Turkish Language and the Native Americans
:: Traces of the
Altaic Words "ATA", "APA", "ANA"
and Their Derivatives in the Languages of Some of the Native Peoples of Americas ::
This paper is revised from
Polat Kaya, "Search For a Probable Linguistic and Cultural
Kinship Between the Turkish People of Asia and the Native Peoples of Americas", Belleten,
Cilt: L, Sayi 198, Aralik 1986, Turk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi, Ankara. Also catalogued in Canadiana,
Canada's National Bibliography with the same title as above under Comparative Linguistics,
497, P. Kaya, C87-7257-9 MRDS Pt. 1
In early 1980s, out of curiosity, I was wondering
about a possible existence of an affinity between Altaic Languages and the native
languages spoken in the Americas. So I made a research, (although not as a linguist), with
the hope of finding some living words presently used in Turkish and also in the languages
of the Native Peoples of Americas. After all thousands of years ago, the ancestors of both
the Turks and those of some of the Native Peoples of the American continents shared the
same geographic area in Central Asia and Siberia. I wrote a paper about my findings
through my research entitled "Probable Existence of a Linguistic and Cultural Kinship
Between the Altaic Peoples and the Native Peoples of Americas." The following is a
rearrangement of the original paper.
In my search I used the following facts and/or
1a) Turks and their ancestors are Central Asiatic (particularly Altaic) people. The
ancestors of Turks have lived in this part of the world (i.e., Central Asia and most parts
of Siberia) not only throughout the known history, but most likely for thousands of years
before that in the distant past. From Central Asia they have migrated to other parts of
the world. At present, many ethnic Turkish people live in Siberia all the way up to the
Kara Sea north of Ural Mountains, to East Siberian Sea and to the Bering Straight in the
east as well as in Central Asia.
1b) The ancestors of most of the Native Peoples of North, Central and South Americas are
known to have migrated from Asia through the Bering Sea many thousands (10000 or more) of
1c) In view of these facts, it is very likely that in the distant past, the ancestors of
some of the Native Peoples of Americas and the ancestors of Turks and other Altaic peoples
lived in the same or adjacent geographic regions of Central Asia and/or Siberia. If so, it
is again very likely that all these peoples could have been members of the same people or
closely related people who spoke the same language or closely related languages. Due to
their possible relationship with each other in the distant past, one is inclined to think
of probable existence of some cultural and linguistic relationship between these peoples,
in spite of the fact that while some members stayed in their homelands in Asia, the others
left Asia and went to North America.
1d) All languages are dynamic and subject to change in time. Similarly, a proto-Altaic
language spoken by the members of an Altaic community who became separated from each
other, in time by thousands of years and in space by thousands of kilometres, would
definitely develop independently of each other in a way that when examined at present,
they would appear alien to each other. In present times, it would be difficult for people
who speak such languages to communicate with each other with the present form of their
1e) However, in spite of this independent development of the languages of the Native
Peoples of Americas and the Altaic Peoples, there may still exist in both groups of
languages some living words that may be used to express the same meaning in the same way
as before. There should still be some living words as "linguistic artifacts"
which are reminiscence of the language that these ancient people spoke while they were all
living in Asia.
1f) In any language, the first two words that a child learns in his/her mother tongue are
probably the ones that correspond to the words "father" and "mother".
These two words are repeated in each person's life time, particularly early in age, so
frequently that they become permanently embedded in everyone's memory. These two words are
the most likely ones to be passed on from generation to generation during the life times
of languages that may live thousands of years. Although, peoples of the same ethnic origin
may become separated from each other and live in different parts of the world for long
duration of time, yet their present languages may still retain these two words either in
their original form or in a form which is similar to or a derivative of the original form.
In spite of the evolutionary forces that act upon a language and cause changes in its
structure and in the pronunciation of its words, one can still recognise these two words
in languages which are related to each other.
1g) Turks being Altaic people of Central Asia are the lucky and proud inheritors of the
Altaic words "ata", "apa" and "ana"
through their Turkic languages. 
 In this set of Altaic words, the first two have been
used for "father", "ancestor" and "old man" and the last one
for "mother" throughout the history by different Altaic groups of peoples. Where
ever the ancestors of Turks have migrated from their original homelands in Central Asia,
they have carried with them these words as "linguistic artifacts" of their
Altaic language to their new destinations. In their new homelands, they have passed these
words to generation to generation up to the present time. The preservation of these words
would particularly be highly likely if the speakers of the language were a dominant group
with respect to their new neighbours. In this case, they would not only retain particular
features of their language but it is quite likely that they would influence the languages
of their new neighbours. On the other hand, if they were not as strong as their new
neighbours in the new homelands, it is also likely that their language would be influenced
by the languages of their neighbours. In any case, there would be some degree of cross
pollination between the languages of people interacting closely with each other. With
these suppositions, I feel that it would be very appropriate to use the Altaic words
"ata", "apa" and "ana" and their
derivatives as reference linguistic artefacts to trace the footsteps of the ancestors of
Turks and other Altaic peoples.
1h) In addition to these basic words which do not easily change in time, one could also
use as reference the names for some things that influence the lives of people to the
degree that people tend to regard them highly and/or worship them in their every day life.
People could take with them the names of such things as the Sun, the Moon, stars, gods,
mountains, rivers, living things, etc. , wherever they go. Therefore, the names for such
objects could also be used as reference linguistic artefacts to trace people.
1i) In Turkish, the two words that have been used interchangeably for "father",
i.e., the words "ata" and "apa" could go through
some transformation in time. Particularly, the phonemes "t" in "ata"
and "p" in "apa" would tend to change into
consonants "d" as in "ada" and "b"
in "aba" respectively. This is noted to be so in various dialects of
1j) The Altaic word corresponding to the word "mother" is "ana".
A probable derivative of this word may be the word "ama" for
"mother" which seems to be related to the Turkic word "meme"
meaning mother's breast. For any child, "meme" is nothing but the
"mama" or "ama" and hence "ana". In dialects of a
proto-Altaic language, the word for "mother" could have been "ana"
or "ama". By having "n" in "ana"
change into "m", the word "ama" would result;
similarly, by having the "m" in "ama" change into
"n" would make the transformed word "ana". We will
probably never know the exact nature of the relationship that may have taken place in
history between the words "ana" and "ama". However,
it seems that, throughout the historic development of the Altaic languages and thus of
Turkish, "ana" is the word which is used most dominantly to mean
1k) Derivative words based on "ata", "apa" and
"ana" are used to express various kinship's, particularly, for
"father's father", "father's mother", mother's father" and
"mother's mother". Table 1 below lists some of the
possible derivative words based on these words. Turkish as an Altaic language, has used
some of these derivative words not only in its archaic form but also in its present spoken
1l) In phonetic languages such as Turkish in Altaic
languages, the consonants in a given word make up the skeleton of each word while vowels
in the word provide its proper sounding. However as the language develops in time, the
vowels in a word may change into other vowels such as "a" into "e",
"o", "u" while consonants of the words, in general, would tend to
maintain their identity in the word through time.
1m) One should also note that each one of the derivative words from these Altaic words
would readily go through transformations as people use and repeat them from generation to
generation. For example, in the word "ataata" for "father's
father", one of the vowels "a" in the middle of the the word would tend to
be dropped off and the new form of the word would be "atata". In time,
the word could go through further transformations and may take the possible derivative
forms of "taata", "tata", "tate",
"tatI", 'tete", "tat" and in the case
of "adaada", it could transform into "adada", "dada",
"dede", "dadI" "dad", etc.. In
time, some of these derived words will be used to mean not only the "father's
father" but also to mean "ancestors", "father", "old
man" and "man". There are living examples of such usage in Turkish and in
other Altaic languages. In my research, I have found evidence that the Altaic words "ata",
"apa" and "ana" and their derivatives are used in
considerable number of languages spoken by the Native Peoples of North, Central and South
Americas. My findings are listed in Table 2 where I have listed the
languages which use these words and the names of the Native Peoples of Americas who speak
these languages with appropriate references.
Table 1. Derivatives from
Altaic words "ata", "apa" and "ana"
Derivatives from basic words in likely transformations
||ada, ta, da
||aba, pa, ba
||atata, tata, tatI, tat,
||adada, dada, dadI, dede, dad
||apapa, papa, papo, pap
||ababa, baba, babi, babo, bab
||anata, nata, nat
||anada, nada, nad
||anapa, napa, nap
||anaba, naba, nab
||atana, tana, tan
||adana, dana, dan
||apapa, napa, nap
||abana, bana, ban
||anana, nana, nane, nanI,
nano, nene, neni, nine, nan, nen
Table 2. A comparative list of
words for "father" and "mother" in Turkish and in languages of some of
the Native Peoples of Americas
||ata, apa, baba
||  
||Turkey, many regions of Asia
||Aleutian Islands, Alaska
||W. of Missouri river, USA
||N. of Missouri river, USA
||Central Plains, USA
||South Appalachians, USA
||Puan / Nippegon
||Naudowesses of Carver
||Plains Cree "Y" dialect
||nohtawe (my father)
||ni kawe (my mother)
||Great Lakes, Canada; Wisconsin, USA
||Maritime Prov., Canada
||mam, ma:ma:, mamay
||Callam & Lumni
||Washington territory, USA
||Oregon, Wash. USA
||North Dakota, USA
||papa, baba, dede, n'otta
||Southern Ontario, Canada
||Alta Calif., USA
||Mexico and Guatemala
||Papago / Pima
||Gulf Coast, USA
||USA; B. Colombia, Canada
||Peru, S. America
||Peru, S. America
||Peru, S. America
||Nahuatl (Aztec language)
||Quechua (Inca language)
||Peru, S. America (*t2)
||Ecuador, S. America
||Ecuador, S. America
||Ecuador, S. America
(*t1) In these words where the
consonant "h" appears and follows a vovel such as "a" or "o"
or "u" seems to be a relic of transcribing these words under the influence of
English. Without the "h", the affinity of these words to the respective Turkish
words are very much obvious.
(*t2) Tarma Quechua is the native language of the province of Tarma
which is north of the capital city Lima of Peru. This language is a variety of the Inca
language QUECHUA. In Tarma Quechua of Peru, "nana = a woman's sister" and
"nanachIkaq = sister"; "taytancI = grandfather"; "taytacha =
young gentleman"; and "tayta inti = father sun". Affinity between these
words and the Turkish "ata" and "ana" should be noted.
Examples of Words Indicating to a Common Past
In addition to the Altaic words "ata",
"apa" and "ana" listed in Table 2,
some other living words also point to the existence of a common linguistic kinship between
the Altaic languages and the languages of some of the Native peoples of Americas.
2a) In Aztec language (the Nahuatl), in addition to the Nahuatl words "tahtlI"
and "nantlI" corresponding to the Altaic words "ata"
and "ana" respectively, we observe the word "tepetl"
or "tepec" meaning "hill" which is the same both in the
meaning and word structure as the Turkish word "tepe". There seems to
be many mountains and/or hills in Central and South America which are named with a name
suffixed or prefixed with the word "tepec". For example, in Mexico we
have: "Chapultepec", Agaltepec, Citlaltepec, Coatepec, Ecatepec, Jamiltepec,
Oaxtepec, Ometepec, Quiotepec, Tehuantepec, Tututepec, Tepecoacuilco, Tepetitan and
Tepexpan. In El Salvadore: Cojutepeque, Lago de Coatepeque, Igualtepeque. In Guatamala:
Jilotepeque, Ixtepeque and in Brasil Sierra Tepequem. Similarly, in Turkic geography where
Turkic and other Altaic people live, we have many hills and/or mountains named in the same
manner such as Aktepe, Kultepe, Kartaltepe, Goktepe, etc..
2b) In archaic Turkish, the word "kün" and in modern Turkish the words
"gün" or "güne$" are the words for both the
"sun" and "day". The Mayan people also call both the "sun"
and "day" with the word "kin". In Mayan calender, a year was divided into 18 months and
each month into 20 kins. It seems that these two words of totally different
languages have also some historical common background. Additionally, it is noted that
Turkish speaking Altaic peoples associated the word for "sun" and the word for
"day" very closely with each other by expressing both concepts with the same
word. Similar expressions seem to exist In Mayan languages. In archaic Turkish, the name for the constellation
"Ursa Major" is "Yitiken". In this word, the first part
"yiti" means "seven" and the last part "ken"
is a changed form of the word "kun", i.e., the "sun". Thus,
in the language of Altaic people, the word "yitiken" would mean
"seven suns" where the concept of "sun" and a "star" was
probably considered to be the same.
2c) In Inca language Quechua, the "sun god" and hence the "sun" was
called "Inti". In the word "Inti", the prefix "in"
stands for "my" and "ti" stands for "father";
hence, the word has the meaning of "my father". Since the Incas were
"sun" and "ancestor" worshippers like most of the Altaic peoples
including Turks, finding an image of the Altaic word "ata" in the Inca
word "inti" is pleasantly surprising. It should be noted that the Inca
word "tayta" and the Turkish word "ata" have the
same meaning, i.e., "father" and similar linguistic form (see item 44 in Table 2).
2d) Inti the Sun God was the ranking deity in the Inca pantheon like the Tengri
among the Altaic people. It was represented by Incas with a human face on a ray-splayed
disk. He was considered to be the Incas' divine ancestor.
2e) In Inca language Quechua, Incas used to call one of their low order Creator-God as
should be noted that the initial part of this word is suprisingly the Altaic word "ata".
In this case it probably stands for "sacred ancestors".
2f) In Inca society, unmarried princes of royal blood were called "Augui".
On marrying, they became "Inca" or "Atauchi". It is only reasonable to call an adult
man "atauchi" after being married, because, it is most likely that he
will become an "ata", i.e., "father". So, again we see the
images of the Altaic word "ata" in another Quechua word meaning
2g) It seems that during the long development process of the languages of Native Peoples
of Americas, some of these words may have changed positions. In other words in some cases,
the words used to express male kinship in one language may be used for female kinship or
visa versa. For example, the native Candoshi people of Peru use the word "ataatam"
for "my mother". In this
case it definitely there has been a reversal in the usage of the word from the original
meaning of "father's father" as it is in the present day Turkish, to the meaning
of "my mother" in Candoshi.
2h) In Aleut Language, in order to make the nominative dual of the noun, the suffix "kik"
is added to the apocopated nominative of singular of nouns. For example, In the Aleut language, "adaq"
is father and "ada" is its apocopated form. Thus for "two
fathers", the composite word "adakik" is used. In Turkish,
"two fathers" would be expressed by the expression "iki ata"
or "ikki ata" where the word "iki" or "ikki"
represents the number two, i.e., the "dual" state. In these examples, not only
the word for "father is the same but also the word representing the
"duality" is the same in both languages. Hence, it appears that the Altaic word
"iki" or "ikki" and the Aleutian suffix word "kik"
have a common background.
Similarities of Altaic Languages and Some of the Native Languages of Americas
3a) Structurally, the Altaic languages such as
Turkish and some of the native languages of Americas resemble to each other very closely
as agglutinating languages. For example, J. R. Andrews describes the Aztec language
Nahuatl by saying that "sentence word" is the basic structure of the Nahuatl
language. By "sentence
word" is meant a word that contains within itself all the nuclear constituents
necessary for a complete sentence. Turkish, similar to Nahuatl, is one such language.
Additionally, they follow the vowel harmony rule, although it seems to be more so
in Turkish than the native languages in Americas. Both the Nahuatle and Turkish are such
languages. Such similar infrastructure of languages that develop by peoples who are
separated from each other in time and space can not be attributed to total random
processes that shape independent languages. I feel that such languages having similar
sentence formation must have had a common history some time in the distant past.
3b) In Altaic languages the gender for the third person singular and plural is not
indicated. For example, in Turkish, only one word, i.e., "O" as the
personal pronoun for third person singular corresponds "he/she/it" in English.
The referred gender of the subject is understood from the context of the sentence. It is
known that considerable number of the languages in the Americas, the genderless word
"O", or "U" or "NO" is used to
indicate "he/she/it". For example, the Cree language in Canada use "O",
the Quiche and Achi languages in Guatemala use "U". The Micmacs of
Eastern Canada use "O-" as prefix for "his/her/its" such as
"Oochul" for "his father", and "Ookwijul"
for "his mother". The
Turkish word "O" and the "O" used in this examples
of the some native languages of Americas seems to be related to each other, again
indicating the presence of a common background in the distant past.
3c) The general title given to Mayan priests was "ahkin" or "akin"
meaning "he of the sun".
In this word, the first part "ah" or "a" is
reminiscent of the Altaic personal pronoun "O" for the third person
singular and the second part "kin" is the same as the Altaic word
"kün" for sun. Again one is surprised to find so complete a
resemblance between these words that such a resemblance cannot be attributed to random
linguistic development. Such close resemblance must be indications of a linguistic and
cultural kinship between these languages coming from a common historical background in the
3d) J. R. Andrews describes the formation of one kind of adverbial adjunct of manner in
Nahuatl as follows: "One type of derived adverbial of manner is formed from a
preterit theme of a verb combined with the suffix '-ca'. Such words are
translationally equivalent to English adverbs ending in '-ly'".[29, p. 30] This formation of adverbs by use of the suffix
"-ca" in Nahuatl has exact correspondence in Turkish. In Turkish, the
suffix "-ca" or "-ce" is used, following the vowel
harmony rule of Turkish, in the same way to form adverbs of the same kind.
Few examples are as follows: In Nahuatl (N): chicahua
-> chicahuaca, Turkish (T): saglam -> saglamca, English
(E): strong -> strongly; N: chipahua -> chipahuaca, T: temiz
-> temizce, E: clean -> cleanly; N: ihciuh -> ihciuhca, T: çabuk
-> çabukca, E: quick -> quickly; N: ichta -> ichtaca,
T: gizli -> gizlice, E: secret -> secretly; N: cualan
-> cualanca, T: kIzgIn -> kIzgInca, E: angry ->
In Turkish, the personal pronoun for third person
singular is not represented with a suffix or prefix in verb conjugations, as is the case
in "gelir, geliyor, or geldi, gelmi$", etc. A similar
grammatical rule as this one is also used in a similar way in the languages of some of the
Native Peoples of Americas. The Nahuatl, i.e., the Aztec language, the Aleutian, the
Eskimo and Cree languages may be sited as examples.
4. Some Examples
for Probable Cultural Kinship
4a) Altaic military and Inca administrative systems
were based on decimal system. In Inca administrative system, the administration was based
on household units of 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000 10000 and 40000. Each unit had an official assigned to be in charge of the
unit. The official in charge of one of four-quarters of the Inca empire was called "Apu-Cuna"
or "Hatun Apu-Cuna". At the top of the administrative pyramid was the
emperor called "Sapa Inca". In this organisation, the following aspects
may be noted:
The first is that the system was decimal system like
the Turkish military system which has always been based on units of 10, 50, 100, 1000 and
10000 soldiers and/or horse-mounted cavalry. The names of the officials were "onbashi,
ellibashi, yuzbashi, binbashi and tumenbegi" respectively. It seems
that decimal system of numbering was known to both of these communities which had no
contact with each other in the known history.
Secondly, the decimal system was applied to organise
the community and/or the military in manageable groups. Could this be the result of a
random process of social development or was there an historically known knowledge common
to both people? It is quite likely that the decimal system of numbering and its
application to social organisations of peoples may have been known to the ancestors of the
Altaic peoples as early as 10000 or more years ago. It is up to the scholars of different
fields of science to work and discover the truth related to this striking correspondence
in the culture of two well separated groups of peoples.
Thirdly, we also observe the presence of the Altaic
word "apa" in the names of the Inca supreme administrators. Is this
also the result of a random process? Additionally, the Inca (Quechua) word "Hatun"
means "great, big" and is added as adjective to the names of Inca leaders to
describe their greatness. Similarly in Turkish, the words "Hatun" and
"Katun" are used as the title given to the wife of "Great
Hakan", i.e., the empress (or the first lady, i.e., whatever may be one's preference)
of the Turkish people. In present day Turkish, the word "kadin" is a changed
form of "katun" or "hatun". In fact in present day
Turkish culture, it is not unusual to hear among elderly married couples, man calling his
wife as "hatun". It is also interesting to note that one of the highest
ridges of the contemporary Altai mountains in Central Asia is known by the Turkic name
towering more than 4000 meters. Probably we will never know whether the name of this lofty
mountain had any thing to do with word "Hatun" or "Katun"
of Turkish language or the word "Katun" of Inca language.
4b) Altaic words "Otuken", Mongolian word "Utigin"
and Chorti word "Uteq'uin". The archaic Turkish word "OtUken"
is frequently mentioned as the name of a "divine or sacred place" in Turkish
epic writings of "Kul Tigin", "Bilge Kagan" and
"Tonyukuk" and also in Kutatgu Bilig.
In the Altaic language of Mongolian, the word "Utigin" is also the name
given to a "god of certain place". On the other hand, in the Mayan language of
Chorti in Guatemala, the word "Uteq'uin" means "heaven". The
last part of this word, i.e., "q'uin" means "sun" in Chorti.
Similarly, the "-ken" in the Turkish word "Otuken"
and "-gin" in the Mongolian word "Utigin" may be
taken as versions of "kun" or "gun" meaning
"sun". It should be remembered that Altaic regions in Asia were the places where
Shamanism were practised very widely. In Altaic shamanism "Sun" and
"sky" worshipping is quite dominant. Turkish "Gok Tengri" is
the "god sky". In view of these observations, Turkish "Otuken",
Mongolian word "Utigin" and Chorti word "Uteq'uin"
seem to have something in common. That is they are all related to "sun" and a
sacred place such as "heaven" and a "place where god "dwells. Turkish
and Mongolian are related to each other because they are both Altaic languages and their
speakers have interacted with each other throughout the history. The respective words
could have been borrowed from one another. But there was no way that these Altaic words
could have influenced the formation of the word "Uteq'uin" in Chorti or
vice versa unless all these words have historically something in common with each other.
Ancient Central Asiatic peoples, among them the
ancestors of Turks, are known to have migrated from their homelands in steps of Central
Asia and Siberia to east, west, north and south. It is also known that the Native peoples
of Americas have migrated from Asia to their new homelands in the Americas thousands of
years ago. However, in the known history, the ancestors of Turks and the ancestors of
Native Peoples of Americas are not known to have made contact with each other. Yet in
spite of this fact, it is surprising to see that Turkish, as a member of the Altaic
languages, should have common living words with some of the native languages of Americas.
The presence of these words in these languages can not be attributed to random and
independent development of these languages in two widely separated continents. I believe
their presence is a definite indication of the existence of linguistic and cultural
kinship between the ancestors of Turks and the other Altaic peoples and the ancestors of
some of the Native Peoples of Americas that they had while they were living in the steps
of Central Asia and Siberia before they were separated some 10 000 or more years ago. It
may be that some readers may find this conclusion as hasty. But I am confident that
further studies by scholars will establish the validity of my view.
This study is a small first attempt, in its own way, that uses the Altaic words "ata",
"apa" and "ana" to trace the ancestors of Altaic
peoples among the Native peoples of the Americas. After this study, I have become a
believer that these Altaic words are not only very effective tracers of the movements of
ancient Altaic peoples, but also are among the oldest living words in human languages.
Their wide spread use in native languages of Americas as well as in Altaic languages in
Asia is a testimony to this observation.
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16. George Gibbs, "Alphabetical Vocabulary of Chinook Language" (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Ross & Haines, n.d.).
17. Washington Matthews,
"Grammar and Dictionary of the Language of the Hidatsa" (New York: Cramoisy Press, 1873).
18. H. Jakop Seiler and Kojiro Hioki,
"Cahuilla Dictionary" (Morongo Indian Reservation, Banning, CA: Malki Museum Press, 1979).
19. R. R. Bishop Baraga,
"A Dictionary of Otchipwe Language" (1878; reprint, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Ross & Haines, 1966).
20. G. L. Piggott and A. Grafstein, An Ojibwa Lexicon, (Ottawa: National Museum of Man Mercuri Series, 1983).
21. Rev. F. Felipe Arroyo De La Cuesta, A Vocabulary or Phrase Book of the Mutsun Language of Alta California, Shea's Library of
American Linguistics, vol.VIII, (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Ross & Haines, n.d.).
22. Mauricio Swadesh, Ma. Cristina Alvarez, and
Juan R. Bastarrachea, Diccionario De Elementos Del Maya Yucateco Colonial (Mexico,
23. Dean Saxton, Lucille Saxton and Susie Enos,
"English-Papago/Pima Dictionary" (Tuscon: University of Arizona Press, 1983).
24. Berard Haile, A Stem Vocabulary of the
Navaho Language (Arizona: St. Michaels Press, 1951).
25. J. O. Dorsey and J. R. Swanton, Dictionary of the Bloxi and Ufo Languages (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1912).
26. John Asher Dunn, A Practical Dictionary of
the Coast Tsimshian Language (Carleton University Library No.: PM831 Z5D8).
27. Benjamine F. Olson, (ed.), Studies in Peruvian Indian Languages: I (Oklahoma: Summer Institute of Linguistics of the
University of Oklahoma, n.d.).
28. Mildred L. Larsen, Emic Classes Which Manifest the Obligatory Tagmemes in Major Independent Clause Types of Aguaruna (Jivaro)
(first article in note 27).
29. J. Richard Andrews, Introduction to Classical Nahuatl, The Aztec Language (Austin: University of Texas Press, n.d.).
30. Arthur J. O. Anderson,
"Rules of Aztec Language Classical Nahuatl Grammar" (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1973).
31. J. F. H. Adelaar, Tarma Quechua Grammar, Texts, Dictionary (The Peter De Ridder Press, 1977).
32. John Gilmary Shea, French-Onandaga Dictionary From a Manuscript of the Seventeenth Century (New York: Cramoisy Press,
33. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974, vol. 9,
34. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974, vol. 13,
35. Philip Ainsworth Means,
"Ancient Civilizations of the Andes" (New York: Gordian Press, 1964).
36. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974, vol. 1, p. 640.
37. Abdulkadir Inan, "Yusuf Has Hacib
ve Eseri Kutatgu Bilig Uzerine Notlar", Turk Kulturu, sayi 98, Aralik 1970, p.
Polat Kaya was born in the village of Yakinsu (Suhara) in Çildir, Kars, Turkiye
in 1925. After successfully passing a scholarship competition, he studied Electrical
Engineering in the U.S.A. He received a B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering (EE) in
1950 from the University of California in Berkeley and an M.Sc. degree in EE in 1951 from
Moore School of Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. In 1952, he joined the Engineering Department of the Turkish PTT General Directorate in
Ankara, Turkiye and worked in PTT until 1961. During the years 1961 to 1963, he worked
with the SHAPE Technical Centre in The Hague, the Netherlands. In 1963, he joined Northern
Electric Research and Development Laboratories, later renamed Bell-Northern Research (BNR)
in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. After working 25 years as a Member of Scientific Staff in BNR,
he retired in 1988. Above article first appeared
Belfast Islamic Center News and republished here