esen"well, healthy, safe" is the flagship native greeting root — still alive in Kazakh/Kyrgyz/Uzbek but forgotten in Turkish. Turkish entries draw on the TDK Yabancı Sözlere Karşılıklar Kılavuzu (Turkish Language Association's Guide to Foreign-Word Alternatives, 1,960 entries). Some — bilgisayar, yazılım, okul, bilim, toplum — completely won and are the standard modern words. Others — yoğun tekerfor "CD", karsanbaçfor "smoothie" — are the famously ridiculed failures.
Turkishtr
Turkish's Ottoman period saw massive Arabic and Persian borrowing; the 20th-century language reform (Türk Dil Devrimi) coined thousands of native replacements from Old Turkic roots. Many are now standard; a few remain imagined.
PT *biti- 'to write' + deverbal noun -g. Attested in Old Turkic runic inscriptions.
yaz- 'to write' + -ı. Real Turkish 'writing', extendable to 'book'.
yaz- 'to write' + agent -gaç. Imagined instrument noun.
bitig 'writing' + -üç. Compound native.
PT *čāk 'moment, time' — attested in Kazakh шақ şaq, Uzbek chogʻ.
çağ 'time' + ölç- 'measure' + agent -er. Compound native.
PT *alqïš 'praise, blessing'. Attested as the primary 'thanks' word in Kazakh (алғыс alğıs) and Kyrgyz (алкыш alkış). In Turkish narrowed to 'applause'.
sağ 'healthy' + ol 'be'. Actual Turkish greeting meaning 'thanks'.
yedi 'seven' + -ki (attributive). Purely coined but structurally native.
OT yağı 'enemy'. Attested through Ottoman times, now archaic/literary.
PT *uluš 'district, people'. Actively used in Modern Turkish and Kazakh — the reform-era replacement won.
erk 'power, authority' + abstract -lik. Reform-era coining; less common than hükümet but attested.
PT *yurt 'dwelling, homeland'. Actively used in Modern Turkish as an equal partner to vatan.
OT kent 'town, city' (itself possibly a Sogdian borrowing but naturalised). Used in Turkish as a semi-synonym to şehir.
okumak 'to read' + -ul. Reform-era coining, now the standard word.
sev- 'to love' + deverbal -gi. Native, actively used.
OT er 'man, warrior'. Attested but rare in the specifically military sense.
TDK coining from bilgi 'knowledge' + say- 'count' + agent -ar. Perfect calque of 'information-counter'. THE flagship TDK success — completely replaced 'computer' in Turkish.
TDK coining from yaz- 'to write' + deverbal -ılım. Standard Turkish word — nobody says 'software'.
TDK coining from don- 'to clothe, dress' + -anım. Standard word for 'equipment/hardware'.
TDK: sun- 'present, serve' + agent -ucu. Standard Turkish, widely used.
TDK: çevrim 'cycle, circuit' + iç 'inside' + -i. Standard Turkish equivalent.
Native Turkish ağ 'net, mesh'. Bilişim ağı = 'information network'. Actively used.
TDK coining, 'general network'. Rarely used — 'internet' won in daily speech, though 'ağ' survives in compounds.
TDK: diz 'knee' + üst 'top' + -ü. Literal calque of 'lap-top'. Widely used.
Native Turkish 'chip, shaving of wood'. TDK repurposed for microchip. Semi-adopted.
Arabic loan itself, but naturalized. TDK proposed 'yazışma' (< yaz- 'write' + reciprocal -ış-) which sees some use.
Half-loan: 'e-' + posta (Italian loan itself). Standard Turkish. Purer alternative 'e-mektup' from mektup 'letter' saw brief use.
TDK: yoğun 'dense' + teker 'wheel'. NOTORIOUSLY ridiculed — never adopted. Standing example of what NOT to do in language reform.
TDK: çevir- 'turn, translate' + -ge. Not adopted; people say 'modem'.
TDK from iliş- 'be connected, touch upon' + -im. Not widely adopted; 'link' or 'bağlantı' (native) win.
Native from bağla- 'to tie, connect' + -ntı. This won informally, even without formal TDK backing.
TDK proposed, from an obscure root; ridiculed and not adopted.
TDK compound: yer 'earth' + yağ 'oil' + -ı. Used in technical contexts; 'petrol' still dominant in general use.
TDK: yer 'earth' + gaz + -ı. Rare in daily use.
Native compound. Widely used alongside SMS.
TDK from bil- 'to know' + -im. Completely replaced Arabic ilim in modern Turkish. Bilimsel = scientific.
TDK from topla- 'to gather' + -um. Completely replaced cemiyet.
TDK from öğret- 'to teach' + agent -men. Completely replaced Arabic muallim; standard word.
TDK from öğren- 'to learn' + agent -ci. Completely replaced talebe.
Native compound: yüksek 'high' + öğretim 'instruction' + kurum 'institution'. Used in formal contexts.
Imagined from sağalt- 'heal' + yurt 'dwelling'. Not adopted — hastane is fully entrenched.
Actually ALSO an Arabic loan (from سلام salām 'peace'), so this doesn't help. Both are Islamic-context terms.
Native from PT *esen 'well, healthy' + abstract -lik. Used in some formal contexts and revived by TDK; carries no religious context.
Native compound: gün 'day' + aydın 'bright'. Standard 'good morning' greeting, purely native.
Native imperative 'be healthy'. Doubles as 'thanks' AND 'hello' in some dialects.
Native: 'are you well?' from PT *esen 'well, healthy, safe' + copula. The classical native pan-Turkic greeting.
Native: 'are you healthy?' from Turkish sağ 'healthy'.
Native: 'stay pleasantly'. Standard modern secular goodbye, purely native.
Native: 'smiling smiling' (reduplication of gül- 'to smile'). Used when saying goodbye to someone leaving.
Native from PT *esen + -lik + -le. 'In wellness/safety'. Structurally the exact analog of Arabic-derived 'selametle' but purely Turkic.
Native: 'may your road be open'. Common Turkic farewell, no loan material.
Native replacement: iyi 'good' + native verb form. Structurally the exact same but replaces the Persian hoş with native iyi.
Native: 'you have come in wellness'. Rarer than iyi geldiniz but purely native.
Native from sağ 'healthy' + -lık + -la. Literary/formal 'in health'. Common in classical Turkish literature.
Native imperative: 'remain well/safe' from PT *esen. Recommended by TDK; found in reform-era writing.
Native imperative: 'be healthy'. Standard casual 'thanks' in modern Turkish — the native form is HEALTHIER as an everyday word than the Arabic-derived teşekkür.
Actually an Arabic loan (ay wallāh 'yes, by God'). NOT a replacement — mentioned to show that many colloquial 'thanks' words are still Arabic.
PT *alqïš 'praise, blessing'. Standard 'thanks' in Kazakh (алғыс) and Kyrgyz (алкыш); narrowed to 'applause' in Turkish. Reviving its broader meaning would give a fully native 'thanks'.
Azerbaijaniaz
Azerbaijani has the same Arabic + Persian layer as Turkish plus a Russian layer from the Soviet period. No systematic reform, so most loans remain in daily use.
Same PT *biti- + -g as Turkish. Not used in modern Az.
OT yağı, same as Turkish archaic form.
PT *čāk 'time, moment'. Used in some compounds.
PT *uluš. Not the standard word in Az, but structurally native.
Native imperative 'be well'. Doubles as an informal greeting and 'thanks'.
Native from PT *esen. Archaic in Az; more common in Kazakh.
Native 'stay in health'. Standard native farewell in Azerbaijani.
Native 'stay well'. Informal.
Kazakhkk
Kazakh's loan stratum is trilingual: Arabic/Persian via classical religious/literary registers, then a huge Russian layer from the Tsarist and Soviet periods. Native alternatives were promoted post-1991.
темір 'iron' + арба 'cart'. Native compound.
от 'fire' + арба 'cart'. Compound coining used in some Turkic revival vocabulary.
PT *köl- 'transport' + -ik. Attested in Kazakh as 'vehicle, transport'.
үн 'voice' + тарт- 'draw, pull' + agent -ар. Imagined 'voice-drawer'.
PT *bitig 'writing'. Not used in modern Kazakh but structurally native.
жаз- 'to write' + deverbal noun -ба. Used as 'note, entry'.
PT *čāk 'time, moment'. Attested as 'moment' in Kazakh.
PT *alqïš 'praise, blessing'. THE standard word in Kazakh for thanks — the native form won.
Native from *aman 'well, safe' + *esen 'healthy'. Classical native pan-Turkic greeting, still used but less common than the Arabic-derived сәлем.
'Blessed morning / day' — қайыр is Arabic خير but the compound is standard formal Kazakh; the fully-native equivalent uses ізгі 'good'.
Native: жақсы 'good' + native verb. Purely Turkic — replaces the Persian хош with native жақсы.
Native imperative 'be healthy'. Dropping the Persian қош gives pure Kazakh.
Native: 'be safe' from *aman.
Native: 'stay well'. Common friendly farewell.
Uzbekuz
Uzbek carries a heavy Persian substrate — Persian influence on Uzbek is deeper than on the other Turkic languages, showing in vocabulary AND phonology (loss of vowel harmony).
PT *bitig 'writing'. Not standard Uzbek.
PT *yağï. Not used in modern Uzbek.
PT *yurt 'dwelling, homeland'. Used in Uzbek alongside vatan.
Native from PT *esen 'well, healthy' + copula. 'Are you well?' — the classical Turkic native greeting.
Persian хош + native 'welcome'. Half-loan; the fully-native form would be yaxshi kelibsiz.
Native: 'stay well' — yaxshi 'good' + native imperative. Purely Turkic.
salomat is Arabic (salāma) — less native. Better: sog' bo'ling from native sog' 'healthy'.
Native: 'be healthy' from sog' (< PT *sağ 'healthy, whole').
Actually ALSO Arabic (tašakkur). Circles back — Uzbek 'thanks' has no widely-used native form. Imagined: alqish (< PT *alqïš).
Kyrgyzky
Kyrgyz sits between Kazakh and Kazakh's own Russian layer. Its loan strata are Arabic/Persian (via classical Chagatai literature) plus a heavy Russian layer from the Tsarist/Soviet periods. Post-1991 revivalist efforts have promoted native alternatives, but Russian remains dominant in technical/administrative registers.
PT *bitig 'writing'. Not used in modern Kyrgyz but structurally native.
PT *alqïš 'praise, blessing'. Attested in Kyrgyz as the traditional word for thanks (survives alongside рахмат).
Native: *aman 'safe' + PT *esen 'healthy'. Classical native pan-Turkic greeting.
PT *čāk 'moment' or *keŕ 'time, period'. Both used in modern Kyrgyz — the native forms coexist with the Arabic loan.
Native Kyrgyz 'vehicle, transport'. Used in modern Kyrgyz as an alternative to машина.
Native: 'iron road vehicle'. Compound coining; less common than the Russian loan.
Native: үн 'voice' + тарт- 'draw, pull' + agent -кыч. Imagined 'voice-drawer'.
Native: 'high learning place'. Officially preferred term in Kyrgyz education contexts.
PT *čāk 'moment, time'.
Fully-imagined native compound. Kyrgyz has no widely-used native word for paper.
Turkmentk
Turkmen is unique among modern Turkic languages in preserving Common Turkic vowel LENGTH. Its loan strata are Arabic/Persian (extensive) and Russian (Soviet-era). Post-independence Turkmenistan has been vigorously promoting native replacements, sometimes controversially inventing new words.
PT *bitig 'writing'. Not standard Turkmen; imagined revival.
Native: 'time-measurer' from wagt + öç- 'measure'. Imagined.
Native imperative 'be healthy'. Doubles as informal greeting.
PT *čāk 'moment' or Az/Tk döwür 'period' — both used alongside Ar wagt.
Turkmen's currency name manat is itself likely from Russian монета < Latin. The pan-Turkic native word for 'money' is elusive — historically 'coin' (aqça) was used.
Native from *esiz 'breath'. Rarely used; the Arabic loan dominates.
Native: 'counting device' — hasap- + -laýyş + enjam 'device'. Used in official technical contexts.
Native compound: ses 'voice' + al- 'take' + -gy. Turkmen-invented replacement, semi-adopted.
Purely imagined native replacement.
PT *el 'country, realm' — the ancient native word, attested in Old Turkic inscriptions.
Uyghurug
Uyghur carries loans from Arabic/Persian (via classical Chagatai), Chinese (from long geographic contact), and Russian (Soviet-era in the CIS Uyghur community). Post-1949 in Xinjiang, Chinese loans have accelerated for modern/technical vocabulary.
PT *bitig 'writing'. Not modern Uyghur.
Native 'are you well?' — yaxshi 'good' + copula. Used in modern Uyghur alongside salam.
PT *alqïš 'praise, blessing'. Not modern Uyghur but structurally native.
PT *čāk 'moment, time'. Attested in Uyghur as an alternative.
PT *aq-ča 'white (metal) + diminutive' → 'coin, silver money'. Native alternative, historically used.
Native words: harwa 'cart' and ulagh 'transport animal, vehicle'. Both used in modern Uyghur.
Native 'voice-drawing' — imagined native calque.
Native: hesab- 'count, reckon' + -lighuch. Structural analog of Arabic ḥāsūb.
OT kent 'town, city'. Same word as Turkish kent.
PT *teŋri 'sky, God'. The ancient native Turkic word for the divine. Used in shamanist/pre-Islamic contexts and by modern Uyghur cultural revivalists.