The kush is a complex design, not simple to interpret. Let us see a little typology.

The first category is likely zoomorphic, with well individualized head in profile. It has a triangular shape that can be read as a beak and a curved or angular device on top that can be interpreted as a tuft. This head is at the top of a long neck that is generally oblique. This zoomorphic design justifies the name kush (bird in Turkic language), and it is easily recognizable even by the uninitiated.






The motif is generally paired (one or several pairs) but sometimes there is a central pole that makes the design odd (see the fourth design below).





The second category is also zoomorphic, but the top device  takes a pronged shape with two angular symmetrical branches from a single central pole. The head remains triangular but can become symmetrical. The result is less realistic than the first: there are no animals with that silhouette. Maybe this motif is simply derived from the first one by symmetrical transformation of the top device by  “contamination” from the symmetric traditional kotchak motif. Maybe because in the rug design, generally, people prefer symmetrical to assymmetrical forms. There are some intermediary forms that suggest this genealogy. There can be another explanation: the development of the symmetry of the head device may have come from the other type of kush design (named 02 by Pinner), by a “contamination” process between the two forms (see third type below).




The third category is even less zoomorphic. The “head” is square (and sometimes doesn't even exist) and is topped with two symmetrical devices inserted at the lateral corners. Pinner names it “candelabra”.







    



The significance and origin of this design is less clear than for types 1 and 2. One can see an abstract rendering of a pair of horns in the symmetrical threadlike hooks, and in this case the design could symbolize sheep. But this interpretation seems unlikely because it appears that the bird head and this type are used in the same part of the fields, with the same display. If we consider rug design to be a coherent language (when weavers still knew it), the “meaning” would be the same and both designs represent symbolic birds. It is also unlikely that this type could be a drift from the double hook bird’s head type 2. First, because the transformation is not evident. Second, because the two types can occur on the same panel of certain ensis. In Pinner's analysis of Tekke animal tree ensis, he shows the similarity between this type of design and the gopuz candelabra in the main lateral borders. He also notes also the relationship to the designs in Saryk ensis, where this form with two square filiform hooks on square “heads” is the rule.



One explanation of this shape could be that it does not represent only the bird’s head, but the entire silhouette. The rendering is in this case very abstract and the symmetricization has ended in the same shape for the tail and for the head and neck. It could be also a simplified rendering of a two-headed bird. In the two cases the design can be interpreted as birds, viewed from profile, and perched at the top of branches. This design can be closely related with “bird poles” that have been seen in Siberia (see Pinner, The animal tree and the great bird, Turkoman Studies I). The candelabras design could be the representation of such bird poles of high symbolic value.




One other track could be the one of “letters”. It is known that some symbols found on central Asia weaving, among the descents of the Oguz tribe, are in fact letters that can have meaning that are linked with the peoples. One of the characters found in the Orhun alphabet has a shape very near that of the Saryk hooked symbol described by Pinner in the “candelabras”. This letter is the equivalent of the K, the initial of kush. Maybe this is just a coincidence, but the clues are convergent.




The possible genealogy and the links between the different types of kush can be seen in the figure below.

The fourth category gathers odd forms that can be derived from the others and with rare examples among the bulk of the ensis production. Among those odd forms one can cite some found in the Tekke production or in the Ersari ensis (pronged devices or "crowned" bird’s head with diamond device). One can suspect a contamination with kotchak design.