ON THE POLYSEMY OF THE VERB "KÖR-" IN KUTADGU BILIG

Abstract

Polysemy is a linguistic process in which a word acquires new meanings depending on its contextual uses and becomes multimeaning. Polsemy, being proportional to the age and usage frequency of a language, appears to be a common linguistic issue in the Turkish language. In the lexical categories, as opposed to nouns, verbs, despite being of limited number as they denote the same action in many cases and for many beings, turn out to gain a polysemic nature in time through frequent semantic diversification and acquirement of many connotations. Semantic studies have proved to be a beneficial source, for concepts -particularly verbs- gain new meanings and thus cause ambiguity in the process of text interpretation. The identification of any new meaning of a word in a polysemic context increases the importance of the issue in that it helps better understanding of the text and reflects the level of the language. Polysemy, as an indicator of advanced linguistic productivity, exerts itself in several concepts in Kutadgu Bilig, which has one of the richest linguistic contents of the the Middle Turkic. The verb kör-, used 987 times in Kutadgu Bilig with 21 different meanings, is by itself enough to prove the expressive power of the Turkish language. The meanings of the verb kör- in the book are: understand, comprehend, perceive, realize; peruse, follow; find; check, warn, threaten; live, experience, predict, sense; care, dominate; being exposed to an action or treatment, suffer, incur; attend, help; do, behave/treat, give, fulfill; value, take into account, stick to, not let go; show, want others take a lesson from something; reach, attain, receive, pay attention, want to attract attention, meet, encounter, run into; compare, (eveything) being obvious and clear; consolidate, fall for; recognize, know, anticipate, pursue. Such various meanings of the verb “kör-“ illuminate the semantic riches of the language in its time The Polysemy of the Verb kör- in Kutadgu Bilig The objective of this study is to demonstrate that the verb kör-, frequently mentioned in the index of Kutadgu Bilig, does not only mean “gör-“ (see) and “bak-“ (look), contrary to what is indicated in the index. Having a polysemic character and with its 21 different uses, the verb kör- features the sophistication of the literal work and the richness of the language. This study attempts to identify the different contextual meanings of the verb kör-, through the semantic examination of the related couplets. The varying contextual meanings of the verb are important in that they mirror the semantic richness, expressive details and linguistic taste of both the work and its period. Introduction and the Objective of the Study: Based on the pages-long list of the verb kör- in the index of Kutadgu Bilig, this study aims to show that the verb does not have only two meanings, as opposed to what is listed in the index. Polysemy is the linguistic mechanism in which a word adopts a multi-meaning character with the new meanings it gains, depending on its contextual uses. Quite common in the Turkish language, this linguistic phenomenon is frequently encountered especially among the verbs due to the fact that verbs are used to mean the same action performed by different beings. Polysemy, despite the fact that it causes ambiguity within the text, is noteworthy as an indicator of the strength of the text. As is known, the diversity of semantic phenomena are proportional to the age and advancement of the language. Semantic phenomena in a language exhibit its functionality and facility. The fact that a word enters into another’s semantic sphere and become multi-meaningful by assuming new connotations points to the frequent use and productivity of that language. In the texts of the old language, referring to the polysemic structure was accepted to have an aesthetic value. In this respect, 21 different meanings of the verb kör- in the couplets of Kutadgu Bilig facilitate the intelligibility of the work. The identification of any new meaning in a polysemic situation does not only help a clear understanding of the text but also highlights the level of development that the language has reached. Demanding an advanced level of linguistic productivity, polysemy exemplifies itself in many concepts in Kutadgu Bilig, which includes rich linguistic materials of the Middle Turkic. In this context, 21 different connotations of the verb kör-, used 987 times in the work, were identified. The meanings the verb körgained in the work are: understand, comprehend, perceive, realize; peruse, follow; find; check, warn, threaten; live, experience, predict, sense; care, dominate; being exposed to an action or treatment, suffer, incur; attend, help; do, behave/treat, give, fulfill; value, take into account, stick to, not let go; show, want others take a lesson from something;reach, attain, receive, pay attention, want to attract attention, meet, encounter, run into; compare, (eveything) being obvious and clear; consolidate, fall for; recognize, know, anticipate, pursueThese diverse meanings of the verb kör- enable us to uncover the semantic richness of the language in those times. Conceptual/Theoretical Framework of the Study Subject This is supposed to be a detailed study in the field of semantics. This work differs from the previous studies conducted on polysemy in that it deals with the issue in a more detailed way and specifically focuses on the polysemic nature of only one verb. Mehmet Turgut Berbercan has discussed certain polysemic verbs from Kutadgu Bilig in “A General View To The Polysemyc Structure of the Verbs In Qutadgu Bilig” (The Journal of International Social Research, Volume 6, Issue 24).Although his study includes polysemic verbs derived fom indexes and dictionaries, kör- is not mentioned among them. Except for Berbercan’s study, Doğan Aksan has also conducted studies in which polysemy was examined and examples from old texts were presented. [Aksan, Doğan (1971). “Ka

Özet

Bir kelimenin içinde bulunduğu bağlama göre yeni anlamlar kazanıp çok anlamlı hâle gelmesine "çok anlamlılık (polisemi)" adı verilmektedir. Bir dilin yaşı ve kullanım sıklığı ile doğru orantılı olan "çok anlamlılık", Türk dilinde yaygın görülen bir dil hadisesidir. Kelime kadrolarında isimlere göre daha sınırlı olan fiiller, birçok varlığın aynı eylemi yapmasından dolayı sınırlılık gösterse de çoğu zaman anlam çeşitlenmesine uğramış ve yan anlamlar kazanarak çok anlamlı bir karakter kazanmıştır. Kavramların (özellikle fiillerin) kazandığı yeni anlamlar, metnin yorumlanmasında anlam bulanıklığına yol açtığı için anlambilim çalışmalarından faydalanma ihtiyacı ortaya çıkmıştır. Çok anlamlılıkta ortaya çıkan her bir yeni anlamın tespiti, metnin daha doğru anlaşılmasının yanında dilin de ulaştığı seviyeyi yansıtması bakımından önemlidir. İleri seviyedeki bir dil üretkenliği gerektiren çok anlamlılık, Orta Türkçenin zengin dil malzemelerinden birine sahip olan Kutadgu Bilig'de birçok kavramda örneğini barındırmaktadır. Kutadgu Bilig'de 987 kez kullanılmış olan kör- fiilinin sahip olduğu 21 farklı anlam Türk dilinin erişmiş olduğu ifade gücünü tek bir fiil üzerinden kanıtlamaktadır. Eserde kör- fiilinin kazandığı anlamlar: "anlama, kavrama, idrak etme, fark etme; dikkatlice inceleme, izleme; bulma; kontrol etme; uyarı, tehdit; yaşama, tecrübe etme; öngörme, sezinleme; bakma, itaati altına alma; bir harekete, davranışa maruz kalma, uğrama, çekme; ilgilenme, yardım etme; yapma davranma; verme, yerine getirme; önemseme, dikkate alma, vazgeçmeme, bırakmama; gösterme, ibret alınmasını isteme; erişmek, nail olma mazhar olma; dikkat etme, dikkati çekmek isteme; karşılama, karşılaşma, rastlama; karşılaştırma; her şeyin ortada açık ve belirgin olması; pekiştirme; aldanma; tanıma haberdar olma; geleceğe yönelik beklenti, takip etme"dir. kör- fiilinin sahip olduğu bu farklı anlamlar dilin o dönemde eriştiği anlamsal zenginlikleri aydınlatabilecek niteliktedir