The word Taklamakan (Teklimakan), which is the name of the desert in the Tarim basin of East Turkestan, begins to appear in written sources in the 19th century and after that period. Although this name does not date back to ancient times, there are various etymological explanations for this word in both Uyghur Turkish and Chinese or Western resources. The origin of the name, pronounced as Teklimakan by the people who living in estern Turkistan, is tried to be connected to words that are close to the English pronunciation of Taklamakan or has been tried to find clues from ancient Chinese historical sources. However, the manuscripts written by the Uygurs have not been sufficiently taken into account. The name of the desert is mentioned as Terk-i Makan in the manuscript called Tevarih-i Muskiyun, which was written at the end of the 19th century, and this source is of great importance for understanding the origin of teklimkan. In this study, firstly, different views about the name taklamakan are listed, analyzed and interpreted from different perspectives. Then, in the light of these views, it is tried to reveal diffirent explanation about the origin of the word, based on the way this name is written in the oldest manuscript.
Taklamakan, Teklimakan, name, etymology.