돌궐어는 그 기록들이 오늘날까지 전해지는 가장 오래된 튀르크어방언이다. 이 언어는 오늘날의 몽골국에서, 주로 오르콘(Orkhon) 강 유역에서 발견되어 편하게 오르콘 비문들로 불리는 비문들을 통하여 우리에게 알려져 있다. 이것들은 퀼 테긴(Kül Tegin) 비문, 빌개 카간(Bilgä Kagan) 비문, 투뉴쿠크(Tunyukuk) 비문, 이시바라 타르칸(Išbara Tarkan = 옹기(Ongi)) 비문과 퀼리 초르(Küli Čor = 이헤 휘쇼튀(Ikhe- Khüshötü)) 비문이다.
퀼 테긴 비문과 빌개 카간 비문은 많은 부분이 서로 동일하다. 빌개 카간 비문은 퀼 테긴 비문보다 보존 상태가 훨씬 나쁘다. 이미 19세기말에 빌개 카간 비문에는 심하게 훼손된 부분들이 많이 있었다. 이들부분은 제대로 읽혀지지 않았다. 이들 중 하나가 남쪽 면 제11행에 있는 두 번째 문장이다.
Radloff (1895)의 독법을 수정하면, 우리는 문제의 문장을 이제 다음과 같이 읽을 수 있다: : iTRULK : zSKGRK : SmUK : nutl [: igNmUT : TROTC]U : klkuq kookïlïk : ü[č tört : tümän agï :] altun : kümüš : kärgäksiz : kälürti : “그들은 향수, [30,000~40,000필의 비단], 금은을 풍부하게 가져왔다.”
Orkhon Turkic is the oldest Turkic dialect whose written records have come down to us. It is known to us through the inscriptions found in present- day Outer Mongolia, mainly in the basin of the Orkhon River, thus being conveniently called ‘the Orkhon inscriptions’. These are the Kül Tegin, Bilgä Kagan, Tunyukuk, Išbara Tarkan (Ongi), and Küli Čor (Ikhe-Khüshötü) inscriptions. Many parts of the Kül Tegin and Bilgä Kagan inscriptions are identical. The Bilgä Kagan inscription is in a worse state of preservation than the Kül Tegin inscription. There were already many severely damaged parts in the Bilgä Kagan inscription in the end of the nineteenth century. These parts have not been read properly. One of them is the second sentence of the 11th line on the south side. Modifying the reading of Radloff (1895), we can now read the sentence in question as follows: : iTRULK : zSKGRK : SmUK : nutl [: igNmUT : TROTC]U : klkuq kookïlïk : ü[č tört : tümän agï:] altun : kümüš : kärgäksiz : kälürti: “They brought scent, [30,000~40,000 rolls of silk brocade], and gold and silver in abundance.”
Orkhon Turkic is the oldest Turkic dialect whose written records have come down to us. It is known to us through the inscriptions found in present- day Outer Mongolia, mainly in the basin of the Orkhon River, thus being conveniently called ‘the Orkhon inscriptions’. These are the Kül Tegin, Bilgä Kagan, Tunyukuk, Išbara Tarkan (Ongi), and Küli Čor (Ikhe-Khüshötü) inscriptions. Many parts of the Kül Tegin and Bilgä Kagan inscriptions are identical. The Bilgä Kagan inscription is in a worse state of preservation than the Kül Tegin inscription. There were already many severely damaged parts in the Bilgä Kagan inscription in the end of the nineteenth century. These parts have not been read properly. One of them is the second sentence of the 11th line on the south side. Modifying the reading of Radloff (1895), we can now read the sentence in question as follows: : iTRULK : zSKGRK : SmUK : nutl [: igNmUT : TROTC]U : klkuq kookïlïk : ü[č tört : tümän agï:] altun : kümüš : kärgäksiz : kälürti: “They brought scent, [30,000~40,000 rolls of silk brocade], and gold and silver in abundance.”