subay
Azerbaijani edit
Etymology edit
The word is commonly assumed to derive from Mongolic, see Mongolian сувай (suvaj, “sterile, barren”). Cognate with Kyrgyz субай (subay, “barren animal”), Yakut субай (subay, “barren animal; animals to be slaughtered”); Chagatai [script needed] (subay, “unladen; single; light cavalry”). The sense 'bachelor; childless' occurs in Turkish dialects as well, possibly as a borrowing from Azerbaijani.[1]
According to Doerfer, the word underwent the following semantic developments in (primarily) Central Asian Turkic languages: 'barren'→ 'unattached, not married' → 'light cavalry (unattached, unburdened by load)'; he then attributes Turkish subay (“officer”) to a semantic narrowing of an unattested sense '*light cavalry officer'.[2] However, neither Azerbaijani nor Ottoman Turkish have the sense 'officer'.
Alternatively, the Turkish subay (“officer”) was coined as a replacement for Ottoman Turkish ضابط (“zâbit”) during the Turkish language reform,[3] in which case the coinage was a misinterpretation of Chagatai [script needed] (subay) as a compound cognate with Old Turkic 𐰾𐰇 (s²ü, “army; spearmen; heavily armed pedestrian or horsemen”)[4] and Old Turkic 𐰋𐰏 (b²g, “lord”).[5]
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
subay (definite accusative subayı, plural subaylar)
- bachelor, bachelorette; unmarried person. (mostly of men)
- Bütün subaylara qismət olsun.
- May [this] be the destiny for all bachelors. [usage 1]
Usage notes edit
- ^ Said by someone who is getting married as a wish for the yet unmarried to eventually experience the joy of starting a family.
Declension edit
| Declension of subay | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |||||||
| nominative | subay |
subaylar | ||||||
| definite accusative | subayı |
subayları | ||||||
| dative | subaya |
subaylara | ||||||
| locative | subayda |
subaylarda | ||||||
| ablative | subaydan |
subaylardan | ||||||
| definite genitive | subayın |
subayların | ||||||
Adjective edit
subay (comparative daha subay, superlative ən subay)
- unmarried, single, unattached
- subay kişi ― unmarried man
- subay qız ― unmarried girl
Derived terms edit
- subaylıq (“bachelor life”)
References edit
- ^ Lewis, Geoffrey (1999) The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, page 122
- ^ Doerfer, Gerhard (1967) Türkische und mongolische Elemente im Neupersischen [Turkic and Mongolian Elements in New Persian] (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur: Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission)[1] (in German), volume 3, Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, pages 236–237
- ^ Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “subay”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
- ^ Abuseitova, M. Kh, Bukhatuly, B., editors (2008), “𐰾𐰇”, in TÜRIK BITIG: Ethno Cultural Dictionary, Language Committee of Ministry of Culture and Information of Republic of Kazakhstan
- ^ Abuseitova, M. Kh, Bukhatuly, B., editors (2008), “𐰋𐰏”, in TÜRIK BITIG: Ethno Cultural Dictionary, Language Committee of Ministry of Culture and Information of Republic of Kazakhstan
Hiligaynon edit
Noun edit
subay
Turkish edit
Etymology edit
Probably from a misinterpretation of Chagatai [script needed] (subay, “light cavalry”) as a compound cognate with Old Turkic 𐰾𐰇 (s²ü, “army; spearmen; heavily armed pedestrian or horsemen”) and Old Turkic 𐰋𐰏 (b²g, “lord”) and thus having the meaning 'army lord', in order to coin a replacement for the Ottoman ضابط (“zâbit”) during Turkish language reform. See more at Azerbaijani subay.
Noun edit
subay (definite accusative subayı, plural subaylar)