INTRODUCTION. 15 
a word which may happen to rhyme with the name 
of any particular flower or fruit, and then filling up 
the given rhyme with some fanciful phrase corres- 
ponding with its signification. The language there- 
fore consists not of individual words, but of whole 
phrases ; and a flower or fruit expresses an idea 
suggested by the word with which its name happens 
to rhyme. Thus, for instance, the word Armonde 
(Pear) rhymes among other words with Omonde 
(hope) ; and this rhyme is filled up as follows : — 
" Armonde — Wer bana bir Omonde ;" (Pear — Let 
me not despair.) 
The Turkish dialect, being rich in rhymes, pre- 
sents a multitude of words corresponding in sound 
with the names of flowers, or any other objects that 
may be selected ; but these rhymes are not all ad- 
mitted into the language of flowers, and the 
knowledge of this language consists in being ac- 
quainted with the proper rhyme. The vocabulary 
is not extensive, for the whole language scarcely 
exceeds a hundred signs and phrases. The cele- 
brated orientalist, Mr. Von Hammer, collected from 
the Greek and Armenian women who are permitted 
to visit the harems, many of the phrases of this 
