Abstract
WHAT IS THE RELATION BETWEEN ajlaŋ AT DÎVÂN LUGÂT AT-TURK WITH ZAHHAK
In this paper will be a review about a word at Dîvân Lugât at-Turk which is not detected yet in an other historical and contemporary Turkic dialect: ajlaŋ “chameleon”. Mahmud al-Kashgari recorded that this word is an element of Oghuz dialect at XI. century. At some Dîvân translations this word is readed as ujlaŋ. Because of the ajlaŋ is a hapax legomenon there are very few opinions about the etymology of the word. Several researchers stated that the word is Iranian but they have not made a detailed examination about the origin of ajlaŋ. In this context, we act in the name of Zahhak ,which has an important place at Indian, Iranian and Middle East mythology, and try to explain the etymology of ajlaŋ. We set about our opinions at Aži Dahâka from Avesta. Then will try to extend the New Persian ajdahâ. After all we will demonstrate that ajlaŋ is derived from an Indian-Iranian word aj “snake > reptile” with denominal suffix +laŋ. In other hand will be a short assesment about the personal name Ajlan at Modern Turkish.
Keywords
Dîvân Lugât at-Turk, ajlaŋ, chameleon, dragon, hapax legomenon, etymology.