Textual Analysis

Анализа текстова

Analiza tekstova

Aggregate Statistics

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General Summary

Overall, rather unsurprisingly, the majority of the words in these poems are of Slavic origin. This was to be expected since Bosnian is a Slavic language. The number of words of Turkic origin coming in second for this is also very expected due to the Turkic influence on this genre of music, and Bosnian culture in the time not only of the birth of the song and poetic culture but also throughout a large part of Bosnian cultural heritage.

The number of words of other linguistic origin is very low by comparison, as these words likely come due to the natural feature of languages, namely that speakers of one language, in contact with people of another language and culture, adopt words of other linguistic origin over time.

The next steps of a project examining the use of words of Turkic origin on Sevdah necessitate a study in the use of words of Turkic origin in prose work as well as non-Sevdah poetry, especially from the era of Ottoman occupation of Bosnia. With a study examining this, it is possible to see whether the use of words of Turkic origin does actually stand out in Sevdah as a genre. It still seems that the use of words of Turkic origin are a major part of Sevdah as a genre, as they call back to this time of Ottoman occupation. While this time may not be a time filled with peaceful and joyful memories, either personally or culturally, there may be another cultural reason for a nostalgic literary interest in the Ottoman time period, either religiously or for some other reason.

Statistics by Poet / Performer

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Analysis of Statistics by Poet / Performer

Firstly, it is important to consider the small sample size in the scope of this project. With only ten poems being examined, it is not possible to make overarching statements which are very reliable. For this reason, this analysis may not be as accurate in considering other texts, at least until more poems are examined in this project.

There are two poets / performers who stand out in their use of words of Turkic origin. These are Himzo Polovina and Aleksa Šantić. As Aleksa Šantić is held up as one of the paragons of Sevdah poetry and music, it can be inferred that either words of Turkic origin can signal a song as being considered a Sevdah song of high level or that words of Turkic origin are not considered at all, since if use of words of Turkic origin would show a song to either be not part of the Sevdah genre or marks a song as not being as good in reference to aesthetic beauty, Aleksa Šantić would not be held up in this way.

Making such a strong statement about Himzo Polovina is more difficult, as only two songs of his are examined, as opposed to the three works of Aleksa Šantić which are examined here. In order to make any overarching statements about Himzo Polovina and his status as a Sevdah performer in relation to the usage of words of Turkic origin in his work, more songs must be examined.

Specific Words of Interest

MIRIS / MИРИС : Some word for „aroma“ is very needed throughout these poems, especially due to the common descriptions of flowers and gardens typical of Ottoman Bosnia. This word is of Greek origin, coming from the Ancient Greek “μύρον“ which refers to a sweet scented oil.

RUŽA / РУЖА : This word comes from the Latin “rosa” which came from the Ancient Greek “ῥοδόν,” referring to the “rose.” For this project, since it comes through Latin, and the spelling is more related to the Latin, than its Ancient Greek predecessor, I considered this word to be solely of Latin origin.