Pragmatic functions of questions in the old Anatolian Turkish

In the first chapter of the research, researcher talks about the significance of Old Anatolian Turkish period, language features and valuable works of literature. Pragmatics is explained through its worthy hypothesis and Speech Act is exclusively studied. After that, definitions of question categories are lined up, explanations of questions taken from variable resources are given to provide the form to be used in the second chapter of the work. In the second chapter, the questions in Old Anatolian Turkish are investigated according to Speech Act. This questions are acquired through the works of that period Süheyl ü Nevbahâr, Yûsuf u Zelîhâ, Dede Korkut Hikâyeleri, Yunus Emre Divanı, Kıssa-i Yûsuf, Risâletü?n-Nushiyye ve Har-Nâme which have both cultural and literary importance. These questions are divided into two basic heading as ?Actual Questions? and ?Rhetorical Questions?. The questions to which awaits ?information? from a hearer are actual questions; the questions that are asked to promote thinking are rhetorical questions. Rhetorical questions evaluated as directive sentences taking Searle?s speech act as a base. Considering the acts they achieve, 18 acts are identified 13 of which are main titles. Researcher mentions which act is more related to Searle? a illocution act. As a research method each couplet/line is showed clearly as a means of their page numbers in the works. In order to clarity the acts that questions accomplish, context is explained briefly in the end of each sentence. In the resulting chapter of the research quantitative data is revealed. Frequency of the acts is surfaced with the help of quantitative data; a brief evolution is related to frequency of the acts in the works that are used. Key Words 1. Pragmatics 2. Old Anatolian Turkish 3. Speech Act 4. Question 5. Rhetorical Questions