Linguistic representation of the Turkic worldview in Kunság counting-out rhymes (based on the studies of István Kongur Mándoky)

Abstract

The article analyzes counting-out rhymes in the children's folklore of Turkic peoples from both linguistic and worldview perspectives.  The aim and scientific significance of the study are to consider the Cuman-Kipchak children's counting-out rhymes preserved in the Kunság region of Hungary as a historical and linguistic and cosmological model. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the analysis of numerical sequences and the relationship between object-related and actional components in the texts. These elements are interpreted as a linguistic reflection of the structure of the world characteristic of the Turkic worldview. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the conclusion that counting-out rhymes from the Kunság region should be regarded not merely as a game or a folkloric text, but as a linguistic and cosmological micro-model of the Turkic worldview.Therefore, the important objectives of the article are to represent the linguistic structure of Cuman-Kipchak counting-out rhymes, to systematize the reconstruction principles proposed by István Kongur Mándoky, and to determine the worldview-related meaning of the number-object-action sequence. To achieve these objectives, a combination ofhistorical-comparative, ethnolinguistic, semiotic, and cognitive methods was applied. The numerals and individual lexemes found in the Kunság counting-out rhymes discussed in Mándoky's work are presented in comparison with their forms in Kazakh, Karachay-Balkar, Nogai, Kumyk, and Dobruja Tatar, demonstrating their common Turkic basis. The analysis reveals the structural stability of the texts, the use of numerals in first-person possessive forms, and the archaic character of semantically unclear lexemes. From a practical perspective, the results of the study can be used in academic courses on Turkic folklore, ethnolinguistics, and cognitive linguistics.  In conclusion, counting-out rhymes function as a cognitive and cultural mechanism through which the world is perceived as an ordered system in Turkic cultural memory.

Key words: counting-out rhymes, children's folklore, Kipchak heritage, István Kongur Mándoky, Turkic worldview, linguistic representation, ethnolinguistics, cognitive model, mythological-ritual structure.