Abstract:

Proverbs, which have emerged as a result of many years of observations and experiences of societies and have survived from past to present, reflect the common feelings, thoughts, traditions and beliefs of the nation to which they belong. Every society has its own proverbs. In these proverbs, certain concepts that are part of everyday life and that constantly appear in social life are observed. One of them is tree, which has an important place in Turkish culture. In many cultures and belief systems from East to West, the concept of tree has symbolic meanings. People have established similarities between themselves and trees, which are small sprouts at first, then grow and develop over time and eventually decay, and have attached importance to the tree. Turkish people have considered trees sacred and have avoided harming them. Tree appears as an important element of nature in all oral and written products of our literature. Amongst proverbs, which are the products of anonymous folk literature, there are the ones related to trees and also the examples in which the concept of tree is mentioned are high in number. In our study, the species of trees mentioned in proverbs will be discussed and will be examined in separate headings. It will focus on the various features of the tree, its place in our language and culture, and the meanings of these species that really extend to the metaphor within the framework of the symbolic meanings given to it.

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