The word “balık” is a word that in Turkish language that is referenced since the Orkhon Monuments to today, although in ancient texts it meant “city”. In the historical flow of the Turkish language, "balık" gradually meant "that lives in water, breathes via gills" in the texts of Chagatay, Kharezm, Mamelouk, and Kiphchak Turkish eras. In most of the Turkish dialects, including the Turkmen Turkish, "balık" means fish. Contrary to Turkey, Turkmenistan do not have sea access, yet borders Khazar, “Caspian Sea”, which is called sea in the literature. Turkmenistan, of which Karakum Desert occupies one quarter, utilizes the limited water resources to full extent. Turkmenistan’s fishery lexicon has been collected and published by Memeddurdı Sarihanov (Ashgabat 1993); fish has a certain place in the Turkmen folklore and literature. In this study one can find the Turkmen Turkish fish names, names for the parts of the fish, names for the fishing tools, and aphorisms, riddles, and legends concerning fish, as well as recent developments in fishing industry of current Turkmenistan.

Anahtar Kelimeler
Turkmen Turkish, Turkmen folk literature, fish, fishery lexicon.