TIME, FOLK CALENDER AND SPECIFIC DAYS IN TRABZON AREA

Specific days in the folk calenders usually reflect the memories of the nations. They transmit past experiences of a community to the present day. The source of folk calenders dates back to ancient times and they show differences according to a particular geography and the occupations of the dwellers. Founded in a rugged terrain, Trabzon and its surroundings have a quite original folk calender. Though they are based on Turkish calenders, heavy rains and people working in agriculture, animal breeding and seamanship in the region have added variety to the folk calender used in the region. In the region as in the other Turkish homelands, a day is divided into some parts. A week starts on the day when the nearest bazaar (open market) is set up. Kalandar, May s Yedisi (7th of May), Mart Dokuzu/Y ls rt (Nevruz) (9th of March,Year's backbone,Nawruz), Abrul Be i (5th of April), H d rellez (Old Turkish celebration of spring) are some of the most specific days coming from Turkish culture and celebrated annually. Seasons are sequenced as spring, summer, fall and winter. Until recently, inhabitants in Trabzon region have attached great importance to those momentous days inherited from their ancestors and regularly celebrated each with different social activities. However, they started to underestimate them in the last decades like the other similar customs dating from the past. Particularly, those living in the urban setting have been observed to forget those significant days in the folk calender. Data in this study were gathered from the inhabitants of the region living in the villages far from the city centers. While collecting data, especially words and expressions which are not present in Turkish dictionaries in addition to the legends (stories) were taken into account and analysed.