Abstract
UPON SOME MINING TERMS USED BY MINING WORKERS IN COAL MINES IN ZONGULDAK
Zonguldak, identified with the expressions such as the land of Black Diamond and the capital city of labor, has an important place among Turkey's mineral deposits with its rich coal deposits. Along with the discovery of coal and the development of mining, the city has developed itself by keeping up with this development. Together with the foreign companies’ start of mining operations in the early days when coal was found, the city also met foreign culture and languages. In the second half of the XIVth century, the Ottoman State was in a difficult situation and foreign debts could not be paid, and as a consequence the State had to either hire or left coal mines to foreign companies to operate. During this period, it is seen that Greek, Armenian, British companies took over and run coal mines in Zonguldak basin with the company names such as Zafiropoulo, Giurgiu Company, Kurci, Kurtidi, Yorgi Ferry Company, Karamanyan Company and Rombaki Company. The names given to these companies and the mines were then given to various places in the basin especially to the mosques, streets, neighborhoods, and the districts where coal seams were found. From this point of view, it is possible to determine that the foreign cultures and languages that came to the region are transformed into permanent cultural elements as names in certain places within the city. It is also seen that these companies have opened their own businesses with their own names and they used the mining tools they had brought from London with their brand names. Because the coal workers who were called "operatives" had difficulty in pronunciation of the names of these tools, they articulated the names by adapting to their own language or the dialect spoken at the region and by this way different mining terms were formed among the workers. Throughout the study, workers in the Karadon mine located in the town of Kilimli, mining technicians and mining engineers, workers and engineers working at the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises (TTK) training camp located in Üzülmez district and the former miners in Karadere village of Asmacı neighborhood of Beycuma district and some villagers of Kozlu district of Zonguldak were interviewed face to face.
Keywords
Zonguldak, Coal Mines, Mining Terminology, Coal Mine Workers.