Abstract
The study of the history of a language based on a comparison of linguistic data in ancient written monuments with language units actively used in modern society is of high importance today. Comparing the vocabulary of peoples of the same origin, it is possible to identify common points and some differences in the system of thinking, mentality, as well as on the basis of similarities in the language with a long history, concepts fixed in their cognitive consciousness. For this purpose, the article considers ornithonyms from the Turkic written monument "Tarjuman" in comparison with the materials of the modern Kazakh language. Also, to identify the features of some names of birds in a variable meaning, the study used data from other Kipchak literary written sources published in the Middle Ages. The authors revealed the semantic potential and a number of pragmatic features of bird names in modern Kazakh proverbs and sayings. In connection with the names of birds in the Kazakh language, the native speaker of the language of proverbs and sayings, set expressions, figurative usages drew conclusions by analyzing the features of usage associated with the ethnic differentiation of the people. In the course of the study, such phenomena as the semantic circle of bird names assigned to the monument of medieval writing «Tarjuman», their narrowing or expansion, resulting in an increase in semantic potential, spending on a variable value, positive and negative assessment given to them by the population, the system spiritual values through which they are expressed, the place and significance in the religious knowledge of modern Kazakh people were compared on the basis of proverbs and sayings.