Abstract:

Water is of great importance for the continuation of living life. It is unthinkable to sustain life without water. For this reason, water has been the basic need of mankind in every period and has fed people materially and spiritually. In many societies, beliefs about water, which is considered sacred, have emerged and it is believed that water has protective power. People have continued their living in spaces close to water. The inseparable unity of water and human beings is also reflected in the works of art created. It is possible to see traces of this unity in handicrafts such as weaving, knitting and embroidery. There are many water motifs especially in weaving. These motifs have been named by taking into account their various qualities, and these names have an important place in the Turkish vocabulary. In this study, the importance of water in Turks, definitions related to "water" and its use according to periods are mentioned, and then its use in handicrafts as a term is given. The names of water and waterway motifs mentioned in the sources are shown in a table and evaluated in terms of their reflection in the Compilation Dictionary, Scanning Dictionary and Current Turkish Dictionary, which are the most widely used dictionaries today. It has been seen that the names of water and waterway, which are evaluated in terms of semiotics and structure, have an important place in the vocabulary of Turkish language, and that beliefs about water are also effective when naming water and waterway.

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