Numeral adjectives in the Tatar kyssa texts of the late XIX – early XX centuries

Gilemshin Fler Foatovich ORCID: 0000-0003-1957-5042 PhD in Philology Scientific Associate, Center for Islamic Studies, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan; leading researcher,  Laboratory of Multivariate Humanitarian Analysis and Cognitive Philology of Kazan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Docent, the department of Russian and Tatar Languages, Kazan State Medical University 420111, Россия, Республика Татарстан, г. Казань, ул. Баумана, 20, каб. 308 Fler.Gilemshin@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

In Tatar culture, the kissa genre was formed under the influence of the literature of the East. The term "kissa" is translated from Arabic into Russian as "history, story, novella, novella" ^{[1, p. 639]}. In Tatar literature, the works of the kyssa genre have been known since the XIII century, for several centuries it has been enriched with works of this genre, many of which have gained popularity among the Tatars.

In the second half of the XIX century, Tatar literature was very rich in such works. The most popular among them were translations of the famous collection of fairy tales "One Thousand and One Nights" ("Alf layla vayla") by F. Khalidi, the famous books "Tutiname" ("Tutynama") and "Kalila and Dimna" ("Kalila v Dimna") by G. Fayezkhanov, the outstanding books "The Story of the Forty Vezirs" ("Kyryk vazir kyissasy") and "Abugalisina" ("Abugalisina kyissasy") K. Nasyri. It is these masterpieces that have become the object of our present research.

The names of numerals in the texts of the kissa genre are represented in small numbers. As the researchers point out, the frequency of using numerals in literary texts is not so high, which is quite natural, because the cause of such diseases is fictional events and heroes, and inaccurate information. Nevertheless, even here numerical values play an important role in the embodiment of the author's idea ^{[2, p. 35]}.

In the works of the kyssa genre, quantitative numerals are used to express various functions. For example, the numeral ber (ber)‘one’ in texts is used to transmit:

 - temporal relations: Ber jyl muttasyl m ? ? ar?d? jatyb... ^{[5, p. 7]}‘We spent one year in a cave...’; Ber o om ? a e?end? qajtarmaq ixtijaryn ?art qyldylar ^{[12, p. 5]} ‘Agreed with the condition to return it within one week’; ber s? ? at qad?re qarab s?jir qyldy ^{[14, p. 8]} ‘Took a walk for one hour....’;

- singularities of the subject: Gali Zibaq suny e?eb satu?y ? a ber altyn birde ... ^{[10, p. 18]} ‘Ali Zeibak drank the water and paid the seller one gold coin...’; ?ul qyzny n ber m?rt?b? qarawy ... ?zemne zar w? ? arjan itde ^{[5, p. 26]} ‘One look from this girl made me moan and cry’;  jawlyqlar ? a b?jl?b quj ? an altynlar ber dan?se d? betm?g?n... ^{[6, p. 145]} ‘None of the gold coins wrapped in handkerchiefs disappeared...’;

- a small number of objects or things: ber k?lim? s?z tele n ? kiterm? ^{[14, p. 5]} ‘Do not utter a single word’; ber s?z bel?n sine ?kenderermen ^{[14, p. 52]} ‘With one word I will make you repent....’.

The lexeme ber ‘one’ is also very often used in the texts of kyss to express uncertainty: b?nem ber matur g?z?l b?kir? qyzym bar ?uny si n a bireb sin bezd? qalyb h?m si n a ber uryn t? ? ajen id?sem kil?der ^{[9, p. 91]} ‘I have a beautiful, chaste daughter, I want to marry her to you, leave you here and appoint you to a position’; O ?bu ? ?h?rne n bilgele ke?esend ?n ber S? ? id isemle s?wd?g?r bar ide ^{[12, p. 2]} ‘Among the famous people of this city was a merchant named Said’; Soltan M?xm?dne n Ij?s isemle ber s?ekle xas xezm?t?ese bar ide ^{[14, p. 2]} ‘Sultan Mahmud had a special, beloved servant named Iyas'.

The numeral ike (ike) ‘two’ in the texts of works of the kyssa genre has the meaning of ‘pairing, duality’: ba ?qa wilaj ? tk ? kit, ber k ? kd ? ike mah bulmas ^{[5, p. 102]} ‘Go to another area, there are no two moons in the sky...’; ike w?zire bar ide, bere bik yalim w? bere bik nadan ide ^{[14, p. 39]} ‘He had two viziers, one very smart and the other very stupid’; ike dust qo?aqla?yb b?xilldel?r ^{[13, p. 9]} ‘Two friends hugged and said goodbye'; ber ata, ber anadan igez ike bala d ? nja ? a kileb ^{[5, p. 9]} ‘Two twins were born from the same mother and the same father’; Any n ike k le ?geze bar ide, beren? tr?b?, beren? M?tr?b? dij?r ide ^{[13, p. 28]} ‘He had two strong bulls, one of them he called Shatraba, the other Matraba’, etc.

The quantitative numeral (och) ‘three’ in the texts of kyssa is endowed with semantics present in fairy tales, in mythology and in legends. The number three in ancient times meant "everything", i.e. the number of "completeness", "equivalent to a set". Also, the number three was considered magical in ancient times because it consisted of the sum of the previous numbers (1+2 = 3). In Pythagoreanism, the troika symbolizes completeness and perfection. Pythagoras considered the three a symbol of harmony, and Aristotle – completeness: "The triad is the number of the whole, because it contains the beginning, the middle and the end" ^[4].

The number three in the texts acts as a symbol of completeness, completeness, and perfection: k?n istir?x?t ideb ‘Having rested for three days...’; B?n ?ah xozuryna kileb, jirne m ?t?b? ?beb tordym ^{[6, p. 71]} ‘I went up to the Shah and kissed the ground three times’; ? aqylly d?xi w?zire bar ide ^{[14, p. 40]} ‘He also had three wise viziers'.

The quantitative numerals d?rt (d?rt) ‘four', bi? (bish) ‘five’, alty (alty) ‘six’ in the texts of kyssa's works indicate the number, the length of time, space: d?rt t?r?z?se bar ide ^{[14, p. 8]} ‘There were four windows...’; ?j R?zzaq Mut? ? al bu qoly n k ? nd? d?rt m?rt?b? awymny d?rja ? a salyb ^{[6, p. 25]} ‘Oh, Almighty, this slave of yours throws his net into the river only four times every day’; ?ah... balyq ?y ? a d ?rt j ?z altyn bireb ^{[6, p. 39]} ‘The Shah handed over four hundred gold coins to the fisherman’; bi? ad?ml?r il? totyb bunda kiterdek ^{[10, p. 11]} ‘The five of us caught her and brought her here’; bi? ajaqly ?anwar digan – bet ime? ^{[14, c 66]} ‘The so-called predator with five paws turned out to be a louse’; sin b?n a alty t ? st le jef?k alyb qajt ^{[11, p. 196]} ‘You bring me silk in six colors’; alty j ?k qar ^{[14, p. 111]} ‘Six carts of snow...’.

It is also interesting to use the numeral jide / jite (?ide) ‘seven’ in the texts of kyssa.

According to the well-known turkologist E. R. Tenishev, this number among the Turkic peoples participates in many processes - in the designation of religious beliefs of different faiths, the formation of astronomical terms and concepts, the construction of folklore plots, proverbs and sayings ^{[3, p. 633]}.

In Islam, the number seven also has a sacred meaning. In the texts of the kissa genre, like in the Quran, the concept of seven heavens is found. For example, jide qat k?k, h?r berene qalynly ? y bi? j?z jyllyq juldyr ^{[14, p. 7]} ‘Seven levels of the sky, the thickness of each is a path of five hundred years ...’; Xaq T? ? al? a n a jide qat k?kne (...) k?rs?tde ^{[14, p. 5]} ‘The Almighty showed him the seven levels of heaven...’.

The number jide ‘seven’ conveys the meaning of ‘alien, distant world': bunlar jide di n gezne ?teb, ber taw ? a jiteb ... ^{[9, p. 37]} ‘They passed through seven seas, and reached the mountain’; jite ?aqrym qad?r kitk, ber n?fis saxra ? a ?yqdylar ... ^{[10, p. 120]} ‘When they had walked seven kilometers, they came to a beautiful valley...’. 

The lexeme jide ‘seven‘ also indicates the meaning of ’a large number, duration‘: Xankin isemle ber olu ? padi?ah bar ide, jide ?qlim any n quly astynda ide ^{[14, p. 2]} 'Once upon a time there was a great king named Khankin, in his subordination there were seven provinces ...’; jide k ? n tuj ideb, ?adlyqda, ?lg?n?e, j? ? ni ? omerl?re bujyn?a qaldylar ^{[11, p. 381]} ‘They celebrated the wedding for seven days, and remained in joy all their lives, until their last days."

The concept of 'seven' in the texts of kyss is also conveyed by the Arabic numeral s?b ? a: J waqytda Qor'?n rifne riwaj?t s?b ? a il? bikl?b b?nem nam w? hr?tem jite ?klimd? jji ? ide ^{[6, p. 64]} 'In my youth I learned the holy Quran and the "Seven Stories"... and my name and glory were distributed in seven regions.’

In the works under study, other quantitative numerals are actively used, the function of which is quite similar.

Many numerals are used to express a large number of objects, subjects and phenomena: m?lik w?zire F azyl Xaqan ? a un me n altyn bireb ?jtde ^{[6, p. 202]} ‘One day the king gave his vizier Fazyl Khakan ten thousand gold and said...’; un dan ? alma kitereb ?jtde ^{[14, p. 202]}. 80] ‘He brought a dozen apples and said....’; Unike ke?ene alar ? a il?e ideb jib?rde ^{[14, p. 18]} ‘Sent them twelve people as ambassadors...’; ike b?rad?r m? ? l?m t?r?z?d?n qarab, jegerme ?arij? il? jegerme ? ar?bne k?rg... ^{[6, p. 5]} ‘Two brothers, looking out of the window, saw twenty slaves and twenty slaves...’; ber f? qyjrg? rast kileb (...) jegerme altynyn bireb…  ^{[9, c. 208]} ‘He met a beggar and gave him his twenty gold coins...’;utyz jyl di n gezd ? gizeb ^{[14, p. 67]} ‘He spent thirty years at sea...’; jasdyq ?sten? ber jawlyq ? a t?reb ille altyn qujdym ... ^{[6, p. 141]} ‘I put fifty gold coins wrapped in a handkerchief on the feather bed...’; x?kim buny jirg? jatqyzyb, ille qam?y qad?r or ? a? ... ^{[6, p. 187]} ‘When the judge laid him on the ground and struck him with a whip fifty times...’; ber m?lik bar ide, jitme? ike ?lk?j? m?lik ide ... ^{[8, p. 36]} ‘There was a king, he ruled seventy-two regions...’; bez ?jtk?n jul qaf tawynnan jitme? jyllyq jul ... ^{[9, c 40]} ‘The road we were talking about is seventy years away from the Caucasus Mountains...’.

Some numerals indicate age: ber matur und?rt ja?enda qyz (...) b? n a ?jtde ... ^{[7, p. 56]} ‘A beautiful girl of fourteen years old told me...’; unbi? jen? kilg?nd? e? w? k?sebk? kertdel?r ^{[12, p. 39]} ‘When he was fifteen years old, they got him a job’; unbi? jen? kerdekd? b?n s?wd? en ?it h?rg? kitdem ^{[6, p. 12]} ‘When he reached the age of fifteen, I went to another city to engage in trade.’

The numerals forty, one hundred, one thousand also indicate an indefinite large number: Andan so n padi?ah bar?a w?zirl?ren, bikl?ren, w? ba?qa ? awam xalqyn ?yjyb (...) qyryq k ? ng z?wyq w? safalar itdel?r. ^{[14, p. 159]} ‘After that, the ruler gathered all his viziers, beks, ordinary people and celebrated the release of the prince for forty days; Qylny qyryq ? a jaryr ide ^{[5, p. 4]} ‘I could divide the thread into forty parts...’; b? n a aq t?nle ? aj?t matur qyryq aarij? kitere n ez ^{[9, p. 210]} ‘Bring me forty beautiful white-skinned concubines’; me n b?la bel?n tozaqny ?zde ^{[13, p. 11]} ‘As a result of a thousand torments, he managed to escape from the trap...’; ? aqylly ke?e uldyr h?rber e?ne me n t?rle fiker id?r ^{[14, p. 17]}, ‘The smart man is the one who thinks over every case a thousand times’, etc.

Ordinal numerals also take place in the texts of kyss.  The concept of ‘first’ in the works is expressed by the lexemes ?w?l ()))))))))) and ?w?lge (?))))))))))): Xaq T??al? alarny d?rt t?rle b?la?a totqyn id?r: ?w?l  ? omeren qysqa qylyrlar ^{[14, p. 7]} ‘Allah Almighty will make them dependent on four troubles: the first of them will shorten their lives...’; ?w?lge ki ^{[6, p. 13]} ‘The first night’; ?w?lge x?len? qajtdy ^{[9, p. 165]} ‘Returned to its original state...’.

In some cases, the token ?w?lge can act to convey the meaning of ‘ancient, former’: ?w?lge kibeten biz?b munaqqa? ber kibet bina qylyb birde ^{[5, p. 25]} ‘He decorated his former store and built a new luxury store’; ?w?lge zamanda Hind jortynda ber s?wd?g?r bar ide ^{[12, p. 10]} ‘In ancient times, there was a certain merchant in India…’; d?wl?tem j?n? qajtyb ?w?lge x?lem kilkder  ^{[14, c. 43]} ‘My wealth will return again and everything will be as before."

In the texts of works of the kyssa genre, other ordinal numerals are formed from quantitative ones using affixes -yn?y –en?e (-ynchy / -enche): ike bala d?nja?a kileb beren? ?bu?alisina iken?esen? ?bulxaris dib isem qujdylar ^{[5, c.  3]} “Two twins were born, one was named Abugalisina, the second Abulkharis; ber jime?ne ?zeb aldy is? urynyna iken?ese ?s? toryr ^{[14, p. 98]} ‘If you pick a fruit, another will grow in its place....’; buny n ? ? u ? ly bulyb berse S?lim iken?ese S?lim ? ?en?ese  Sud?r isemend? idel?r ^{[9, c. 186]} ‘He had three sons, one was named Salim, the second Salem, the third Judar’; d?rten?e w?zir kileb ?jtde ^{[14, c. 26]} ‘The fourth vizier came up and said ...’;d?rten?e ki ^{[6, c. 21]} ‘The fourth night’; Bi?en?e w?zir kileb ?jtde ^{[14, p. 31]} ‘The fifth vizier came up and said...’; ?ah Junan altyn?y k? ? azne a?qanda ah wah dij?b?an birde ^{[6, p. 37]} ‘Tsar Yunan, opening the sixth page, groaned and expired’; jiden?e ?ine t?km?g? kiterg?nd? (...) qulyndan ?i t ? ? eb uwaldy ^{[5, p. 112]} ‘When he was carrying the seventh bottle to the drain, the bottle fell and broke’; ahug sikezen ? e k ? n ? ydaj almady ^{[9, p. 154]} ‘In the end, on the eighth day he could not stand...’; ber h?jb?t g?z?l qyz, ajny n und?rten?e kise kebek j?zl?re balqyb tora ^{[14, p. 45]} ‘A beautiful girl, her face glows like the moon on the fourteenth night of the month’.

In the studied works, the separating numerals, as in the modern Tatar language, are formed using the affixes -ag, -?r and –?m. Unlike other numerals, they are not particularly common: bujaw?y ? a h?m ik?eg? j?z?r altyn bireb... ‘I gave the dye and the donkey driver a hundred gold coins each’; ber?r baj ? y? ber-beren? qar?y utyryr ^{[14, p. 61]} ‘Sat opposite each other one owl...’; h?r qajsyna ber?r bajtal ba ? lab ^{[9, p. 77]} ‘By tying one horse to each of them...’; mun ? adan ?yq ? an xatynlardan ber?m ber?m totyb sorady ^{[14, p. 9]} ‘I asked every woman who came out of the bathhouse.’

Approximate numerals in the texts of kyss are represented by paired words: s ? n a d?rt-bi? tin aq?a birerl?r ^{[14, p. 9]} ‘You will be given four to five kopecks of money’;bi?-alty s? ? at kitk ... ^{[9, p. 124]} ‘After five to six hours’;h ?kon bezd?n ber-ikemezne totasy n^{[13, p. 50]} ‘You catch one or two of us every day ...’; ber-ike k ?nd ? n r ? xm ? ti xaq ? a intiqal ? jl ? de ^{[9, p. 154]} ‘Died a day or two later...’.

Thus, in the works of the kyssa genre, a relatively large number of numerals are used, among which quantitative numerals are widely used, acting both in nominative and cult meanings. Other categories of numerals manifested themselves passively in the texts, their grammatical forms and meanings can be traced in the modern Tatar literary language.