Editing Old Turkic script (section)

==Corpus==
The Old Turkic corpus consists of about two hundred<ref name=erdal>Erdal, Marcel. 2004. A grammar of Old Turkic. Leiden, Brill. p. 7</ref> inscriptions, plus a number of manuscripts.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Графический фонд памятников тюркской рунической письменности азиатского ареала (опыт систематизации). |last=Vasilʹiev |first=D.D. |year=1983 |location=Leningrad: USSR Academy of Science |pages=37, 45 |language=ru |trans-title=Graphical corpus of Turkic Runic writing monuments in the Asian area. |quote=Руника Восточного Туркестана представлена двояко: в виде рукописных текстов и как граффити на фресках и на штукатурке пещерных храмов в Турфанском оазисе. Образцы тюркского рунического письма на бумаге имеют особое значение, так как только к этой группе могут быть применены традиционные приемы и методы палеографического исследования. Эти памятники относятся к периоду расцвета древнеуйгурских городов и торговли, к периоду зарождения тюркской письменной литературы и науки. Функциональное изменение характера памятников может быть признано свидетельством возникшей потребности в более широком и утилитарном использовании рунической грамоты.}}</ref>
The inscriptions, dating from the 8th to 10th century, were discovered in present-day Mongolia (the area of the [[Second Turkic Khaganate]] and the [[Uyghur Khaganate]] that succeeded it), in the upper [[Yenisei]] basin of central-south [[Siberia]], and, in smaller numbers, in the [[Altai Mountains]] and [[Xinjiang]]. The texts are mostly [[epitaph]]s (official or private), but there are also graffiti and a handful of short inscriptions found on archaeological artifacts, including a number of bronze mirrors.<ref name="erdal"/>

The website of the [http://irq.kaznpu.kz/?lang=e&mod=1&tid=1&oid=15&m=1 Language Committee of Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan] lists 54 inscriptions from the Orkhon area, 106 from the Yenisei area, 15 from the Talas area, and 78 from the Altai area. The most famous of the inscriptions are the [[Khöshöö Tsaidam Monuments|two monuments]] ([[obelisk]]s) which were erected in the [[Orkhon Valley]] between 732 and 735 in honor of the [[Göktürk]] prince [[Kül Tigin]] and his brother the emperor [[Bilge Kağan]]. The [[Tonyukuk inscription]], a monument situated somewhat farther east, is slightly earlier, dating to {{circa|722}}. These inscriptions relate in epic language the legendary origins of the [[Ashina tribe|Turks]], the golden age of their history, their subjugation by the [[China|Chinese]] ([[Tang dynasty in Inner Asia|Tang-Gokturk wars]]), and their liberation by [[Bilge Qaghan|Bilge]].{{Citation needed|reason=This claim needs a reliable source; also for this whole paragraph|date=August 2014}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bitig.org/?lang=e&mod=1&tid=1&oid=15&m=1|title=TURK BITIG|website=bitig.org|access-date=2019-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624010508/http://bitig.org/?lang=e&mod=1&tid=1&oid=15&m=1|archive-date=24 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Old Turkic manuscripts, of which there are none earlier than the 9th century, were found in present-day Xinjiang and represent [[Old Uyghur]], a different Turkic dialect from the one represented in the Old Turkic inscriptions in the Orkhon valley and elsewhere.<ref name="erdal" /> They include [[Irk Bitig]], a 9th-century manuscript book on divination.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tekin|first=Talât|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32352166|title=Irk bitig = The Book of omens|date=1993|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=3-447-03426-2|location=Wiesbaden|oclc=32352166}}</ref>