𐽷𐽹𐽶

Old Uyghur

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *kēmi (ship). Cognate with Chuvash кимӗ (kimĕ), Turkish gemi, Uzbek kema, Kazakh кеме (keme), Tuvan хеме (xeme) and Shor кебе.

Noun

𐽷𐽹𐽶 or 𐽷𐽶𐽹𐽶 (kémi or kimi)

1. (vehicles) ship, boat

   Synonym: 𐾀𐽰𐽾 (tar)

   • c. late 10th century, Xuanzang Biography, Book XXX‎^[1], HTVII: 1918-20 (1-3):

     𐽰𐽹𐽷𐽰𐽷𐾁𐽶𐽷 𐾀𐽰𐾁𐽳𐽶 𐽺𐽳𐽺𐽷 𐽷𐽶𐽹𐽶 𐽻𐽶 𐽼𐽰𐾀𐽹𐽶𐽻𐾅 𐾈 𐾀𐽺𐽷𐽾𐽶 𐾁𐽶 𐽷𐽶𐽻𐾅𐽶 𐾁𐽶 𐽺𐽶𐽺𐽷 𐽷𐽳𐽶𐽴𐽶 𐾀𐽰𐽷𐽶𐾁𐽹𐽶𐽻𐾅 𐾈

     Emgeklig taloynuŋ kimisi batmïš, Teŋrili kišiliniŋ közi tegilmiš […]

     The ship of the sea of suffering has sunk! The wisdom of gods and men has gone out!

   • c. 11th century, Story of Prince Kalyāṇaṃkara and Papamkara, section XVII:

     𐾀𐽰𐾁𐽶𐽹 𐽼𐽰𐾁𐽶𐽵 𐽰𐽾𐽷𐽰𐽺 𐽻𐽰𐽲𐾁𐽰𐽺𐽹𐽰𐽸𐽶𐽺 𐾀𐽳𐽿𐽶𐽾 𐽰𐽰𐾁𐽲𐽺𐽶 𐽷𐽹𐽶 𐽼𐽶𐽾𐾁𐽰 𐽻𐽶𐽺𐽷𐽳𐽾𐽳𐽾 𐾉

     Talïm balïk odug erken saglanmatïn tušar, alkunï kémi birle siŋürür.

     While the Talymbalyq is awake, if one unexpectedly encounters it, it will swallow everyone together with the boat.

Derived terms

• 𐽷𐽹𐽶𐽽𐽶 (kémiči, “seafarer, sailor, captain”)

References

• Caferoğlu, Ahmet (1968) “kämi”, in Eski Uygur Türkçesi Sözlüğü (Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları; 260) (in Turkish), Istanbul: Edebiyat Fakültesi Basımevi, page 105
• Clauson, Gerard (1972) “kemi:”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 721
• Hamilton, James (2020) Korkut, Ece, Birkan, İsmet, transl., Budacı İyi Kalpli ve Kötü Kalpli Prens Masalının Uygurcası - Prens Kalyāṇaṃkara ve Pāpaṃkara Hikâyesi (in Turkish), Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları, →ISBN
• Wilkens, Jens (2021) “kemi”, in Handworterbuch des Altuigurischen, Göttingen: Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, page 363