Divanü Lûgat-it-Türk'te Yer Şekillerine İlişkin Terimler

Vocabulary studies have an important role in the process of studying, analyzing any language. These studies are crucial for observing historical changes and developments of works and useful for obtaining comprehensive knowledge on a variety of issues such as culture, history, geography, economic and social structure of societies speaking that particular language. The very first written works of a language function as a guide in vocabulary studies since they cast a light on dark ages and lead the way to the present time. This study focuses on terms used for geographical formations on Divanü Lûgat-itTürk which is one of the essential resources of Turkish language. Divanü Lûgat-it-Türk, the first dictionary in Turkish Language, is an invaluable guide on several subjects such as Turkish language, culture and history and used as reference by researchers of different disciplines. As an encyclopedic dictionary, the work becomes even more important since it respects Turkish vocabulary before and on the eleventh century. This work of rich language material was translated by Besim Atalay (1943) and the index section of the translation lists 8783 vocabulary entries. The work has been discussed and reviewed in several aspects since the date of its translation. This article focuses on vocabulary entries on this work which are about geographical formations. The study started by scanning terms of geographical formations and it is discovered that there are 47 terms. These terms are provided with their meanings on the work and additional information, if any. These terms were analyzed etymologically and their stance in the historical background has been established. Finally, the terms studied were compared in terms of use in Divanü Lûgat-it-Türk and Turkish language spoken Turkey.