PROVERBS AND IDIOMS AMONG TURKS IN NORTH MACEDONIA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS WITH KOSOVO AND TURKISH VARIANTS
PROVERBS AND IDIOMS AMONG TURKS IN NORTH MACEDONIA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS WITH KOSOVO AND TURKISH VARIANTS

Summary/Abstract: The present study compiled the oral cultural products of Turks living in North Macedonia. This research was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), Scientist Support Programs Presidency. The study aimed to collect and record oral folkloric materials. For this purpose, interviews were conducted with Turks residing in various regions of North Macedonia. Approval for these interviews was obtained from the Research and Publication Ethics Committee of International Vizyon University, in accordance with the decision dated 24.10.2020. During the interviews, 54 informants were asked to perform manias and folk songs. In addition, idioms and proverbs that emerged during their speech were also recorded. In this way, proverbs and idioms were compiled from the Turks living in the city of Gostivar in the Republic of North Macedonia. Previous studies and compilation works on the subject were also examined. According to our findings, the 9 proverbs and 17 idioms compiled in this study had not been previously documented. Thus, a total of 26 oral cultural products are being published for the first time with this research. These proverbs and idioms were compared with their counterparts in Kosovo and Turkey. To identify the Kosovo variants, relevant literature was reviewed, and interviews were conducted with Turks living in Kosovo. Approval for these interviews was obtained from the Research and Publication Ethics Committee of Ukshin Hoti Prizren University, in line with the decision dated 30.12.2022. As a result of the comparative analysis, it was determined that only 1 of the 9 proverbs compiled from the Republic of North Macedonia was also used by Turks living in the Republic of Kosovo, whereas 8 of them were found to be in use among Turks in Turkey. Similarly, only 6 of the 17 idioms recorded in North Macedonia were found among Turks in Kosovo, while 5 were identified among Turks in Turkey. These findings challenge the prevailing assumption that Turks in North Macedonia predominantly adopt their proverbs and idioms from Turkey, mainly due to exposure to Turkish television channels and y, the results demonstrate that linguistic and cultural differences among the Turks in these regions continue to persist.

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