Turkish-Mongolian words in Kolliyat-e Shams

Amongst the works of Persian poets, Mawlana’s ghazaliyat (lyrics) are, in addition to their many other aspects, unique in terms of the kind of the words used in them. The extent of Mawlana’s lexicon is in direct proportion with the extent of the motifs and themes of his poetry. His fluid mind, just as it is often active in creating novel ideas, hardly confines itself to the narrow circle of conventional stock words, fresh experiences in ideas and rhythms automatically filling his speech with new simple words as well as compounds and phrasal combinations. A number of words in Mawlana’s poetry are Turkish-Mongolian. Of these some have come to him from the linguistic literary legacy of Khorasani folks, and some others have entered his verses as a result of his stay in Konya and close association with Turkish speakers. Exploring the number of these two groups of words and identifying and differentiating them is in itself useful, including the understanding of Mawlana’s nature of inclination to Turkish and the degree of the impact on his poetry of the language and speech of those around him. Studies show that this topic has so far not been addressed as properly as it should, and that the definitions suggested by some of Mawlana’s commentators for a group of such lexical items are to be doubted. In the present article, while presenting kinds of the Turkish-Mongolian words in gazaliyat-e Shams and the sort of changes Mawlana has made in them, the writers address the meanings of those words that had been used in Persian prose and poetry before Mawlana. Besides underlining the extent of the poet’s vocabulary, this study could play its part in assisting readers and researchers to further understand the language of Mawlana’s poetry.