Turkic or Mongolian: -om suffix

Discussion in 'Etymology, History of languages and Linguistics (EHL)' started by Treaty, Feb 18, 2013.

  1. Treaty Senior Member


    Is -om a suffix for making feminine names in some Altaic language? A Persian dictionary says they are Turkish (or Turkic). However, I asked it in Turkish forum, and one answered they only have them (examples below) as proper names:

    khan (chief)+ om = khanom (highly respected/ranked woman)
    beg (sir)+ om = begom (lady).

    Is there any other example?

  2. rayloom Senior Member

    Paris, France
    Arabic (Hijazi Arabic)
    Apparently it is used to such extent.
    -um, -im, -üm are 1st person possessive suffixes (see here).
    The Nisanyan Turkish etymological dictonary says:
    +Um : Erken TTü ve Çağataycada soyluluk unvanlarına eklenerek dişi anlamı verir. Birinci tekil şahıs iyelik ekinin özel bir kullanımı olabilir.

    (The only examples given of this special use of the possessive suffix are Hanim and Begüm)

    The wiktionary entries do say that it's a "feminine suffix for nobility titles". (A view contrary to the first link)

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