The Codex Cumanicus was a linguistic manual of the Middle Ages, presumably designed to help Catholic missionaries to the Kipchaks. It is currently housed in the Library of St. Mark, in Venice (Cod. Mar. Lat. DXLIX). Broadly conceived, linguistics is the study of human language, and a linguist is someone who engages in this study. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ... Kipchaks (also Kypchaks, Qipchaqs) are an ancient Turkic people, first mentioned in the historical chronicles of Central Asia in the 1st millennium BC. Their language was also known as Kipchak. ... Location within Italy Venice (Italian Venezia), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto, population 271,663 (census estimate 2004-01-01). ...

Origin and Content

The Codex likely developed over time. Mercantile, political and religious leaders, particularly in Hungary, sought effective communication with the Cumans from the time of their ascendency in the mid-eleventh century CE. As Italian city-states such as Genoa began to establish trade posts and colonies along the Black Sea coastline, the need for tools to learn the Kipchak language sharply increased. The Cumans, also known as Polovtsy (Slavic for yellowish) were a nomadic West Turkic tribe living on the north of the Black Sea along the Volga. ... A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city. ... Location within Italy Flag of Genoa Christopher Columbus monument in Piazza Aquaverde Genoa (Italian Genova (jeno-vah), Genoese Zena (zaynah), French Gênes) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of Liguria. ... Satellite view of the Black Sea, taken by NASA MODIS Cities of the Black Sea The Black Sea (known as the Euxine Sea in antiquity) is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. ... The Kipchak language was an extinct Turkic language of Kipchak-Bolghar group. ...

The earliest parts of the Codex are believed to have originated in the 1100's or 1200's. It was likely added to substantially over time. The copy preserved in Venice is believed to date from the early 1300's. The Codex consists of a number of independent works that were ultimately combined in one cover. Historians generally divide it into two distinct and independent parts. The first is a practical handbook of the Kipchak tongue, containing glossaries of words in vulgar Italo-Latin and translations into Persian and Kipchak. This section has been styled the "Italian Part" or the "Interpretor's Book" of the Codex. The second part is a collection of various religious texts (including a translation of the Lord's Prayer) and riddles in Kipchak and translated into Latin and Eastern Middle High German. This part of the Codex is referred to as the "German" or "Missionary's Book" and is believed to have been compiled by German Franciscans. Kipchaks (also Kypchaks, Qipchaqs) are an ancient Turkic people, first mentioned in the historical chronicles of Central Asia in the 1st millennium BC. Their language was also known as Kipchak. ... Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Persian (فارسی), (local name in India, Iran and Afghanistan: Fârsi), Pârsi (older local name, but still used by some speakers), Tajik (a Central Asian dialect) or Dari (Another local name in Afghanistan), is a language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Bahrain and Uzbekistan. ... The Lords Prayer (sometimes known by its first two Latin words as the Pater Noster, in Greek as the , or the English equivalent Our Father) is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity. ... Subdivisions Central German Upper German High German (in German, Hochdeutsch) is any of several German dialects spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Luxembourg (as well as in neighbouring portions of Belgium, France (Alsace), Italy, Poland, and Romania (Transylvania) and in some areas of former colonial settlement, for example in... Franciscans is the common name used to designate a variety of mendicant religious orders of men or women tracing their origin to Francis of Assisi and following the Rule of St. ...

Whether the Persian parts came through Kipchak intermediaries or whether Persian was a lingua franca for Mediterranean trade well-known in Western Europe is a matter hotly debated by scholars.

Accuracy

The Codex is generally regarded as accurate, but it differs slightly from other sources on Kipchak language. For example, the Codex Paternoster reads: The Lords Prayer (sometimes known by its first two Latin words as the Pater Noster, in Greek as the , or the English equivalent Our Father) is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity. ...

"Atamiz kim kte sen. Algisli bolsun sening [ating, kelsin] xanliging bolsun sening tilemeging necik kim kkte alay yerde. Kndegi tmekimizni bizge bun bergil daxi yazuqlarimizni bizge bosatgil necik biz bosatirbiz bizge yaman etkenlerge" ("Our Father which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us out sins as we forgive those who have done us evil")

The same text in the Hungarian Cumania document reads: "bezen attamaz kenze kikte, szenleszen szenadon, dsn szenkklon, nicziegen gerde ali kekte, bezen akomazne oknemezne ber bezge pitbtr kngon..."

Riddles

The "Cuman Riddles" (CC, 119-120; 143-148) are a crucial source for the study of early Turkic folklore. Andreas Tietze referred to them as "the earliest variants of riddle types that constitute a common heritage of the Turkic-speaking nations." This is the disambiguation page for the terms Turk, Turkey, Turkic, and Turkish. ...

Among the riddles in the Codex are the following excerpts:

• Aq kmening avzu yoq. Ol yumurtqa

"The white- vaulted structure has no mouth (opening). That is the egg."

• Kecak ut(a)hi kegede semirrir. Ol huun.

"my bluish kid (tied) at the tethering rope, grows fat, The melon."

• Olturganim oba yer basqanim baqir canaq. Ol zengi.

"Where I sit is a hilly place. Where I tread is a copper bowl. The stirrup."

References

• Dr. Peter B. Golden on the Codex (http://eurasia-research.com/erc/002cam.htm)
• Dr. Peter B. Golden on the Codex (http://www.ku.edu/carrie/texts/carrie_books/paksoy-2/cam2.html)