THE GREEN COLOR IN TURKISH CULTURE IN THE CONTEXT OF COLORS

Abstract

Colors have gained an identity throughout historical processes. Each nation has associated colors with various meanings in its own cultural world. Colors have been shaped and have gained specific labels with the cultural values of the societies in various aspects of life such as state administration, clothing and appearances, customs and traditions, and ceremonies. They have been used by some statesmen, occupational groups, various religious identities, and have been associated with various meanings such as love, happiness, mourning and peace. Colors have been the conceptual counterparts of various discourses both in literature and in social life. Like in any other culture, the Turkish Culture has loaded different meanings to colors. In this context, the green color has been examined in the context of colors in Turkish culture. The green color in the Turkish Culture has been scanned in various dictionaries and literary texts, and the meanings given to the green color have been determined with examples. Various written texts since the pre-Islamic period have been scanned and the examples showing the usage of the green color in the Turkish Culture have been examined, and the findings have been presented in the study with the examples. The study is a qualitative study, and the Document Scanning Method has been used in it. When the texts are examined it has been determined that the green color concept was used as a color in ancient times. In some texts, the concept of the sky has been matched with the green color concept. The green color has been used to express the sky. It has been determined in the texts examined that the green color was used in the same meaning as it has in the Turkish Language today. It has also been determined that the green color concept was used in the form of “yaşar”, “yaşarmak”, “yaş ağlamak”, “yaşıl”, “yişil” and “yeşil”. The word “yaşar” was used to mean “at the age of” and also to mean “to weep” or “to cry”. The word “yaşarmak” was used to mean “to become green”. It has been determined that the word “yaşdaş” was used to mean “peer”, “compeer”, and “counterpart” in some texts. In addition, it has also been determined that the term “yaş dolmak” was used to mean “to become mature” and “to become older”The influences of colors on human life have been known for centuries. Colors, which influence human psychology in material and spiritual ways, have been everywhere in our lives since ancient times. According to the effects and associations they create in human beings, colors have appeared to us sometimes in a cave painting, sometimes in a flag, sometimes in a beautiful lyric, and sometimes in a hymn with symbolic meanings. As common meanings have been given to colors by human beings, different meanings have also been attributed to them with the influences of cultural environments. This difference shows varieties among nations. Specific meanings have been given to colors in the Turkish Culture. In Turkish Culture, colors have been used in various meanings from state administration to cultural and social life. In this study, the usage of the green color concept in the Turkish Culture has been examined in the context of colors. When the Turkish Literary works are examined it is observed that there are various epics, tales, and poems in which the common perceptions of the colors formed in the Turkish Culture are used in forms that are very close to each other. Today, the colors having meanings that are close to each other in our culture is of course due to the common perception formed by our cultural codes. Colors in the History of Turkish Culture have been formed with the influence of various religious beliefs, cultural and sociologic perceptions, and have been used in various literary works such as epics, legends and tales. When the etymology of the green color concept has been examined it is considered that the word comes from the root “yaş”. In time, the affix “-ıl” was added to the root “yaş” and the word yaş + ıl > “yaşıl” was derived. For this purpose, firstly the etymological scanning of the concept of “yeşil” (green) has been performed, and then the meanings of it in dictionaries are given. Then various written texts have been scanned since the pre-Islamic period until present day, various examples of the use of the word “green” have been examined, and the findings are presented in the study with examples. The examples of the use of the green concept have been explained according to the meanings they have. The Purpose of the study The use of the green concept as a color in the History of Turkish Culture has been determined in this study. For this purpose, the use of the green concept has been examined in terms of the semantic value it has adopted with the examples. Method This study is a qualitative study and the document scanning method has been used in it. The green color in the Turkish Culture has been scanned in various written texts since the pre-Islamic period until present day and the examples showing the usage of the green color in the Turkish Culture have been examined, and the findings have been presented in the study with examples. The examples on green color concept have been explained according to the meaning they have. It may be concluded that the root of the word “yeşil” (green) comes from the words “yasıl” and “yas”. The word “yaş” is also used to mean “green”, “young”, “fresh”, “plant” (vegetable) (Quoted from Meskhidze, 2006, p. 46 by Akkaya, 2013, p. 539). The name of one of the sons of Ülgen, the god of goodness in the Turkish Mythology, was Yaşıl (yeşil-green) Khan, and was accepted as the protective spirit. It was believed that he regulated the growth of the plants. It is observed that the source of the spiritual beliefs about the green color in the Turkish Culture, like it is the case in the white and red color, was based on their oldest religious beliefs. The time of the year when the grass became green played a very important role in the e

Özet

Renkler tarihsel süreç içerisinde kültürel kimlik kazanmıştır. Her millet kendi kültürel dünyasında renklere çeşitli anlamlar yüklemiştir. Renkler devlet yönetimi, kılık-kıyafet, gelenek ve görenekler, çeşitli törenler ve toplumsal hayatın birbirinden farklı alanlarında ait oldukları toplumun kültürel hamuruyla mayalanıp kendine özgü etiketler kazanmıştır. Sevgi, mutluluk, yas,barış gibi çeşitli anlamların yanı sıra bazı devlet adamları,meslek erbapları,çeşitli dini kimliklerin kullandığı semboller haline gelmişlerdir.Renkler toplumsal hayatta,edebiyatta çeşitli söylemlerin kavram karşılıkları olmuştur. Her kültürde olduğu gibi Türk kültüründe de her renge birbirinden farklı manalar yüklenmiştir. Bu çalışmada Tük kültüründe renk kavramı bağlamında yeşil renginin incelenmesi yapılmıştır. Türk kültüründe yeşil kavramı çeşitli sözlüklerde, edebi metinlerde taranmış ve renklere verilen anlamlar örnekleriyle tespit edilmiştir. İslamiyet öncesinden günümüze kadar çeşitli yazılı kaynaklar taranarak Türk kültüründe yeşil kavramının kullanımı ile ilgili örnekler incelenmiş ve tespit edilen bulgular örnekleriyle çalışmada sunulmuştur. Nitel bir çalışma olup araştırmada belgesel tarama tekniği kullanılmıştır. Metinler incelendiğinde yeşil kavramının renk olarak kullanıldığı tespit edilmiştir. Bazı metinlerde gök kavramıyla yeşil kavramı eşleştirilmiştir. Gökyüzünü ifade etmek için yeşil kavramı kullanılmıştır. İncelenen metinlerde yeşil kavramının günümüz Türkçesiyle aynı anlamda kullanıldığı ağlamak,yaşıl,yişil,ve yeşil şekliyle kullanıldığı tespit edilmiştir.Yaşar kelimesi yaşında anlamında,yaş ağlamak göz yaşı dökmek anlamıyla kullanılmıştır.Yaşarmak kullanılmıştır.Yaşdaş kelimesinin çeşitli metinlerde yaşıt,akran,emsâl anlamlarında kullanıldığı tespit edilmiştir.Ayrıca yaş dolmak kelimesinin yaşın kemâle ermesi,ihtiyarlamak anlamlarıyla kullanıldığı tespit edilmiştir