On the Palatal Transcription of ш (ayb) in Armeno-Kipchak Texts: A Comparative Orthographic Study of Armeno-Kipchak and Modern Turkic Languages

Abstract

Not having a unanimous transcription model for Armeno-Kipchak texts has left the exactness of certain Armenian graphemes obscure, one of which is ³ (ayb). This letter is consistently utilised for back low vowel in Armenian. Given this, in early studies ayb occurring aft er palatal syllables was considered non-harmonic, and thus left as is. Some scholars have doubted whether it might have indicated a palatal vowel, yet have kept rendering it as a back vowel. In this paper, I will try to shed light on the issue, by making an orthographic comparison between Armeno-Kipchak texts and those modern Turkic languages whose orthographies distinguish e vowels.