This paper draws upon the earlier work of the author on the Black Death as the main factor leading to the sudden demise of Syriac Turkic, Volga Bolgharian, and the language of the Golden Horde in the 14th century C.E. to argue that the Plague in the Time of Justinian (6th–8th centuries C.E.) was the main factor leading to the decline in the use of Soghdian among the Türk, the rise of Runiform Turkic as a vernacular-based literary languageto take its place, and Runiform Turkic’s subsequent demise.