Bartha Júlia: Lâle. Hagyományok a mai török társadalomban, az emberélet fordulóinak népszokásai – Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 61. (2005)

In Turkey, the "new" western culture - the influence of the European Union - and the roots of the "old" nomad culture meets in the people's lives. The magic of the old traditions that are built on popular belief can be found mostly in the villages. This book presents the customs, data, forms of fertility-sorcery connected to pregnancy as well as pregnancy-predictions and practices of making child-bearing easier. Special attention is paid to the customs of name-giving. The Turkish have a family name (surname) only from 1934, when a law made it obligatory. It was due to the large number of people with the same names and also to the introduction of Europeanstyle reforms. The new surnames were usually taken from the tribal background or were describing the person's job or geographical origin as well as people often chose a name referring to a hoped-for good characteristic. II. Wedding customs In human lifetime wedding is an outstanding event since it aims at the procreation of children. The line of traditions in the rite is such that each sign advances toward unity. If we take into consideration the different forms of choosing a partner, it is still general that the parents decide about the marriage even if the young people mutually like - but do not perfectly know - each other. They can be better acquainted after the wedding and the wedding night, but the taboos are so big that sometimes even a lifetime is not enough to get to know each other well. The wedding itself is not finished until the showing-up of the bed-sheet or firing of guns or even breaking of a jar. All these rites help the person to leave his previous lifestyle and start a new one. Regarding marriage, apart from its sexual dimension, we have to consider its economic background. Forms of marrying two people Cradle-engagement This form of archaic match-making (besik kertme) can also be found in Turkey. The kertme is a sign by which the parents promise to marry their children when they grow up. It was a general custom 160