Learning about 'Family Relations' in Turkey through Proverbs

In Turkey, the family unit is regarded as the cornerstone of a healthy and balanced society. Family relations exhibited in Turkish proverbs deal with several aspects of married life and the persons making part of it. These include the functions of Husband and Wife, Mother, Father, Grandparents, Children, Grandchildren, and even In-laws and their relations with one another. Traditional values on Turkish family life based on Islamic moral standards have been upheld throughout generations by proverbs in this part of the world. While proverbs based on Qur'anic and prophetic teaching provide "advice," "warning," on one side, many mundane proverbs presenting "observations and justifications based on popular wisdom and personal experiences" teach morals in a unique format on the other. In this study, where only a sampling of 100 Turkish family proverbs are selected, such universal clichés as "Marriage is a lottery," "The apple does not fall from its bottom," "Like mother like daughter," and "As the twig is bent, the tree is inclined" have been omitted as they exist in almost all cultures literally, and the unique Anatolian proverbs have been emphasized to give special regional flavor with a familiar tone to all.