Dialects of Balikesir (analysis-texts-vocabulary)

Balikesir Local Dialect is in the I. Subdialect Group of ,the West Group of Turkey Turkish Major Dialect Groups. In addition to Turkmen, Cepni, Manav and Yoruk immigrant dialects, there are 4 major dialect groups in Balikesir. Turkmen dialect is close to Cepni dialect and Manav dialect is close to Yoruk dialect when examined according to their phonology and morphology.Among these four communities, the community which hasn?t lost its clan name until today is Cepnies. Although there are different opinions on the roots of Turkmens who also known as ?Tahtaci?, it has been thought as they are from Oguz clans who came Anatolia at 13th century. Manavlar should be the general name of one of the Turk communities who first become a settled civilization after nomadism. Yorukler is the community who continues nomadism until recent times, more than a clan name, living with the name of tribe or horde and who has the most intensive dialect dissimilarities.Although there are similarities between dialect groups, there are also dissimilar points.Concerning dialect phonology, back semi-vowels ó, ú in mouth region and guttural?s ?, ? are common in Cepni dialect. palatal?s ñ is seen densely in the whole mouth.Part of consonants k ant t at the sentence beginning in Old Turkish period are preserved in Manav and Yoruk dialects.Concerning morphology, ?-yoru? and ?-I4p batır? forms used in present tense and vowels extension which is a negation particle are seen only in Yoruk dialect. Again ??n, ?m; m?n? forms used in present tense are seen in Manav villages connected to Dursunbey, Bigadiç, Sındırgı districts.Regarding the future tense, -lcl future tense affix, which is seen commonly in Cukurova and its territory, encountered only in Cepni dialect. A distinctive situation in Manav and Yoruk dialects is the addition of tense affix to the verbal stems as in a front form.Another distinctive feature between dialect groups is the usage of personel endings. While ?m affix is always used as singular 1. personel ending in Turkmen and Cepni dialects; -n is used frequently in Manav and Yoruk dialects. These features are considered in detail in the dialect analysis section of the thesis.Dialects of Balikesir province exhibit similarities with other distant dialects in addition to similarities with other dialects in Western Anatolia. Similarities among Cepni dialect, Center Anatolia and Cukurova territory can be given as examples of this subject.Key Words1. Balikesir2. Dialects3.Turkomans4. Yoruks5. Cepni