Osman TÜRK

Language, which is one of the important elements of culture, reflects the truths of society on the one hand and ensures the re-formation and continuation of culture on the other. Language is among the most important transmitting elements of the knowledge and experience gained from the past to the present. From oral culture to written culture, national and social beings, which are the subjects of research in many aspects such as history, literature, philosophy, folklore, sociology, psychology and morality, are very important language structures in terms of expression power and concept richness. Proverbs, like the mirror of the context in which they come from, have survived for centuries, albeit in connection with changes and transformations. It is possible to speak of an experience where human beings exist and a cultural phenomenon where human beings exist. Language, which serves as an important bridge in spreading this experience and cultural values and transferring it to the next generations, reveals some gains in terms of human history. Proverbs is a literary concept which contains all the features of cultural geography and national values and shows diversity in terms of meanings. Proverbs are stereotyped legacies that are the identity of a nation. These witnesses, the product of thousands of years and experience, are witnesses of our history and ancestors. These expressions, which are one of the important elements of our cultural life, have been experienced sometimes from a phenomenon, sometimes from a story and sometimes independent of all these. The study of proverbs in general is to determine the place of certain animals in our history in particular. These; At, Aslan-Arslan and Camel concepts will be discussed. In this study, the animals used in our proverbs and their meanings are evaluated alphabetically by using TDK Proverbs and Idioms Dictionary and Ömer Asım Aksoy's Proverbs and Idioms Dictionary.

Key words: Proverb, Literature, Turkish culture, social-cultural values