Languages like Khakas, Altay, Kyrgyz and Kazakh can be regarded among the most typical Turkic languages, preserving the maximum number of late Proto-Turkic features: The Yenisei Kyrgyz tibes used incinerations thus destroying any buried material artifacts, which is also corroborated by the reports from the Tang Chinese Chronicles (Tang Shu Hezhao) saying that the Kyrgyz tribes burned up their dead and then reburied them under kurgans [Grach, A.D. (1980) (in Russian) According to Radloff, ''the Kyrgyz people have used agriculture even more extensively than the Kazakhs [...] They sow wheat, barley and several kinds of millet. They use barley and a special kind of millet as horse food.'' Proto-Great-Steppe continued to occupy the Kulunda Steppe for a long time and would finally develop into Proto-Kyrgyz-Kazakh-Chagatai in the Tian Shan and Proto-Kimak nomads along the Irtysh, and Proto-Baraba near Lake Chany. It is not really clear when exactly the arrival of Proto-Kyrgyz-Kazakh-Chagatai in the Tian Shan Mountains first occurred — the scanty historical records and considerations by different authors differ significantly on that date. On the other hand, the principle of omnidirectional migration and the archaicness of the modern Kyrgyz language suggest that the earliest Proto-Kyrgyz settlement along the Jeti-Su (Zheti-Su) (the ''Seven Waters'' area between Lake Balkhash and the Tian Shan) must have been a quite early event, presumably even consistent with the separation of Proto-Central into between Proto-Altay-Sayan and Proto-Great-Steppe circa 200 BCE. This is supported by the fact that Kyrgyz and Altay Turkic presently retain many Proto-Turkic and Proto-Central archaisms and for this reason [as well as because of the secondary migrations during the Dzungarian invasion of the 17th century] were even viewed as related in other classifications. However, from the current perspective, both Kyrgyz and Altay Turkic rather seem to be a sort of refugium areas of an ancient Proto-Central continuum superseded by other tribes in other regions, and their purported relatedness mostly reflects archaic retentions. The position of Proto-Baraba is basically unclear. It has been noted by many researchers that Baraba bears many similarities to Kimak-Kypchak-Tatar, Kyrgyz-Kazakh and even Khakas-Altay. The most likely hypothesis would therefore be that Baraba is a remnant of the early Proto-Central or Proto-Great-Steppe continuum in the interfluvial area between the Ob and Irtysh basins, that was later intermingled with Proto-Kimak-Kypchak-Tatar that moved along the Irtysh after 700 CE. Curiously, one of the lakes in the Depression is named Lake Kyrgyz (Hargas-Nuur or Khirgis-Nur) implying that it was once inhabited by the arrivals from Tuva and Khakassia, usually known as Kyrgyz after about 500 CE. Source: The Proto-Turkic Urheimat & The Early Migrations of Turkic Peoples _______________________________ Further reading: ''Early

• published: 28 Dec 2014
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