Most of the Old Uighur corpus consists of translations of sacred texts. Translations from religions such as Buddhism and Manicheism have played an important role in the development of Old Turkic vocabulary. Xuanzang, who lived under the Tang dynasty during the seventh century, is a Buddhist pilgrim and translator. Xuanzang’s Biography, which tells about his life and travel, was translated from Chinese to Old Uighur in the tenth century by Ši?ko Šäli Tutu?. Thinking that the Buddhist corpus had been incorrectly translated, Xuanzang travelled towards the holy lands of Buddhism. He succeeded in carrying new texts and teachings to China on his return from the journey. The Old Uighur corpus of Buddhist literature is very important for determining the vocabulary of Old Turkic. The vocabulary of Xuanzang Biography, among the old Uyghur works, is extremely remarkable in this respect. Even certain words found in that work alone can be studied. The word küntünlük occurs once in chapter VI of the Old Uighur Xuanzang Biography. There has yet to be an etymology written on the word. The purpose of this short article is to suggest an etymology of küntünlük. Based on the contextual analysis, the meaning and origin of küntünlük are discussed.

Old Uighur, Chinese, etymology, küntünlük.