ABSTRACT
The Boz Oq - Uc Oq division in Oguz society is a theme, with which the honoree of this volume briefly dealt some decades ago. Boz Oq is the Modern Turkish form of this name, following Oguz tradition. However, the Tes inscription was not written in Oguz Turkic. Caution is warranted in applying to these names, perhaps subsequently folk etymologized, more recent pronunciations and identifications. The word *wcwq is attested in the Tonuquq inscription, but not as a tribal name and a range of readings and interpretations, "grain husk, straw, chaff, nerve, hearth, bird, flock of birds, be diminished, be used up, become exhausted", has been offered. If this is not *Uc Oq, then Uc Oq is more likely although the reference to "arrows" may be a later folk etymology based on the Oguz Khan legends that became prominent in the Mongol era. In reality, the name may point to the sense of oq as "tribe".
