Alisher Navoi: The Founder of the Theory of Homonymy

Zulkhumor Kholmanova

1,*

, Mukaddas Abdurakhmonova

2,†

and Sabokhat Bozorova

2,‡

Tashkent State University of Uzbek Language and Literature named after Alisher Navoi, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Keywords: Homonym, Homonymous Lexemes, Semantic Method, Categorical Syncretism, Tajnis, Iyhom, Tuyuk,

Language, Thinking, National Corpus, Database, Electronic Platform.

Abstract: This article explores Alisher Navoi's views on homonymy, presenting them as the theoretical underpinning

of the concept. It highlights the significance of homonyms in cognitive evolution and their ability to maintain

formal unity while expressing different meanings. Various methods of forming homonyms, including the

semantic method leading to generic syncretism, are discussed. Navoi's adeptness at using homonyms in his

works, particularly in the Tuyuk genre and Tajnis art, is examined. The paper underscores the role of texts

containing homonyms and fine arts in language and cognitive development. Recommendations for broadening

the use of homonyms, particularly in the teaching of the Uzbek language and computer languages, are also

suggested.

1 INTRODUCTION

Homonyms are units with identical forms but distinct

content. The term 'homonym' derives from the Greek

for "the same name". There are multiple methods of

creating homonyms; one of which is the semantic

method where, over time, the connection between the

meanings of a single word vanishes, and new words

evolve. Etymological observations and Sem's

analysis reveal that these words actually stem from a

common root.

In Turkic languages, homonymy arises from a

phenomenon known as generic syncretism, inherent

to ancient Turkic words. This is termed by E.V.

Sevortyan as “verb-noun stems”, demonstrating the

use of a monosyllabic lexical stem as both a noun and

a verb with the same lexical meaning in the early

stages of Turkic languages' development. Sevortyan

employed terms such as “verb-noun homonymy”, and

“verb-noun homoform”. Alternatively, he suggests

"lexico-morphological syncretism" as a more

accurate term for this phenomenon. Modern Uzbek

words such as 'summer' (yoz), 'mulberry' (tut),

'swelling' (shish), and 'wedding' (to’y), exhibit traits

of generic syncretism. This category syncretism is

also observed in other Turkic languages.

Corresponding author

Various forms of homonyms exist:

1. Graphic homonyms - letter homonyms, for

example, Ji (j) I and Ji (j) II.

2. Lexical homonyms - words with identical

pronunciation and spelling, but different meanings.

3. Phraseological homonyms - phrases with identical

form but different meanings.

4. Paraphrasal homonyms - idioms with different

meanings.

5. Grammatical homonyms - homonymy between

grammatical forms.

6. Symbolic homonyms - homonymy between

characters.

Among these types, lexical homonyms are the most

commonly used. Lexical homonyms are words that

are spelled identically but have different meanings.

They are employed for various artistic purposes in

classical texts.

Homonyms were used in classical literature to create

the art of tajnis and the tuyuk genre, and in askiya

payra as a pun and a basis for fugitives. The profusion

of homonymous words in Turkic languages formed

the basis for the art of tajnis and iyham in literature.

The tuyuk genre was widely used in classical

literature.

414

Kholmanova, Z., Abdurakhmonova, M. and Bozorova, S.

Alisher Navoi: The Founder of the Theory of Homonymy.

DOI: 10.5220/0012489500003792

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR 2023), pages 414-418

ISBN: 978-989-758-687-3

A. Nurmonov notes that some linguistic concepts

were proposed by Eastern thinkers, particularly

Alisher Navoi, long before their European

counterparts. Navoi first outlined the theoretical

foundations of homonyms and their role in the

development of thinking. His scientific work,

“Muhokamat ul-lug‘atayn” is a valuable source for

understanding homonymous words.

Navoi identified traits such as "resourcefulness",

"high perception", "sincerity", and "purity",

characteristic of the Turkic peoples. He suggested

that “wisdom”, “understanding of science”,

“perfection”, and “virtue” are typical of the Sarts. He

particularly focused on their resourcefulness and high

perception.

Homonymy is crucial for the emotive expression of

thought, capturing the listener's attention.

Understanding homonymous words requires

knowledge, skills, a normative level of thinking, and

attention. In neurolinguistic analysis, the link

between the assimilation of the literal and figurative

meanings of a word and brain activity is emphasised.

A.R. Luria discusses the figurative meaning of words

and the challenges in assimilating the meaning of

homonymous words due to speech mechanism

disruptions or abnormal levels of speech activity. He

notes that patients with disrupted mental development

often fail to differentiate between homonymous

forms. Understanding homonyms is related to an

individual's cognition and perception.

Word games in classical literature, and the arts of

tajnis and iyham, enhance cognitive development.

The articulation of tajnis, using words that are

identical in form but different in meaning, illuminates

the "resourcefulness, high perception" characteristic

of the Turkic peoples, as noted by Alisher Navoi.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Alisher Navoi writes about the Turks' use of artistic

words, tajnis and iyhoma. He asserts that there are

more takallufs and puns adorning the poems among

the Turks than the Persians. He highlights that the

tuyuk genre, grounded in the art of tajnis and iyhoma,

is exclusive to Turkic peoples: “Yana she’rda barcha

tab’ ahli qoshida ravshan va majmu’ fusaho ollida

mubarhandurki, tajnis va iyhom bag‘oyat kulliydur.

Va bu farxunda iborat va xujasta alfoz va ishoratda

forsidin ko'proq tajnis omiz lafz va iyhom angez

nukta borki, nazmg'a mujibi zeb va ziynat va boisi

takalluf va san'atdur... ham turk shuaturrosi xos

sasidurki, sartda va yo'q muni tuyuq derlar". The

tuyuk genre, and its primary meaning — various

meanings concealed within the same form — are

connected to the intelligence and astute nature of the

Turkic peoples. The genres of askiya, tuyuk, riddles,

mysteries, and iyhom art, puns, which are

characteristic of the Turkic peoples' poetic creativity,

are products of a high level of thinking (Kh. Z.

Turdievna, K. M. 2022,58).

Alisher Navoi also refers to the peculiarities of the

tuyuk genre and the art of tajnis in his work, "Mezonu

ul-avzon": “Va bu ikki baytki, tajnisi tomdur, ham

turk shuarosi xos sasidurki, sortda yo‘qtur va muni

tuyug‘ derlar. Va muning ta'rifin "Mezonul-avzon"

otlig' aruzga bitilibdur, anda qililibdur" (Alisher

Navoi. 2011,9).

Besides a skilful description of the tuyuk genre

features and the art of tajnis, Navoi provides unique

examples of tuyuk. His skill in creating a riddle was

also acknowledged by scholars: “Especially, the most

difficult art in poetry is tajnis and inspiration; the poet

uses one word in two meanings, and the second

meaning is a hidden edge. It can be very striking or

significant. This phenomenon is, of course, not

unfamiliar to Persian literature. However, the

situation of full tajnis, suitable for expressing three or

four meanings of one word, as in Uzbek, practically

does not occur in Persian. Navoi cited such words as

“(ot) horse”, “(it) dog” and “(o`t) grass” as examples

(Kislov A.V., 2017,180).

The noun in the first verse used in this verse means

"(ot) name". That is: "Begim, sening isming hurdur,

paridur." The word "(ot) horse" in the second line

means "animal": "Sening oting tezlikda dev erur".

The noun in the fourth line is an action verb (otmoq-

to throw): "Har kim o'zini olib qochadigan g'amza

o'qini notavon jonim tomon oting."

The word it (dog) in the first verse means an animal.

That is: O adversary, even if you treat him like a dog...

The dog in the second line means "to pass": "Have

mercy on us, cross his sea, surrender." The word "it"

in this sense is not used in the Uzbek literary

language. In literary language, the word "throw" is

used. This word is the accusative form of the stem (it)

used in Navoi's tuyuks. (It) in the fourth line means

“bring”, “take away”: “Although the place of your

love is hellish (here we mean love suffering), lead us

to it with your own hands.”

Alisher Navoi noted the appearance of homonyms

based on the words tush (dream), yon (side), bor

(have), sog'in (miss), tuz (salt), ko'k (blue).

Muhokamat ul-lug‘atayn ranges from two to six

homonymous paradigms.

Alisher Navoi: The Founder of the Theory of Homonymy

415

Homonymy of three words: Alisher Navoi

highlighted that the homonyms 'tush' (dream) and

'yon' (side) each carry three different meanings, but

he did not elucidate them: Va tush lafzida ham bu

nav’ uch ma’ni bor. Va yana yon lafzida va yoq

lafzida ham bu holdur va bu nav’ lafziki, anda uch

ma’ni bo‘lg‘ay, had va hasrdin ko‘prak topilur

(Alisher Navoi. 2011, Rakhmonov V. (2014)). These

homonyms are also utilised in modern Uzbek literary

language: tush I “a dream seen in a dream”; tush II

"movement directed from top to bottom"; tush III

"time";

Yon I "side"; yon II "movement of fire"; yon III

"return". Only the word "Yon III", meaning "to

return", is not used in contemporary Uzbek.

Homonymy of four words: Alisher Navoi cited four-

value homonymous words: Va xili lafz ham topilurki,

to'rt ma'nisi bo'lg'ay, andoqki, bor lafziki, bir ma'nisi

mavjudlug'dur va bir ma'nisi amrdur boruvg'a va bir

ma' nisi yukdur va bir ma'nisi samardur (Alisher

Navoi. 2011, Rakhmonov V. (2014)). In modern

Uzbek literary language, forms of the homonym 'bor'

are employed, with meanings such as "existence", and

"order". Homonyms with the meanings "effective"

and "load" are not utilised.

Homonymy of five words: Navoi pointed out that

there are homonyms carrying five different meanings:

Va andoq lafz ham topilurki, besh ma'nisi bo'lg'ay:

sog'in lafzidekki, bir ma'nisi yod qilmoqqa amrdur va

biri sutluk qo'y otidur va ishq masti va majnuni va

bemori muqobalasida sog'in desa, har biriga itloq

qilsa bo'lur ( Alisher Navoi. 2011, Rakhmonov V.

(2014)). Sog'in I means "miss"; Modern Uzbek

employs the homonym Sog'in II, which is "a word

used to refer to an animal to be milked". Sog'in III

"intoxicating with love", Sog'in IV "majnunvash",

Sog'in V "sick" are not used in modern Uzbek literary

language.

Homonymy of six words: The poem 'tuz' by Alisher

Navoi exemplifies the phenomenon of six

homonymous forms:

Yana andoqki, tuz lafziki necha ma'ni iroda qilsa

bo'lur. Biri tuzki, o‘q yo nayzadek nimani derlar

Yana– tuz hamvor dashtni derlar. Yana tuz - rost

kishini derlar. Yana tuz - sozni tuzmakka amr

qilmog'ni, yana tuz - ikki kishi orasida muvofaqat

solmog'ni (derlar). Yana tuz - bir majlis asbobini ham

desa bo‘lur (Alisher Navoi. 2011, Rakhmonov V.

(2014)). Homonyms 'tuz' are essentially formed from

one word.

Turning to the etymology of the word, we can see that

all homonymous forms contain symbols of

"correctness" and "norm".

Among these homonyms in the Uzbek literary

language, only tuz V, meaning “binding, matching”

(association), is used. Modern Uzbek also contains

the word "tuz", which signifies "sodium chloride, fit

for consumption", but Alisher Navoi does not

mention this term.

The homonyms tuz I "bullet, spear", tuz II "field,

plain, steppe", tuz III "the right word of a man", tuz

IV "the correct word"; and tuz VI "assembly tool"

types are not used in modern Uzbek literary language.

Alisher Navoi adroitly employed the term “tuz” in the

text: “…va bu hol turklarning sidq va safo va tuz

niyatidin va sortlarning ilm va funun va hikmatidin

zohir durur”.

In the Annotated Dictionary of the Uzbek Language,

there are three homonyms of tuz. Tuz II.1. is flat land,

a wide plain. Tuganmas konimizdir tog‘ bilan tuz.

Habibi. Yo‘l yuramiz qumloq, suvsiz tuzlarga…

"Hasankhan". This word is utilised in modern Uzbek

dialects. It is not observed in the literary language.

Navoi refers to the "correct" meaning of the word

"Tuz niyati" and emphasises that the nature of the

Turkic peoples is upright, and that they are not

deceptive.

Alisher Navoi presented six different forms of the

homonym for the word ko'k: ko'k I "sky", ko'k II

"chant", ko'k III "nature", ko'k IV "package"; ko'k V

"greenery", ko'k VI "field". He stated that harmony

could be created in other ways:

Va ko'k lafzin ham necha ma'ni bila iste'mol qilurlar.

Biri ko'k - osmonni derlar. Yana ko'k ohangdur. Yana

ko'k tegrada ko'klamdur. Yana ko'k qadog'ni ham

derlar. Yana ko'k sabza va o'langni dog'i derlar. Bu

nav'alfoz hamki, uch ma'ni va to'rt ma'ni va

ortug'roqkim, iroda qilsa bo'lg'ay, ko'p borki, forsiy

alfozda andoq yo'qtur (Alisher Navoi. 2011,

Rakhmonov V. (2014)).

In many studies, researchers have focused on the

meaning of the word "ko'k" in "Muhokamat ul-

lug'atayn", its semantic features, and its homonymous

meanings.

“The main common Turkic root of the lexeme with

the meaning ko’k occupies a prominent place in the

works of Navoi: ... har gunbazi sÿmÿzi manzilatdin

falakniң kök gunbazidin bash ötkäribdÿr. Tiniq

osmon randidagi; moviy, zangori (ЎTIL-Annotated

dictionary of the Uzbek language. I. – 2006; 16, 412)

The sememe root lexical unit first appears in the

Kultegin inscription: ...ÿzä kök tänri asra yagyz yer

(Ibragimova Z. 2021,312). The lexeme is used with

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the same meaning in the ancient Turkic language

monuments (DC - Ancient Turkic Dictionary.-L.,

1969,317) and the ancient Turkic language of the

XIII-XIV centuries (Kholmanova S. 2021,617).

In the Annotated Dictionary of the Uzbek Language,

the word “ko’k” is presented as an ambiguous lexical

unit. Among its meanings are “a layer of air visible

above the ground in the form of a dome”; "heaven";

"growing grass, grass"; "the grass is green". It is also

noted that edible berry plants such as cilantro, ginger,

and dill have a 'green' meaning (ЎTIL-Annotated

dictionary of the Uzbek language. I. – 2006; 16, 412).

Researcher Sh. Egamova emphasises that the lexeme

“ko’k” is not a polysemous word, but a homonym: “In

our view, the following lexemes are not additional

meanings of the analysed lexeme, but are homonyms

of the root word. This opinion is also based on the

dictionary of Mahmud Koshgari (DC - Ancient

Turkic Dictionary.-L., 1969,317) and comments in

Navoi's work "Muhokamat ul-lug‘atayn" (Egamova

Sh. 2019.,304).

3 DISCUSSION

Let's summarise the contributions of Alisher Navoi to

the development of homonymy as follows:

1. Alisher Navoi emphasised the traits of "high

perception" and "insight" among the Turkic

peoples. He underscored that reading tajnis

using homonyms, unique to this national

language, demonstrates the most

fundamental and significant factor in the

characteristics linked to the Turkic peoples'

way of thinking - the enhancement of

linguistic consciousness, cognition, and

perception.

2. He explicitly illustrated the emergence of

homonyms in Turkish languages in

quantitative terms.

3. The semantics of homonyms are

underscored using the tuyuk genre as an

example.

4. He analysed homonyms formed via the

semantic method.

It is appropriate to present Alisher Navoi's definition

of homonyms, homonymous words, homonymous

genres, and tajnis based on homonyms, his analysis

of the art of iyhom, his contributions to the lexicology

of the great Uzbek thinker, word form, and his ideas

about the semantic paradigm in textbooks, teaching

aids, and dictionaries as a scientific dissertation.

"Muhokamat ul-lug'atayn" offers a substantial

reference point.

4 CONCLUSION

Homonyms are a linguistic issue that garners

attention in global linguistics. Wordplay based on

homonyms, along with sayings and the askiya genre,

are recognised as influential in cognitive

development. The inclusion of the askiya genre in the

UNESCO list as a unique and rare cultural

phenomenon emphasises the significant role

homonyms play in shaping worldviews, cognition,

and evaluative abilities. Unfortunately, askiya is

currently utilised within a narrow circle and its

benefits are confined to a limited group of people. It

is vital to eliminate the subjective approach in

interpreting askiya, expand its content, and promote

its broad application in the educational process.

The widespread use of homonyms is also observed

globally. For instance, homonymy in Chinese plays a

vital role throughout all stages of its historical

development. Currently, considering the extensive

capabilities of Chinese characters, computer games

are being developed based on homonyms.

Homonymy is one of the distinctive characteristics of

the Uzbek language, and it is practically used not only

to express concepts and cultivate logical thinking but

also to educate the mind.

The effective use and understanding of homonyms as

a cognitive development factor set forth a number of

tasks. In this regard, it's necessary to:

- Clarify the etymology, communicative, and

accumulative functions of homonymy, from its

emergence among lexical units to other types. This

includes the collection of grammatical, affixal

homonyms, homonymous phrases, combinations,

symbols, and homonymous units in dialects;

- Use examples from written sources and standard

speech materials in compiling a dictionary of

homonyms;

- Employ classical scientific, artistic, and historical

sources that reflect theoretical information and the

results of scientific research devoted to solving

problems associated with homonyms, as well as use

advanced foreign experience in clarifying the

relationship between form and meaning;

Alisher Navoi: The Founder of the Theory of Homonymy

417

- Analyse the foundations of artistic creativity based

on homonyms in classical sources and form a

linguistic database;

- Expand the scope of the Uzbek language, make it a

technical language, establish a formal basis for

homonyms for the development of an information-

computer style, and effectively use modelling. It's

necessary to implement tasks such as developing

markup models with special homonym tags and

creating an electronic platform.

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