More about turkish: planets and zodiac signs

[Jorge Stolfi <stolfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi there,

In answer to a query of mine posted to soc.culture.turkish, 
Yusuf B. Gursey <ybg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> kindly provided 
transliteration and translation of the labels on this
Turkish Ptolemaic system diagram:

  http://www.dcc.unicamp.br/~stolfi/temp/turkish-ms-dgm.jpg

Here is a summary of his responses, liberally 
rearranged and reformatted (my interpolations in []):

    > the diagram has the earth at the center. [I] can't see it
    > mentioned by name [which would be] "arz" (arabic "'arD").
    > nowadays people would be more familiar with "dünya" (also
    > of arabic origin but meaning "world" ratehr than earth).
    > a native word would be "yer" or "yeryüzü".

    > [then, outwards from the center, we see] the arabic names
    > of the ptolemaic "planets (inc. sun & moon)", sometimes
    > saying "sphere of".
    
    >   qamer              moon
    >   utarid             mercury
    >   zuhre              venus
    >   $ems               sun
    >   felek-i merix      sphere of mars
    >   felek-i mü$teri    sphere of jupiter
    >   felek-i zuhal      sphere of saturn
    
    > [Then there is a circular band, divided into 12 segments.
    > The segment at 12:00 says]
    > "felek-i sevabit-i cedi" [meaning] 
    > sphere of the fixed {stars} of aries
    
    > [The following 11 sectors, in counterclockwise order,
    > contain] the signs of the zodiac (no definite article on
    > the arabic names though):
    > 
    >   delv            aquarius ( "bucket")
    >   hut             pisces ("whale")
    >   hamel           aries
    >   sevr            taurus
    >   cevza           gemini ("twins")
    >   seratan         cancer
    >   esed            leo
    >   sünbüle         virgo ("ear of wheat")
    >   mizan           libra ("scales")
    >   `aqreb          scorpio
    >   qavis           sagitarius ("the bow")
    >
    > [The last sign is at 12:00, alone in the next outer 
    > circular band:] 
    >
    >   "felekül'eflâk" (arabic "falakul'afla:k")
    >   [meaning] "sphere of Capricorn"

    > apparent solar motion is to the left. all constellations
    > have the same meanings in arabic as in latin, except when
    > indicated.
    
    > ["$" denotes s-cedilla, pronounced "sh"]

    > arabic has only three primary vowel qualities [a,i,u] and
    > two lengths. for turkish [which has 8 vowels] one can
    > guess the vowel quality - whether it is back or front -
    > from the consonantal background - but this doesn't work
    > for all.
    
    > in words of arabic origin only arabic long vowels are
    > indicated. in turkish words, [vowels are indicated]
    > particularly in the first syllable or at the very end of
    > the word.

    > modern turkish has k for q and n for n~ and h for x
    > (sounds present in turkish or turkish dialects but not
    > distinguished in the present script)
    
    > the `ayn sound [used in "`aqreb" = Scorpio] never entered
    > the turkish language. when non-initial, it is pronounced
    > as a glottal stop or slight hiatus in educated speech.
    > [The name of Scorpio] is written today as "akrep", the
    > word is commonly used.
    
    > [the "'" in "felekül'eflâk" is] the hamza or glottal stop,
    > it is indicated as a sign over the alif.

For whatever it is worth...

All the best,

--stolfi

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