The Proverb of tama tama köl bolur in modern Turkic Languages
Yong Song LiThe Turkic languages and dialects are spoken across a vast area from Pacific to the Baltic Sea, and from the Arctic Ocean to the Persian Gulf. There are several proverbs and many idioms in the Orkhon Inscriptions. Proverbs are also found in the Turkic literature of the periods after the Orkhon inscriptions. The Dīwān Luγāt at-Turk from the Karakhanid state contains many proverbs. One of them is birin birin miŋ bolur tama tama köl bolur “One by one becomes a thousand, drop by drop becomes a pond.” This proverb is found in Ottoman Turkish as Damlaya damlaya göl olur – dušman gözü kör olur “изъ капель образуется озеро, глаза врага слѣпы – aus vielen Tropfen bildet sich der See, die Augen des Feindes sind blind.” and Damla damla göl olur düšmen gözi kör olur “Goutte à goutte le lac se remplit; peu à peu l’oeil de l’ennemi s’affaiblit / Tropfen warden zum See; auch das Auge des Feindes mit der Zeit blind.” In the present paper we will treat this proverb and its related forms in modern Turkic languages.
Modern Türk Dillerinde tama tama köl bolur Atasözü
Yong Song LiTürk dil ve lehçeleri Pasifik’ten Baltık Denizi’ne ve Kuzey Buz Denizi’nden Basra Körfezi’ne kadar uzanan geniş bir alanda konuşulur. Orhon yazıtlarında birkaç atasözü ve birçok deyim vardır. Orhon yazıtlarından sonraki dönemlere ait Türk edebiyatında da atasözleri bulunur. Karahanlı devletinden bir eser olan Dîvânü Lugâti’t-Türk birçok atasözü içermektedir. Bunlardan biri de birin birin miŋ bolur tama tama köl bolur “Birer birer bin olur, damlaya damlaya göl olur”dur. Bu atasözü, Osmanlı Türkçesinde Damlaya damlaya göl olur – duşman gözü kör olur ve Damla damla göl olur düşmen gözi kör olur olarak bulunur. Bu yazıda modern Türk dillerindeki bu atasözünü ve ilgili şekillerini de ele alacağız.
The Turkic languages and dialects are spoken across a vast area from Pacific to the Baltic Sea, and from the Arctic Ocean to the Persian Gulf. The modern Turkic peoples descend from an ancient grouping of tribes who, through conquest, interaction and assimilation, extended its language and elements of its culture across Eurasia. In addition to the inherited items, the Turkic languages have numerous lexical items which have been copied from non-Turkic languages. There are several proverbs and many idioms in the Orkhon Inscriptions. Proverbs are also found in the Turkic literature of the periods after the Orkhon inscriptions. The Dīwān Luγāt at-Turk from the Karakhanid state contains many proverbs. One of them is birin birin miŋ bolur tama tama köl bolur “One by one becomes a thousand, drop by drop becomes a pond.” This proverb is found in Ottoman Turkish as follows: Damlaya damlaya göl olur – dušman gözü kör olur “изъ капель образуется озеро, глаза врага слѣпы – aus vielen Tropfen bildet sich der See, die Augen des Feindes sind blind.” olur kör gözi düšmen olur göl damla Damla طمله طمله كول اولور دوشمن كوزى كور اولور “Goutte à goutte le lac se remplit; peu à peu l’oeil de l’ennemi s’affaiblit / Tropfen warden zum See; auch das Auge des Feindes mit der Zeit blind.” This proverb and its related forms in modern Turkic languages are treated in the present paper. As a result of this study, it was possible to find the following points:
1. The proverb Tama tama köl bolur is found in the same or slightly different form in many of the modern Turkic languages like Turkish, Gagauz, Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Salar, Uzbek, Uyghur, Crimean Tatar, Urum, Karaim (Crimean dial.), Karachay-Balkar, Kazakh, Karakalpak, Tatar, Bashkir, Kyrgyz, Khakas, and Chuvash.
2. The proverb Tama tama köl bolur is not found in a few languages like Kumyk, Nogay, Tuvan, and Yakut.
3. Some forms are common to the languages spoken near each other.
4. Some forms are common to the languages spoken far away from each other.
5. Some forms are found only in one language.
The proverb Tama tama köl bolur can be compared to the following proverbs of other languages:
Per. شود دریا وانگهی گردد جمع قطره قطره Qaṭra qaṭra ǰamʿ gardad wa āngahī daryā šawad “Drops accumulate and then become a river.”
Chin. 滴水成河 dīshuǐ chéng hé “Falling water drops become a river.”
Rus. Капля за каплей – получается озеро; без единой капли – пустыня “Durch beständiges Tropfen entsteht ein See, ohne einen einzigen Tropfen [entsteht] eine Wüste.”
Ger. Aus Tropfen wird ein großer Fluß, aus Flüssen ein See “Out of drops becomes a great river, from rivers a lake.”
Mong. Дуслыг хураавал далай, Дуулсныг хураавал эрдэм “Ocean comes from collecting drops; Knowledge comes from collecting what you learn.” (Raymond 2014: 99)
