Abstract

The importance of tradition of oral literature is known among Turkish world. It is more apparent, especially beginning from Divanü Lûgat-it Türk, that is the oldest source among Turkish oral literature products ((koşuk, sav, sagu, epic). One of the most important elements of tradition of oral literature is proverbs. In a way, they are the reflection of a society’s feelings, thought, belief and cultural structure. By means of proverbs, it is possible to see how a society receives an event or a situation. They are short and concise expressions surviving until today after undergoing a process of a society’s thought and logic for ages. It is not known who they are said by or when they are said. For this reason, proverbs are common wealth of a society. There have been Turkic peoples that have been trying to exist with their oral literature more than their written literature. The most remarkable feature of these peoples are late existence of written language and the low number of people speaking it. Krimchak Turks are among these Turkic peoples. The first written products of these Jewish peoples generally consist of translation of religious texts. Only a limited number of oral literature products of this Turkish dialect that is about to disappear are recorded. The study focuses on Krimchak proverbs that are among these oral literature products.