Turkish improvised lament songs, also known as 'Ağıt', have a rich history within Turkish oral poetry. All the way from complete improvisation during a funeral to full standardization within...Show moreTurkish improvised lament songs, also known as 'Ağıt', have a rich history within Turkish oral poetry. All the way from complete improvisation during a funeral to full standardization within popular music, Ağıt are found everywhere within Turkish culture. By using a musicolinguistic and semiotic approach this thesis uncovers the formal structures that lie beneath the improvised lament songs.Show less
This thesis questions whether dangling topics, also often called ''Chinese-style'' topics really only occur in Chinese. This is done by investigating Chinese (from mainland China and Taiwan),...Show moreThis thesis questions whether dangling topics, also often called ''Chinese-style'' topics really only occur in Chinese. This is done by investigating Chinese (from mainland China and Taiwan), Japanese, Turkish and Dutch. The results show that dangling topics in Chinese are only possible to a certain extent. Moreover, they are also acceptable in other languages (although mostly in marginal contexts).Show less
This thesis is about cultural transformation through migration between the Turkish district of Emirdağ and the diaspora in Belgium. In this research, the poems from Emirdağ and the poems from the...Show moreThis thesis is about cultural transformation through migration between the Turkish district of Emirdağ and the diaspora in Belgium. In this research, the poems from Emirdağ and the poems from the diaspora were analyzed using the qualitative research method narrative analysis. In the analysis, the reflection of cultural transformation through migration in Emirdağ's poetry has been observed. The results provide an insight into the migration culture and the outcomes of socio-cultural and economic transnationalism.Show less
Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
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Starting with his first translation in 1976, Allen Ginsberg has been popular among Turkish readers, and since then many young Turkish poets have considered him and his poetry a great influence....Show moreStarting with his first translation in 1976, Allen Ginsberg has been popular among Turkish readers, and since then many young Turkish poets have considered him and his poetry a great influence. Though his poetry has been translated by different publishing houses in different periods, Ginsberg’s recognition has increased in the early 90s with the establishment of the 6:45 publishing house, which started as an underground press with a particular focus on the Beat Generation writers. In this thesis, I will examine the 1976, 1991 and 2008 translations of "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg as published by different publishing houses, and the tripartite relation between the domestication of the source text, the aim of the translator and the perception of the poet by the reader as the text is manipulated by the translation.Show less
The current thesis aims to investigate the set of factors operative in gender assignment process in Greek-Turkish nominal constructions, that is in code-switching where Greek determiners (gendered)...Show moreThe current thesis aims to investigate the set of factors operative in gender assignment process in Greek-Turkish nominal constructions, that is in code-switching where Greek determiners (gendered) and Turkish nouns (non-gendered) are combined together. MacSwan (2005) using the Minimalist Program (Chomsky, 1995) suggests that in determiner-noun code-switches determiners can only stem from the gendered language, since it encodes the largest amount of uninterpretable features compared to the non-gendered language it interacts with, while nouns as non-function words might as well originate in the non-gendered language. Likewise, Matrix Language Frame was proposed by Myers-Scotton (1993b) in an attempt to set up a theoretical framework within which insertional CS production occurs and is framed by constraints. The latter theory posits that in bilingual speech only on language is dominant, the Matrix Language, while other-language constituents stem from the Embedded Language(s). Bilingual NP Hypothesis complementing MLF model suggests that system morphemes can only stem from the Matrix Language. As opposed to system morphemes, content morphemes may be lexical items from the Embedded Language. In either way, Matrix language accounts for the morpho-syntactic frame in bilingual speech. This results in DPs where Matrix Language, that is Greek, is responsible for determiner. Drawing on the abovementioned frameworks, a 20-person sample of Greek Turkish bilinguals were called to participate in the Director-Matcher task. Through this controlled elicitation and artificial technique Greek-Turkish bilinguals were instructed in such a way that they were prompted to use Turkish nouns within Greek phrases and sentences. Except for the Director-Matcher task, the same subjects were asked to reply to an online linguistic questionnaire where they had to answer crucial for this research questions as well as to evaluate their language skills. The results from the Director-Matcher task indicate that Greek-Turkish bilinguals in Western Thrace use neuter as default, while phonological and analogical factors play no role in gender assignment to Turkish nouns. Significantly enough, the persistent use of neuter in the data points to that, despite the perpetual affiliation of Greek and Turkish among the bilinguals in Western Thrace, they treat Turkish nouns as foreign. This study shows that this is true even for the bilingual system of individuals who are members of a community that has been bilingual for a century. Furthermore, the prevalence of neuter as default gender in Greek-Turkish nominal constructions proves the claim that the criterion determining the factors based on which grammatical gender is assigned to the nouns depends on the language pair under study. Another essential issue which drew my attention while transcribing the data I recorded is the absence of articles (definite or indefinite) in several data points (n=124). It is necessary to highlight that these occurrences do not adhere to the rules of Greek syntax and as, a result, violate the grammaticality of the Greek language system. Last but not least, this study confirms that neuter is the default gender in Greek.Show less
This thesis reports on a quantitative and qualitative study on the introduction of new words by means of different translation methods in three languages, namely Dutch, Russian and Turkish, aimed...Show moreThis thesis reports on a quantitative and qualitative study on the introduction of new words by means of different translation methods in three languages, namely Dutch, Russian and Turkish, aimed at identifying different processes and their possible motivations. With the help of a database consisting of 179 original English terms and their respective counterparts in Dutch, Russian and Turkish, a quantitative and qualitative analysis has been carried out in order to identify the different translation processes and word formation patterns. As a result of this study I found that different factors can influence the behavior of a language with regard to the creation of terminology. First of all, the available word formation strategies of the language grammar and semantics are of importance; how many ways there are for a language to create new words. Second, the relation and similarities in grammar, semantics and pronunciation between the original language and the target language. Third, the sociolinguistic aspect regarding the attitude of language users on foreign (lexical) influence.Show less
This study was designed to test mediation and moderation models between sense of general or ethnic discrimination, psychological distress, and behavioral problems. The sample consisted of 68 first-...Show moreThis study was designed to test mediation and moderation models between sense of general or ethnic discrimination, psychological distress, and behavioral problems. The sample consisted of 68 first- and second generation Turkish-Dutch mothers and their 11- to 13- year old adolescent children. Sense of general or ethnic discrimination and psychological distress was measured by questionnaires filled out by the adolescents. A questionnaire about the child’s behavioral problems was filled out by mother. It was found that young adolescents who perceived that they were being discriminated against also reported more psychological distress. Mothers of adolescents with more psychological distress reported more behavioral problems. An indirect effect between sense of general discrimination and behavioral problems, via the mediator psychological distress was found. No direct relation between sense of general discrimination and behavioral problems was found and no moderating role of psychological distress was found in the relation between discrimination and behavioral problems. Our study with third generation adolescents contributes to the information that was already available about sense of discrimination, psychological distress and behavioral problems in first- and second- generation adolescents, making it possible to compare between different generations.Show less
The social integration of the Turkish immigrant population is an important topic in the ongoing public debate in the Netherlands and other western European countries. This research aimed to...Show moreThe social integration of the Turkish immigrant population is an important topic in the ongoing public debate in the Netherlands and other western European countries. This research aimed to investigate the way school attitude and acculturation of Turkish parents influences their children’s school attitude, school performances and acculturation. The socioeconomic status (SES) of the family was used as a covariate. The sample consisted of 53 families with children in the eighth grade of Dutch primary school (the year before the transition to secondary school) . During, and prior to a home visit the father, mother and the child filled in a questionnaire. The degree of acculturation was measured by two items of the Acculturation Questionnaire –Short Form. The mother’s school attitude was measured by two items that were developed by researchers who took part in the project De Volgende Stap. In addition, four items were taken from a questionnaire of The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, to measure the school attitude of the child. School performances were reflected by the teacher’s secondary school advice for the child. The hypotheses were that the parent variables would be positively related to the child variables and that the children with a higher degree of acculturation and more positive school attitudes would perform better at school. Positive correlations were found between the acculturation of the mother and the acculturation and school performances of the child. However, these relations were no longer significant after the SES variable was added as a covariate. An SES indicator, the annual family income, was related to the child’s school performances: on average, children from families with a high, annual income perform better at school. The SES turned out to be the underlying, explanatory variable in the relation between parent variables and the child’s school performances.Show less
