В. Г. Гузев. Избранное

347 Some Puzzling Aspects of the Turkic Runiform Script of “ligatures” being the result of two graphemes fused (see especially the publications of O. N. Tuna) 1 . The existence of sequences of consonants in OTRS is fully in keeping with the hypothesis of the syllabic nature of the script. It is worth noting in this respect that the first component of all the extant or supposed clusters in question is represented by a sonorant: nt, lt, nč, rt  (?) . Taking into consideration that one of the Turkic syllabic types has the VCC structure, and that the first component of Turkic consonantal clusters in general is either a fricative or a sonorant, it appears quite possible that “ligatures” are nothing but former syllabograms for the following syllables: a nt, a lt, a nč , and a rt (?) . All of the above supports the hypothesis of the syllabic nature of the Runiform script, at least initially. We have discussed the following: 1. OTRS has twenty-four syllabograms (of thirty-nine signs) which pro- duce palatal vowel harmony; there are also the six “vocalic” letters which can also be interpreted as syllabograms (this makes thirty syllabograms altogether). 2. The syllabic hypothesis allows us to present a more convincing expla- nation for the puzzle of five signs for the phoneme /k/ than has been possible without it. 3. The syllabic hypothesis provides a possible solution to the problem of signs for three or four of the consonantal clusters: most likely, these signs have never been “ligatures” and the estimated number of syllabograms is, therefore, around thirty-four. 4. OTRS contains graphemes denoting syllables containing wide un- rounded vowels / a / and / ä /, as well as those denoting syllables with round- ed ( o k / u k and ö k / ü k ) and narrow unrounded vowels ( ï q, i č). 5. The postulated syllabograms fully correlate with the typology of Tur- kic syllables (VC, VCC), and the morphonology of the Turkic languages favors the formation of a syllabic writing system. We might also consider, besides the above, that the hypothesis of the original syllabic nature of the Turkic Runiforn script provides support for the assumption that the latter was indigenous in origin. References 1. Amanǰolov, A. S. 1978. K genezisu tjurkskih run. Voprosy jazykoznanija. 1978. 2. 76–87. 2. Boduen de Kurtene, I. A. 1963. Izbrannye trudy po obščemu jazykoznaniju. Moskva. 1 See Pritsak 1980:87, Róna-Tas 1987:10,12 and Tuna 1990 :1–15.