Azernews.Az

Laman Ismayilova

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By decision of the Academic Council of the Folklore Institute of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), the book "Azerbaijani Turkic Proverbs" has been published, Azernews reports.

The volume, compiled by Doctor of Philological Sciences Jalal Baydili, is presented as a substantial scholarly work that systematically organizes the centuries-old legacy of Azerbaijani folk wisdom on firm academic and methodological grounds.

In the foreword titled "Life Lessons Resembling the Words of Saints", authored by Jalal Baydili, the philosophical and scientific foundations of the book are explored.

The author emphasizes that proverbs represent the highest expression of folk wisdom, noting that they are not merely metaphorical and figurative elements of popular speech, but also concise formulations of moral, philosophical, and life experience, comparable to the revered "words of saints."

The collection examines the historical roots and developmental trajectory of Azerbaijani Turkic proverbs. Bringing together examples drawn from numerous sources, including classical texts such as "The Book of Dede Korkut", "Oghuzname", and "Amsal-i Turkana", alongside expressions preserved in living folk speech—the book allows readers to trace the semantic, stylistic, and functional transformations of paremias over the centuries.

This approach clearly reveals the close connection of proverbs with national modes of thought, mythological concepts, and early forms of worldview.

Arranged according to the alphabetical principle, the collection primarily focuses on examples that reflect the pure layers of folk creativity, while expressions that bear a strong imprint of written literature are included only sparingly. The preservation of archaic words and dialectal features in a number of proverbs further enhances the scholarly value of the publication for historical linguistics and paremiological research.

It is worth noting that the earliest recorded examples of Azerbaijani Turkic proverbs appear in "The Book of Dede Korkut" and "Oghuzname".

At the end of the 19th century, the collection of proverbs published in Tbilisi in the SMOMPK journal, along with nearly 750 examples issued by Mohammad Vali Gamarly in 1899, marked major early milestones in this field.

In 1926, more thematically organized publications were released by Hanafi Zeynalli and Abulgasim Huseynzade, and in 2004, "Proverbs" was published in Latin script with a print run of 25,000 copies.

The book "Azerbaijani Turkic Proverbs" draws attention as a reliable scholarly source that synthesizes more than a century of collection and publication efforts in the field of Azerbaijani paremiology.

Beyond its importance for preserving and transmitting folk wisdom to future generations, the work stands as a fundamental academic contribution to folklore studies, linguistics, and cultural history, serving the study of the nation’s moral and spiritual heritage.

Published by Elm və Təhsil Publishing House, the editor of "Azerbaijani Turkic Proverbs" is Hikmat Guliyev, Director of the ANAS's Folklore Institute and Doctor of Philological Sciences.