Çağatay Türkçesi Dönemi Eserlerinde Değerli Taşlar
Sümeyra Alanİnsanoğlu yaratılışından bu yana; koruma, süsleme ve aksesuar biçiminde kullanılma, ruhen ve bedenen şifalandırma vb. özelliklere sahip olmaları nedeniyle kıymetli taşlara ilgi duymuştur. İnsanoğlunun bu ilgisi değerli taşlardan maddi manevi fayda sağlama çabasıyla sınırlı kalmamış; taşların özellikleri ve faydaları ile alakalı araştırmalar yapmasına ve taşlar hakkında eserler ortaya koymasına sebep olmuştur. Cevher-nâme adıyla bilinen bu eserler kıymetli taşlar hakkında bilgi, oluşumları, elde edildiği coğrafya, renkleri, çeşitleri, faydaları, kıymeti, saklama koşulları hakkında bilgilerin yer aldığı eserlerdir. Bu eserlerin çoğunluğu mensur olup manzum örnekleri çok az sayıdadır. Bu eserlerden yola çıkılarak incelenen belli başlı çalışmalar bizim de ilgimizi çekmiş ve çalışmamızın oluşmasına zemin hazırlamıştır. Bu çalışmada cevher/mücevher anlamına gelen kelimeler Türk dilinin tarihsel dönemlerinde kullanılan şekilleriyle ele alınmış sonrasında ise değerli taşların (yakut, elmas, zümrüt) ve yarı değerli taşların (firuze, kehribar, akik, yeşim (nefrit taşı), zeberced, inci, perpi (yılan taşı), lacverd vb.) kullanım örnekleri Çağatay Türkçesi eserlerinden hareketle okuyucuya sunulmuştur. Bu sunum esnasında art zamanlılık yöntemiyle değerli taşın yer aldığı dönem ve eş anlamlı kullanım örnekleri çalışmaya eklenmiştir. Dönem sözlüklerinde yer alan kullanım örnekleri varsa bunlar da çalışmaya dâhil edilmiştir.
Precious Stones in Chagatai’s Turkish Period Works
Sümeyra AlanSince the creation of mankind, people have been interested in gemstones because of their properties, such as protection, decoration, use as accessories, and spiritual as well as physical healing. This interest was not limited to the use of the tangible and intangible benefits of gemstones, but also included the study of the properties and benefits of stones and the creation of works about stones. These works are called ore books and contain information about their gems, and formation, where they were found, colors, types, uses, value, and storage conditions. Most of these works are written in prose, very few copies have been found in verse. Some studies that have dealt with these works have also attracted the attention of this study and laid the foundation for the study of their creation. In this study, the words for ores and jewels are first discussed with the forms used in the historical periods of the Turkish language, and then examples of the words for precious stones (e.g., ruby, diamond, emerald) and semi-precious stones (e.g., turquoise, amber, agate, jade, chrysolite, pearl, snake stone, and lapis lazuli) are presented to the reader based on the Turkish Chagatai works. Examples from the period and synonymous uses of gemstones are included in the study by using the diachronic method. Examples of usage in mining dictionaries are also included in the study.
Precious stones have attracted the attention of mankind because of their properties such as colors, shapes, fascinating images and appearance, as well as their use for protection, decoration, representation of social status, as accessories for mental and physical healing, determining social status, etc. Today, these stones still continue to have a great importance in people's lives.
Precious stones have been used as messages that are desired to be given to people who assimilate the same culture by serving as an intermediary between gods and humans, showing depictions through jewelry made with these stones, making jewelry from certain materials and stones, and wearing jewelry on the body/clothing in certain ways. In Western literature, the healing powers of precious stones were first attributed to the Greeks, who provided information about the physical properties of precious stones such as their colors, transparencies, brilliance levels, breakage [splitting] points, hardness levels, and density, as well as their medical value. This interest and effort shown toward precious stones that have been shaped, cut, carved, and/or polished to increase their natural beauty has been reflected not only in the physical dimension but also in terms of written works. These works are known as Cevhername in Turkish and contain information about, how precious stones form, and what geography they are found in, as well as their colors, types, benefits, and value and how to store them. The majority of these works are in prose, with very few examples occurring in verse. Cevhernames are known as lapidaries in English (lapidaire in French), which is a term derived from the Latin lapis meaning stone.
Precious stones have not only attracted great attention in the West (especially in the Greek and Roman periods), but have also been cherished in the Islamic geography. Starting in the 8th century CE, Muslims translated all sorts of scientific works into their own language that had been previously written on stones and metals. During this period, they were in contact with Western civilizations and in the 9th century benefitted from the works of such Greek authors as Socrates, Bolos Democritus, and Galen of Pergamon. Kitāb al-Ahjār [Book of Stones] and Kitab Sirr al-Asrar [Book of the Secret of Secrets] appear as two important ore-books that give information about precious stones. In the following centuries, the most outstanding works on precious, semi-precious, and non-precious stones were written by al-Bîrûnî and İbn Sînâ. During the Ottoman Period, the first researcher known to be interested in the science of ore was Muhammed ibn Mahmud al-Shirvani, who lived in the first half of the 15th century and was mostly known for his medicine studies. Al-Shirvani also wrote two works on precious stones. The first of these is the work called Cevhername, which consists of an introduction and twenty-five chapters. The second is called Tuhfe-i Muradi, which is an expanded form of the ore-book and consists of an introduction and thirty-two chapters. Chagatai Turkish works are also found regarding precious stones and their usage, which shows these stones to have maintained their importance in every period. Many valuable works are found such as Ali-Shir Nava'i’s booklets Tarixi Anbiya va Xukam, Tarixi Muluki Ajam, and Munshaot; the Diwan of Shiban Khan; and Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Khan’s Shajara-i Tarakima. These works mention the names of precious stones both metaphorically and with their basic meanings. When considering these scanned works, the results of the study have divided stones into precious and semi-precious stones and examined diamonds, rubies, and emeralds under the heading of precious stones. All other stones being less valuable are thus categorized under the heading of semi-precious stones.
By examining works from this period, it is found that other words were used for precious stones, such as bīcāde, behremān, behremen, titiŋ, and yaķut for ruby; almās and elmās for diamond; and zümürrüd for emerald; and for semi-precious stones, words such as firūze for turquoise; kāhrübā, kehrābe, kehrubā, kehrübā, and kehrübā(y) for amber; ‘akįķ and‘aḳīḳ for agate, lāceverd for lapis lazuli; la‘l for garnet; ḫār, incü, inçi, inçü, lü’lü’, lülü, mōti, mürvāríd, subusun, üncü, ünçi, ünçü, yencü, yinçü, and yünçü for pearl; cada, cedde, şedde, yada, yede, and yeşm for jade (nephrite); zeberced for chrysolite; perpi for snake-stone; and mercān and sitük for coral. In addition, current research presents examples from couplets written about stones along with some information regarding the benefits and usage areas of stones within the sources.
