Özet:

Myths consist of common cultural elements existing in the subconscious mind of the community. Concepts and objects interpreted based on perceptions are seen in oral culture products. Mankind had to hunt animals in order to survive in the early times, but later on they worshiped and respected them in time. Further, they included animals in their cultural values via images and symbols. Considering the environmental conditions, mankind who has been constantly in touch with animals in some way attributes symbolic meanings to animals in oral culture products based on the functions of animals. Proverbs included among oral culture products are sayings that reflect the common worldview, values and beliefs in which people unite, are based on a certain experience, and reflect emotions and thoughts in the collective memory. We can learn about the functionality of the animals used in the proverbs in terms of cultural and social life. On the other hand, some animals are not included in proverbs according to their mythological origin. This is related to the formation period of proverbs. In this study, we examined 2396 proverbs in the database of the Dictionary of Proverbs and Idioms of the Turkish Language Institution and analysed the usages of the animal names such as horse, wolf, cow-ox (bull), snake, dog, pig, lion, bear, mouse/rat, sheep/ram, chicken/rooster, camel and goat in 554 proverbs according to their place in Turkish mythology. Some animal names are used in proverbs with positive/negative meanings based on their mythological origins, whereas others are used according to their functional characteristics rather than their mythological origins.

Anahtar Kelimeler: