This article provides an overview of compound words in the Kipchak language based on the linguistic materials from the Codex Cumanicus (13th–14th centuries) and Kipchak-Gregorian texts (16th–17th centuries), both of which belong to Northern Kipchak. It examines the development dynamics of word compounding over a span of five centuries. While the compounding phenomenon preserved its core structure, it also expanded under the influence of socio-cultural factors and was enriched with new examples. The main conclusion is that although a portion of the Kipchak Turks adopted Gregorian Christianity and translated religious and legal texts of this denomination into Turkic − thus incorporating religious loanwords such as personal names and theological terms − this type of borrowed vocabulary was almost entirely absent in the compounding process. Nevertheless, there are some examples of Arabic and Persian origin words participating in compound formation. In summary, neither the grammatical system nor the lexical units of the Armenian language played a role in the Turkic compounding process. On the other hand, a striking feature in the developmental dynamic is the abundance of compound words types and examples found in the Kipchak-Gregorian texts. These texts not only include all types of compound words present in the Codex, but also introduce new syntactic structures.
Codex Cumanicus, compound word, Kipchak-Gregorian texts, development dynamics