Atem Tutem Men Seni (Lullaby)

Atem Tutem Men Seni is a traditional lullaby found within Turkish oral culture. Considered one of the earliest forms of verbal communication between mother and child, this piece has been transmitted orally from generation to generation and later transcribed and notated through collection and documentation efforts.

Type and Form

Atem Tutem Men Seni, while functioning as a lullaby, is classified in the TRT Notation Archive under Turkish Folk Music as a türkü. Its musical structure is recorded as a broken melody. Thus, it is included in the repertoire both as an oral cultural product and as a documented folk tune.

Visual Inspired by the Lullaby (Generated by Artificial Intelligence.)

Text (Lyrics)^【1】

The lyrics of the lullaby as recorded in collections and publications are as follows:

Atem tutem men seni
Şekere gatem men seni
Akşam baben gelende oy
Ogüne atem men seni

Hop hopun olsun oğlum
Gül topun olsun oğlum
Sıralı gavak dibinde oy
Toyluğun olsun oğlum

Atem tutem men seni
Şekere gatem men seni
Akşam baben gelende oy
Ogüne atem men seni

Ev süpüre toz ede
Hemama gider naz ede
El ayağı kir içinde
Yıkamam diye naz ede

Atem tutem men seni
Şekere gatem men seni
Akşam baben gelende oy
Ogüne atem men seni

Visual Inspired by the Lullaby (Generated by Artificial Intelligence.)

Linguistic and Structural Features

The lullaby text is constructed with recurring lines and short sentence structures. The repetitions in the text serve as essential elements that ensure continuity during oral performance. Word choice and line construction reflect a structure consistent with the tradition of oral transmission.

Geographical Origin and Collection Information

According to TRT Notation Archive records, the regional origin of the lullaby Atem Tutem Men Seni is identified as Bitlis. The source informant is Nazire Subaşı, the collector is Hüsamettin Subaşı, and the person who notated the melody is Ateş Köyoğlu. In the repertoire records, the piece is listed under number 1443.^【2】