Öz
Formula tales are narratives with their own characteristics that are included in Stith Thompson’s tale classification, after animal tales, real folk tales and humorous stories, between the numbers 2000-2399. When compared with other tales, studies on formula tales are very few. The reason for the limited studies on formula tales is that these tale examples are less than other tales. However, the lack of various examples of such tales in very different forms and contents is one of the reasons explaining the scarcity of studies on this subject. Formula tales attract attention with their structural features based on a formula when compared to other tales in the tradition. This formula is obtained by combining the events and persons of the fairy tale together with chain dialogue and repetitions. In such tales, what is important is not the content, but the way events are expressed. Therefore, the main thing in formula tales is not what is told, but the way of expression. Therefore, the ability of the formula tale teller to use language and the strength of his memory are important. Formula tales that are constructed not to reveal any idea, but to improve the memory, language and expression skills of the tale listener have the function of revealing the memory powers and language skills of adults, as well as being effective in providing the mental development, improving language and speaking skills of children. Whether it is a child or an adult, the most comprehensive function of formula tales for both the listener and the narrator is the fun and entertainment function. When formula tales are examined, it is revealed that they are structurally similar to rhymes, especially to children’s rhymes. When we look at the structure of such fairy tales, it is seen that the events are connected to each other in a chain way, progress in the form of dialogues and the “repetition” element attracts attention. With these features, it is seen that the formula tales are similar to the “rhymes” in the “tongue twister or nursery rhyme” style. This structure of formula tales is a distinctive feature from other tales and brings it closer to the rhymes mentioned. Because, repetition and memory ele-ments are important in rhymes, as in formula tales, and the way it is said attracts attention rather than its content. Context is the reason why formula tales that approach the aforementioned rhymes due to their form are evaluated in the category of tales, not rhymes. The subject of the article is the formula tales that are inter-twined with rhymes and the structural similarity of these tales with rhymes. The aim of the article is to deter-mine the structural features of these tales and to reveal their similarity with rhymes, based on the formula tale texts identified in the Anatolian Turkish tales. For this purpose, formula tales and rhymes were examined using the “comparative method”, and also the structural similarity of these two types and their functions in the performance environment were evaluated using the “functional method”. It is thought that the structural similarity of formula tales and nursery rhymes may be the result of an interaction between these two genres. Although the contexts of the two genres in question are different, the idea that narrators and performers take common structures and formulas from these different contexts of the tradition and perform them in different ways, that is, as a formula tale or rhyme, has been effective in reaching this conclusion. This relationship between rhyme and formula tale discussed in the article showed through formula tales that rhyme is a depend-ent genre with a certain function in other genres or contexts rather than being an independent genre.