Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GLOSSARY
batyr
(Kyr, Kaz) - warrior hero
in epics
beg
(T) - landlord, gentleman;
also spelt
bay
or
bek
berkutchi
(Kyr) - eagle hunter
Bi
(Kaz) - honorific Kazakh title
given to clan elders
bishkek
(Kaz, Kyrg) - see
pishpek
bosuy
(Kyr) - see yurt
bufet
(R) - snack bar selling
cheap cold meats, boiled eggs,
salads, breads, pastries etc
bulvar
(R) - boulevard
bulvary
(Kyr) - boulevard
buzkashi
(T) - traditional polo-
like game played with a headless
calf, goat or sheep carcass
(buz)
dutar
(T) - two-stringed guitar
ABBREVIATIONS
A - Arabic
Kaz - Kazakh
Kyr - Kyrgyz
R - Russian
Taj - Tajik
T - general Turkic
Tur - Turkmen
U - Uzbek
-abad
(T) - suffix meaning
'town of'
ak
(T) - white
akkalpak
(Kyr) - felt hat worn
by Kyrgyz men
akimat
(T) - regional govern-
ment office or city hall, also
aqimat
aksakal
(T) - revered elder
akyn
(Kyr) - minstrel, bard
ala-kiyiz
(Kyr) - felt rug with
coloured panels pressed on
alany
(Kaz) - square
alplager
(R) - mountaineers
camp, short for
alpinistskiy lager
apparatchik
(R) - bureaucrat
apteka
(R) - pharmacy
arashan
(T) - springs
asalamaleykum
(A) - tradi-
tional Muslim greeting, meaning
'peace be with you'
ASSR
- Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic
askhana
(Kaz, Kyr) - local
restaurant
aul
(T) - yurt or herders' camp
aviakassa
(R) - air ticket office
avtobus
(R) - bus
avtostantsia
(R) - bus stop or
bus stand
azan
(A) - Muslim call to prayer
eshon
(A) - Sufi leader, also
spelt
ishan
GAI
(R) - traffic police
geoglyph
- geometric pattern of
stones, often used in astrological
observations
gillam
(T) - carpet, also
gilim
glasnost
(R) - 'openness' in
government that was one aspect
of the Gorbachev reforms
gorod
(R) - town
Graeco-Bactrian
- Hellenistic
kingdom and culture centred on
northern Afghanistan, southern
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan follow-
ing the conquests of Alexander
the Great
GreatGame
- the geopolitical
'Cold War' of territorial expan-
sion between the Russian and
British empires in the 19th and
early 20th centuries in Central
Asia
caravanserai
- travellers inn
chabana
(Kyr, Kaz) - cowboy
chaikhana
(T) - teahouse
chapan
(U, Taj) - traditional
stripy Uzbek/Tajik cloak
chaykhana
(T) - see
chaikhana
chong
(T) - big
choyhona
(T) - see
chaikhana
chuchuk
(Kaz) - see
kazy
(in
food glossary)
chuchvara
(T) - dumplings
CIS
- Commonwealth of
Independent States; the loose
political and economic alliance
of most former member repub-
lics of the USSR (except the
Baltic states and Georgia)
CPK
- Communist Party of
Kazakhstan
Hadith
(A) - collected acts
and sayings of the Prophet
Mohammed
haj
(A) - the pilgrimage to
Mecca, one of the five pillars
of Islam, to be made by devout
Muslims at least once during
their lifetime
hakimat
(T) - see
hakimyat
hakimyat
(Kyr) - municipal
administration building
hammam
(A) - bathhouse
hammomi
(U) - baths
hazrat
(A) - honorific title
meaning 'majesty' or 'holy'
Hejira
(A) - flight of the Prophet
Mohammed and his followers to
Medina in AD 622
hijab
(A) - Muslim woman's veil
or headscarf (literally 'modest
dress')
hoja
(U) - lord, master, gentle-
man (honorific title)
dacha
(R) - a holiday bungalow
dangyly
(Kaz) - avenue
darikhana
(Kaz) - pharmacy
darya
(T) - river
dastarkhan
(T) - literally
'tablecloth'; feast
depe
(Tur) - see
tepe
dezhurnaya
(R) - floor-lady;
the female attendant on duty on
each floor of a Soviet-style hotel
dom
(R) - building
domotdykha
(R) - rest home
doppe
(U) - black, four-sided
skullcap embroidered in white
and worn by men; also
dopi
,
doppa
,
dopy
or
doppilar
babushka
(R) - old woman;
headscarf worn by Russian
peasant women
bagh
(Taj, D) - garden
balbal
(T) - totemlike stone
marker
banya
(R) - public bath
basmachi
(R) - literally 'bandits';
Muslim guerrilla fighters who
resisted the Bolshevik takeover
in Central Asia
ikat
(U) - tie-dyed silk
IMU
- Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan
IRP
- Islamic Renaissance Party;
grouping of radical