Milli Folklor, vol.2020, no.126, pp.175-183, 2020 (AHCI)
© 2020, Milli Folklor Dergisi. All rights reserved.Proverbs, defined as short, concise and smart words that our ancestors said as a result of their many years of experience, are one of the most important cultural heritage products reflecting the cultural values of every society. Proverbs are generally used as a metaphor and their meaning are indirect. However, when we think about the proverbs, we see that they have more meanings than their usages in daily life. A metaphorical proverb, which is normally used for a specific purpose, contains another meaning that has the same meaning as in real life. For instance, the proverb “the head of a fruity tree is inclined” refers to the fact that, although it is used to mean humbler as people mature, the branches hang down to the ground in real life because the trees have difficulty carrying the fruits. It is known that proverbs, especially about nature, mean both metaphorically and generally. Because they have taught how people should live in accordance with the nature by expressing the information they obtained as a result of observing nature carefully, based on many years. In this respect, proverbs are instructive. Throughout history, there are many proverbs on nature, because agriculture and farming were important in Turkish society. Inasmuch as it is very important to know when the rains will fall, how long the sunny days will last, how the functioning of nature, the time of grazing of animals in nature, and where the houses will be suitable will be known. For this reason, every society has proverbs where it describes the functioning nature of its own nature. In this respect, proverbs are national. Thus, every society has proverbs where it describes the functioning nature of its own nature. In this respect, proverbs are national. However, when these proverbs of national nature are compared with proverbs used by other nations, many of them appear to be similar or identical. In this respect, proverbs have universal values as well as national values. The proverbs, especially about nature, have many common features with other proverbs in the world. For this reason, the aim of this study is to compare the proverbs of Turkish and American natives on nature and to understand their perspective on nature. The method of the study is based on descriptive content analysis, which is one of the qualitative research methods. Content analysis in social sciences is a systematic examination of the information obtained from various documents in order to give a meaning from archives, documents, newspapers, etc. Descriptive analysis; the data obtained are summarized and interpreted under previously determined titles. According to the findings obtained as a result of the literature review and analysis of the data obtained through face to face interviews; It was observed that the American natives considered themselves a part of nature, they all consisted of a single holy spirit, believed that when they harm nature, they would be sick and that everyone was brothers. At the same time, it was understood that their words were not short and expressive words, they were long and explanatory words and were said by tribal chiefs. In this respect, rather than proverbs, they are terse words. Compared to Turkish proverbs, some proverbs were similar, but few were exactly the same.