A semiotic-based evaluation of classical Turkish literature’s ‘soz’ (word) perceptions

Abstract

The perception of the term 'söz' (word) in classical Turkish literature can be evaluated by semiotics. When looking at the works of classical Turkish literature writers and poets, we can say that to express a linguistic sign 'söz' (word) was used; for the term signified 'mana' (meaning) was used and for the term signifier 'lafz' (wording) was used. When we analyze the historical progress of this approach, we can see that 'söz' in classical Turkish literature was not perceived as a sign until the XVIIth century. In most cases 'söz' and 'lafz' concepts were interchangeable. 'Söz' began to be used as a sign systematically during the XVIth century. By the XVIIth century poets viewed 'söz' as a sign. When examining the "Divans", it can be seen that the usages of 'söz', 'lafz' and 'mana' were considerably increased in poems in the XVIIth century. For example, in Nef'î's Divan of approximately 4300 couplets, 'söz' is mentioned in 172 couplets while signifier 'lafz' is mentioned in 17 couplets and signified 'mana' in 236 couplets. These numbers are much higher than the ones in the ten divans of different centuries examined for this study. At this point, it is concluded that the poet Nef'î thinks a lot about the concepts of 'söz', 'lafz' and 'mana' as sign, signified and signifier. According to Nef'î, the indicator is the 'söz' and the intellectual concept dimension of the indicator should be based on the world of religious values of Islam. These values are also called 'mana'. 'Lafz' is the auditory code at this point, and without 'mana' the intellectual concept dimension of the sign 'lafz' has no meaning. Thus, we can say that the poet Nef'î in the XVIIth century expressed his thoughts similarly to Ferdinand de Saussure's thoughts, who lived in the XIXth century. Therefore the importance of the study should be evaluated in this respect.