Arabic-Persian Borrowings in the Fuzuli Language and Their Adaptation to the Azerbaijani Language
Elburus Veliyev
Abstract. The article examines the functional characteristics of Arabic and Persian loanwords used in the works of Muhammad Fuzuli, one of the prominent representatives of sixteenth-century Azerbaijani classical literature, and the mechanisms of their adaptation into the Azerbaijani literary language. The study determines that these lexical units function not merely as ordinary linguistic elements, but also as major structural components of the classical poetic-aesthetic system. The article broadly analyzes the integration of Arabic and Persian loanwords into Azerbaijani Turkish at phonetic, morphological, syntactic, and semantic levels, and identifies their significant role in enriching the classical Azerbaijani literary language. The research reveals that loanwords in Fuzuli’s poetry do not serve only terminological or lexical purposes; they also contribute to the formation of poetic imagery, emotional expressiveness, and philosophical thought. Furthermore, the article investigates the influence of the classical Eastern poetic tradition on the Azerbaijani literary language, the interaction between Turkish, Arabic, and Persian languages, the multilingual literary environment of the period, and the manifestation of this poetic model in Fuzuli’s language. The study also demonstrates that Arabic and Persian lexical units such as “eşq” (love), “hikmət” (wisdom), “həqiqət” (truth), “gül” (rose), “bülbül” (nightingale), and “canan” (beloved) underwent semantic transformation over time, acquiring new poetic connotations and becoming symbolic elements of classical Eastern poetics. In addition, the article analyzes the adaptation of loanwords to the phonetic and grammatical norms of the Azerbaijani language, their functioning within the national syntactic system, and their role in shaping the rhythmic and musical structure of classical poetry. As a result, it is concluded that the language of Fuzuli represents a multilayered artistic linguistic model with rich poetic-aesthetic and historical-linguistic characteristics, constituting an important stage in the development of classical Azerbaijani Turkish.
Keywords: Fuzuli, Arabic loanwords, Persian loanwords, classical Azerbaijani language, poetic language, lexicology