On The Idiom “Çok Başlu” In Divan Poetry

Idioms, as a means of brief and established way of expression found in any language, are important structures in that they reflect many cultural aspects of social life. It is very difficult to translate such structures, particularly idioms, from one language into another because of their national features. However, it is observed that some idioms are commonly used as a result of cultural interactions caused by various relations between societies. In the present study, the idiom “çok başlu”, which was in use at a certain period in the historical course of Turkish language and then became an archaism, and the exact corresponding idiom “ziyâde-ser” in Farsi are examined. Also, the use of this idiom in the Ottoman poetry is discussed through extracts from poems by various poets.

Keywords

İdiom, çok başlu, ziyâde-ser, divan poetry, calque, phraseology.