The Turkic Word Qımız "Fermented Mare's Milk": Early Historical Textual Evidence and Origin

This paper presents textual evidence for the Turkic word qımız “fermented mare’s milk” in a broad historical and cultural context. It combines philological and linguistic analysis with cultural and historical examination, as well as supporting archaeological evidence. Original primary sources in Byzantine Greek, Turkic, Sogdian, Chinese, Arabic, Persian, and Mongolian, ranging from the 6th–13th centuries, have been analyzed and re-evaluated. The primary meaning “sour, acidic” for qımız is attested by Maḥmūd al-Kāšɣarī (1077), and in various modern Turkic languages. I argue that the direct etymon of Turkic qımız is Middle Persian ḫāmīz “a pickled meat dish,” with the basic meaning “sour, fermented.” Furthermore, I propose that a Semitic word of the Proto-Semitic root *ḥmṣ “to sour, ferment” (most probably Biblical Hebrew ḥāmēṣ, modern Hebrew chametz “leavened [food; forbidden on Passover]”) is the ultimate origin of certain names of fermented, sour food and drink items in Semitic, Iranian, Armenian, and Turkic languages. Thus, I propose to call Hebrew ḥāmēṣ a sort of “Wanderwort,” whose spread—via Syriac and other languages—was supported by the religious significance of the Hebrew term.