Have you ever used the word epitaph in your essays or assignments? The word epitaph simply means an inscription on a monument or tombstone in memory of the person who is buried there. The word epitaph also refers to a brief statement of commemoration for a dead person.
The word is probably from the 12th century Medieval Latin word “epitaphium“. The initial “epi” indicates “at” o “over”, and the following “taph” means “tomb”, “burial”, or “funeral”. Therefore, the word epitaph literally means “inscription” on a monument or a tomb. In Turkish, the word “epitaph” is “yazıt” (literally: motto, legend, tablet) or “kitabe” (literally: writing, tablet, inscription). Here are some examples in English and Turkish.
English:
- The old man told me that he wanted these lines as his epitaph.
- They closed the grave with a heavy stone until a slab was ready which Ambrosio said he meant to have prepared, with an epitaph which was to be to this effect: … (GutenbergBooks – Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra)
- He wrote his own epitaph: Hey Human, I was once alive just the same as you’re alive now. I am now just a piece of writing. And yet probably worthier.
- Confusion will be my epitaph. As I crawl a cracked and broken path. (from the song Epitaph by King Crimson)
Turkish:
- Kitabeler önemli tarih malzemeleridir, ancak onlardan yeterince yaralanamıyoruz.
- Yazıtlar genelde anıtsal bir eserin üzerine bilgilendirme ve tanıtım amaçlı yazılardır.
- Yenisey kitabelerinin üzerinde herhangi bir tarih yoktur.
- Genellikle mezar taşı olarak dikilen bu yazıtların bazıları birkaç kelimelik, çoğu beş ya da on satırlıktır.