Mental Verbs in Yunus Emre’s Diwan

Abstract

The ability to use language is one of the main indicators of mental development. As a means of communication, the distinction between noun and verb types of words, which are the most important and sufficient elements of the language on their own, can be mentioned. Although verbs have been classified in various ways by pointing out their concrete aspects, it can be said that the number of semantic classificationsrelated to verbsislow. Especially in the field of cognitive linguistics, it is seen that another classification is made for verbs that expresses mental, sensory and emotional processes through language, and the related verbs are generally called “mental” or “cognitive verbs”. Within the scope of mental verbs, the source of which is the mind, verbs expressing perception and explanations with sense organs as well as the activities as perception, understanding and thinking can be evaluated. Mental verbs do not express observable action, since what goes through one’s mind cannot be known from the outside. However, it is also possible to make inferences about what is thought or felt from some situations that are reflected in body movements. In this study, Diwan of Yunus Emre was scanned in terms of mental verbs; the identified verbs were examined under four headings as “sense verbs”, “emotional words”, “memory and cognition verbs” and “explanation verbs” by witnessing the lines in which they occur. It has been pointed out that some of these verbs can be included under more than one heading as they are polyseme. Through the determined verbs, it is aimed to make inferences about the perception, mind, emotion and expression world of the author and the Turks of this period through a religious/mystical work, and to evaluate the vocabulary of the Turkish language on the basis of mental processes. © 2023, Turk Dil Kurumu. All rights reserved.