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In some Turkic languages (like Turkish and Kazakh), the word Yaz means Summer, while in other Turkic languages (like Azeri, Chuvash and Yakut) the very same word means Spring. The Old Turkic meaning was also Summer, so it seams that the Azeri group has changed its meaning.

Is there any good explanation for this difference?

Mousa
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    I see no linguistic explanation. May have something to do with culture. As you know, all Oghuz variants have the competing word bahar from Iranic, but only those in the East have the Iranic pagan spring festival, just like the Orthodox and pagan Chuvash and Yakut have other spring festivals. All in all this is not too surprising, words for spring are often unstable (eg English, German, South Slavic, vulgar Latin, Albanian) and the newly invented words are often based on words for summer (eg South Slavic, vulgar Latin, Albanian). – Adam Bittlingmayer Aug 26 '17 at 14:21
  • I should have said culture or bureaucracy, for example a side effect of a modern political change by the TLA. See sonbahar / güz in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_replaced_loanwords_in_Turkish#Loanwords_of_Persian_origin: The Persian word behar means spring. The Turkish compound word sonbahar (which literally means last-spring) means fall. The compound word ilkbahar'(first-spring')means spring. But often just the word "bahar" is used. – Adam Bittlingmayer Aug 26 '17 at 14:29
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    @A.M.Bittlingmayer good information, thanks. – Mousa Aug 27 '17 at 05:04
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    Regarding kazakh language, modern kazakh use köktem for spring and jaz for summer but there is a word jazğıtūrı which means "in spring" so I think the meaning of the jaz word in kazakh just shifted from meaning "spring + summer" to just "summer". – Tuňuquq Mar 13 '22 at 00:55

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I am not sure that there is any good explanation. Clauson’s Etymological dictionary writes that “there is utter confusion in the Turkish languages about the words for 'spring' and 'summer'”. Perhaps this reflects an older situation where the Turks distinguished only two seasons: hot and cold.

fdb
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  • Agreed, I don't think that seasons are that much distinguished in central asian and siberian steppes. – kabraxis Aug 26 '17 at 14:20
  • This post would benefit from a more scientific (and specific) evidence. Any linguist could speculate that theoretically, over the course of language's history, some confusion between names of seasons may have happened. Was is, indeed, the case with the languages in question? – Be Brave Be Like Ukraine Aug 26 '17 at 14:23
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    @fdb, The historical two seasons matter, is a good hypothesis for this confusion. – Mousa Aug 27 '17 at 05:03