Old Great Bulgaria - Etymology of Onoghuria

Etymology of Onoghuria

See also: Onogurs

Variations of the name include:

Onoghuria, Onoguri, Onoghuri, Onghur, Ongur, Onghuri, Onguri, Onghuria, Onguria, Onogundur, Unogundur, Unokundur, etc.

There are numerous speculations about the origin of the Onogur name:

  • In modern language of the Caucasian Avars Onoghuria could mean "Everlasting", from uno - ever and guro - lasting.
  • Some derive it from the Turkic words On (ten) and Ghur (arrow) which in combination may mean "Ten Arrows", i.e. the Western Turkic Kaghanate which was a federation of ten tribes.
  • Another explanation states that because in Turkic languages the sound "z" turns to "r" when you go westwards and therefore the ethnonym of the Oguz/Oghuz Turks would sound as Ogur/Oghur in the west. Then Onogur would mean "ten clans of Oguz/Oghuz (Turks)". In support to this view is fact that the Bulgars are listed among the ten sons of Togarmah (the mythic ancestor of the Turks) in the Khazar Correspondence.
  • Others relate Onoghur to Unok-vndur, a Bulgar people mentioned in the early Armenian sources.

Read more about this topic:  Old Great Bulgaria

Famous quotes containing the word etymology:

    “The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
    —Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)