This study aims to identify collocational structures within Old Uyghur Turkic legal texts and to reveal their meaning-making mechanisms and linguistic conventionalization processes. In this research, collocations were systematically identified using a phraseological approach applied to texts compiled from Berker Keskin's Eski Uygur Türkçesi Hukuk Belgeleri (Old Uyghur Turkic Legal Documents). The article critically discusses the concept of collocation within the theoretical frameworks of both frequency-based and phraseological approaches, while examining their definitions, characteristics, and classifications in detail. Furthermore, the study analyzes how collocations are distinguished from idioms and investigates distinct idiomatization processes. It emphasizes the critical importance of collocations in concept generation and meaning construction, noting their pivotal role in analyzing historical texts. A glossary of specific Old Uyghur Turkic collocations is provided. Ultimately, this research contributes significantly to linguistics, history, and culture, creating a vital resource for understanding the rich vocabulary of Old Uyghur Turkic.
Old Uyghur Turkish, collocation, idiomatization, conceptualization, lexicalization.