INTERPRETATION OF THE ARTISTIC AND SCIENTIFIC POTENTIAL OF THE TURKIC LANGUAGE IN THE WORKS OF ALISHER NAVOI

ttps://doi.org/10.57033/mijournals-2026-8-0139 Mu'tabarkhon MADAYEVA a

a PhD, Senior Lecturer, Department of Arabic Language and Literature (Al-Azhar Chair) International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan INTERPRETATION OF THE ARTISTIC AND SCIENTIFIC POTENTIAL OF THE TURKIC LANGUAGE IN THE WORKS OF ALISHER NAVOI Abstract. This article examines the artistic and scientific potential of the Turkic language as interpreted in the works of Alisher Navoi. It highlights Navoi’s decisive role in the formation and development of the Uzbek literary language, particularly through his treatise “Muhokamatu-l-lugʼatayn,” in which he demonstrated the equality of Turkic with Persian. The study analyzes Navoi’s contribution to the evolution of Uzbek poetry and focuses on the integration of Arabic and Persian lexical elements within the epic “Sabʼai Sayyor” from his “Khamsa.” Using comparative-analytical and historical-linguistic methods, the research explores semantic changes and stylistic functions of loanwords. The findings confirm that Navoi not only elevated the status of the Turkic language but also created a new poetic model that harmonized different linguistic traditions, laying a strong foundation for the future development of Uzbek literature. Keywords: Alisher Navoi; Uzbek literary language; Turkic language; Arabic loanwords; Persian influence; Sabʼai Sayyor; Khamsa; linguistic analysis; poetics; literary development.

INTRODUCTION Alisher Navoi is a prominent poet and thinker who played a pivotal role in the formation and development of the Uzbek literary language. He made an invaluable contribution to Uzbek culture by demonstrating the artistic potential of the Turkic language and promoting it as a medium for written literature and science. By the fifteenth century, Persian and Arabic were dominant in academic and literary spheres, while Turkic was primarily used for oral communication. In his work “Muhokamatu-l-lugʼatayn,” Navoi

established that the Turkic language is in no way inferior to Persian, elevating the Uzbek literary language to high artistic heights through his creative output. This article examines the linguistic and literary significance of Navoi’s work, his impact on the evolution of Uzbek poetry, and provides an analysis of Arabic loanwords within the epic “Sabʼai Sayyor” from his “Khamsa.” The work of Alisher Navoi and its impact on the development of the Uzbek literary language has been studied by numerous researchers. Borovkov (1946) characterized Navoi as the founder of the Uzbek literary language and provided a detailed analysis of his linguistic legacy. Isʼhoqov (1983:157) wrote about the formation of Navoi’s poetics, its genre-specific refinement, and its impact on the development of Uzbek lyric poetry. Additionally, Weinreich (1953) in his seminal work “Languages in Contact” studied the mutual influence of different languages; this methodology is significant for understanding the harmonization of Arabisms and Persianisms with the Uzbek language in Navoi’s work. The aim of this article is to analyze the linguistic and literary mechanisms through which Navoi elevated the status of the Turkic language, with particular attention to the semantic and stylistic functions of Arabic and Persian loanwords in “Sabʼai Sayyor.” METHODS The article employs comparative-analytical and historical-linguistic methods. Lexical units and the semantic shifts of Arabic and Persian words within the Uzbek language are analyzed to determine their role in Navoi’s poetry. Navoi’s linguistic and literary characteristics are studied on the basis of scientific-critical sources, including the critical edition of “Sabʼai Sayyor” prepared by Porso Shamsiyev (Navoiy, 1956), the “Arabic-Uzbek Dictionary” by an-Naim (2003), the “Lexicon of Navoi’s Works” by Bafoyev (1983), and the historical-linguistic studies of Sodiqov (2009), Yusupov (1983), Khasanov (1990), and Erkinov (1998).

RESULTS Navoi and the development of the Uzbek literary language. Research shows that Alisher Navoi’s work is fundamental to the formation of the Uzbek literary language. In “Muhokamatu-l-lugʼatayn,” he proved the Turkic language’s scientific and artistic potential. The “Khamsa” epics perfected Turkic artistic expression, creating a solid foundation for future Uzbek poetry. Until the fifteenth century, Arabic was the language

Vol. 8, (Issue 2/2026) of science and Persian the language of literature in Central Asia. Despite poets such as Sakkokiy at the court of Mirza Ulugh Beg, the Uzbek language remained neglected until Navoi established it as a true poetic medium (Borovkov, 1946). Uzbek literature flourished through Navoi’s leadership and masterpieces. As Isʼhoqov (1983:157) notes: “The genre enrichment and refinement of Uzbek lyric poetry are directly linked to Alisher Navoi. In Navoi’s Diwan, we observe both the evolution of traditional genres and the emergence of genres that, while established in Persian literature, were previously rare in Turkic literature.” In “Muhokamatu-l-lugʼatayn,” Navoi aimed to prove that the Turkic language is equal to Persian in its capabilities. By comparing the two languages, he demonstrated Turkic’s lexical richness, semantic depth, and logical grammatical structure (Sodiqov, 2009:45).

The “Khamsa” and “Sabʼai Sayyor.” On this basis, Navoi created the great “Khamsa” epic in the Turkic language. Written in competition with Nizami and Khusrau Dehlavi, the “Khamsa” consists of five epics and includes nearly 50,000 verses. Within the “Khamsa,” the epic “Sabʼai Sayyor” (The Seven Planets) stands out by narrating seven stories told by seven travelers. It is the fourth and most remarkable epic of the collection. Although Navoi titled it “Sabʼai Sayyor,” it became famously known as “Haft Manzari Bahram” among scholars and publishers (Navoiy, 1956:6). Comprising 10,016 verses, it reflects Navoi’s artistic skill and deep insight into life. The epic is distinguished by its fluent style, rich imagery, and profound metaphors. Alongside the history of Bahram and Dilorom, the epic recounts famous Eastern legends and tales through stories shared by dervishes. One narrative is embedded within another, and the work concludes by linking back to the initial event. The portrayal of Bahram Gur in the folklore and literature of various peoples is noteworthy. Detailed accounts of his life are found in works on Persian royalty such as “Siyaru muluki-l-furs,” “Tarixi Tabariy,” and “Tarixi muluki ajam” (Navoiy, 1956:209). “Sabʼai Sayyor” is a poetic masterpiece of medieval romance, featuring seven distinct stories woven together by a single thematic thread, showcasing Navoi’s genius as both poet and storyteller. Arabic and Persian loanwords in “Sabʼai Sayyor.” The analysis of Arabic loanwords within “Sabʼai Sayyor” reveals that Navoi employed these lexical elements not as mere borrowings but as stylistic and semantic instruments that enriched Turkic poetic discourse. Yusupov (1983:51) notes that Arabic izafa constructions in Navoi’s prose works served both grammatical and ornamental functions, contributing to the elevated register of

his literary language. The “Arabic-Uzbek Dictionary” by an-Naim (2003) provides an essential reference for tracing the semantic transformation of Arabic vocabulary as it was integrated into the Uzbek literary tradition. Navoi’s method of harmonizing Arabic and Persian vocabulary with Turkic syntax represents a distinctive poetic model one that Khasanov (1990) analyzed in comparative-typological perspective in which the structural integrity of Turkic grammar is preserved while the semantic and aesthetic range of the language is dramatically expanded through carefully selected loanwords (Bafoyev, 1983:45; Erkinov, 1998:67).

DISCUSSION The findings confirm that Navoi’s achievement in “Muhokamatu-l-lugʼatayn” and in the “Khamsa” was not primarily lexicographic or grammatical but fundamentally literary and ideological: he demonstrated, through creative practice, that the Turkic language possessed the expressive resources to carry the most sophisticated literary genres of his era. This aligns with the theoretical framework developed by Weinreich (1953) for the study of language contact, which identifies literary prestige as one of the principal mechanisms driving the borrowing and integration of lexical elements across language boundaries.

Navoi’s integration of Arabic and Persian elements into Turkic poetic syntax is particularly significant from a typological perspective. Rather than importing the syntactic patterns of Arabic or Persian alongside their vocabulary as would have been the easier path Navoi consistently subordinated borrowed lexis to native Turkic syntactic structures, creating a genuinely bilingual poetic idiom in which the surface forms of Arabic and Persian enriched rather than displaced the underlying Turkic grammatical logic (Yusupov, 1983:51; Sodiqov, 2009:48). This methodological choice, which Borovkov (1946) identified as the defining feature of Navoi’s linguistic contribution, is precisely what distinguishes his literary language from the simple code-switching or mixed-language phenomena documented in other contact situations.

The analysis of “Sabʼai Sayyor” confirms that the epic is a microcosm of Navoi’s broader linguistic strategy. Its narrative architecture the seven embedded stories linked by the frame of Bahram Gur mirrors the structural principle of his language: diverse materials, organically integrated into a unified whole (Khasanov, 1990; Erkinov, 1998:67).

Vol. 8, (Issue 2/2026) CONCLUSION Alisher Navoi elevated the Uzbek literary language to a high level, developing it both scientifically and artistically. By studying Persian and Arabic norms, he formed new styles in Uzbek poetry. In “Muhokamatu-l-lugʼatayn” he scientifically proved the equality of Turkic and Persian. In the “Khamsa,” especially in “Sabʼai Sayyor,” he harmonized Arabic and Persian vocabulary with Turkic syntax, creating a new poetic model that underscored the literary and linguistic importance of his work. Through creative practice he demonstrated that the Turkic language possessed the expressive resources to carry the most sophisticated literary genres of his era a demonstration that Borovkov (1946) rightly identified as the founding act of the Uzbek literary language. Future research should focus on deeper analysis of Navoi’s specific lexical units and their influence on modern Uzbek, expanding the comparative framework to include other Chagatai literary texts and employing corpus-based methods to quantify the relative density and functional distribution of Arabic, Persian, and native Turkic elements across the “Khamsa” as a whole (Bafoyev, 1983; Weinreich, 1953). REFERENCES 1. an-Naim. (2003). Arabic-Uzbek dictionary. [Publisher not specified]. 2. Bafoyev, B. (1983). Leksikon asarlar Navoiy [Lexicon of Navoi’s works]. Fan. 3. Borovkov, A. K. (1946). Alisher Navoi kak osnovatel’ uzbekskogo literaturnogo yazyka [Alisher Navoi as the founder of the Uzbek literary language]. In Alisher Navoi. Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

4. Erkinov, A. (1998). Sources of the interpretation of Alisher Navoi’s “Khamsa” from the 15th to the 20th century [Doctoral dissertation in Philological Sciences]. Tashkent. 5. Isʼhoqov, Yo. (1983). Navoi poetikasi [Navoi’s poetics]. Fan. 6. Khasanov, S. (1990). The poem “Sabʼai Sayyor” by Alisher Navoi in comparative-typological perspective [Abstract of doctoral dissertation in Philological Sciences]. Tashkent. 7. Navoiy, A. (1956). Khamsa: Sabʼai Sayyor [Scientific-critical text] (P. Shamsiyev, Ed.). Uzbek Academy of Sciences Publishing House.

8. Sodiqov, Q. (2009). Turk tili tarixi [History of the Turkic language]. Tashkent. 9. Weinreich, U. (1953). Languages in contact: Findings and problems. Linguistic Circle of New York.

10. Yusupov, M. (1983). Arabskie izofa-konstruktsii v prozaicheskikh proizvedeniyakh Navoiy [Arabic izafa constructions in Navoi’s prose works]. Oʼzbek tili va adabiyoti, (1), 51.