The Languages of the World

Week One:

TURKISH (Altaic Language Family)

NOTE ON ALTAIC LANGUAGES:

We are aware of the controversy going on over this proposed language family. The authors of this have no stance on the controversy. However, we have grouped Turkish, Mongolian, Uzbek, Kyrgz, Kazakh and Turkmen due to their more traditional grouping as Altaic Languages (and for the latter four, their geographical relativity). Japanese and Korean were included as they are often included in the Altaic Language Family.

ORIGINS AND HISTORY

The earliest known Turkish writings are the triad of monumental Orkhon Inscriptions, located in present-day Mongolia. These were erected in honour of prince Kul Tigin and Emperor Bilge Khagan, these date back to the days of the Second Turkish Khaganate (682-744 CE). These and similar stone slabs found in the area surrounding the Orkhon Valley established the idea that the inscriptions were of the Old Turkic language, which was written using the Old Turkic alphabet, also referred to as Turkic runes and runiforms, as to the similarity between it and the runic alphabet of Germanic peoples. As the Turks spread throughout Central Asia, covering a massive area from Siberia to the Mediterranean, the Turks brought their language with them. The direct ancestor of modern Turkish was brought into Anatolia in the 11th century by the Selijuqs of the Oghuz Turks, who spoke Oghuz. Also during this time, the first all-inclusive Turkish language dictionary, the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, was published by Mahmud al-Kashgari. The dictionary also included a map of the distribution of Turkish speakers around the world. 

After the adoption of Islam in the 10th century by the Seljuq Turks and the Kara-Khanid Khanate (both the ancestral ancestors of the Ottomans), the Turkish language of these states acquired a multitude of words from Arabic and Persian (also known as Farsi), the latter heavily influencing Turkish literature during the Ottoman period. This made the foundation of Ottoman Turkish, which was the primary language of the Ottoman Empire, which lasted from 1299-1922 C.E.. Ottoman Turkish however, was largely different and unintelligible compared to Modern Turkish. Modern Turkish is based on the language spoken by lower-class people in the Ottoman Empire, which contained more native vocabulary. 

Here is a sample of words recorded by Evilya Celebi recorded while travelling the area between Adiyaman and Adana.

Turkmen	Ottoman Turkish	Modern Turkish	English
eyne	câmi’	cami	mosque
yalvaç	peygamber	peygamber	prophet
gümeç,lavâşapişi	ekmek	ekmek, lavas, pişi	bread, lavash, boortsog

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the foundation of the state of Turkey in 1922, the Turkish Language Association was founded to research Turkish. One of their primary goals was to have a language reform to replace the loanwords from Persian and Arabic with Turkish words. To do this, they banned all borrowed words used in the press, and succeeded in eliminating hundreds of borrowed words from Turkish. Most of the new words came from Turkic roots, though some came from reviving Old Turkish words. The education system also changed in this respect; teaching to speak and write in Ottoman Turkish was discontinued. Later, from 1963-1995, modern Turks perceived Ottoman Turkish to be so alien to them that it had to be ‘translated’ into modern Turkish. Some borrowed vs. modern Turkish words are as appears below:

Ottoman Turkish	Modern Turkish	English Translation
tayyare	ucak	aeroplane
simal	kuzey	north

DISTRIBUTION OF MODERN TURKISH

       Turkish, today is spoken by the Turks in Turkey and the Turkish migrants in some thirty other countries globally. Most Turkish-speaking minorities exist in the countries that were formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, i.e. Iraq, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. Germany also has a substantial population of Turkish speakers with about two million in the country, and other similar communities also exist in the United States, France,      the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In Turkey itself, 93% of the population (as of 2005) spoke Turkish natively, and Kurdish made up the majority of the remainder. Azerbaijani, primarily spoken in the nation of Azerbaijan (which has good relationships with Turkey) is mutually intelligible with Turkish. This means that speakers of both languages can understand each other, especially in everyday, daily conversations without much difficulty. Azerbaijani people often replace Azerbaijani words with Turkish words. However, Russian still has more influence in Azerbaijan, having been a former part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the U.S.S.R.). 

     

However, regarding the previous statements, the country with the second most Turkish population is Uzbekistan, which has started airing online TV lessons in Turkish, as well as several other languages.

||| Countries where Turkish is an official language

— Countries where Turkish is recognised as a minority language

— Countries is as the above criteria and co-official in at least one municipality

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

TURKISH DIALECTS

The modern standard version of Turkish is based off of the dialect of Istanbul and the surrounding areas. Istanbul Turkish, as it is known, makes up the standard of both spoken and written Turkish as we know it today. From the former region of Rumelia, which was once administered by the Ottoman Empire (it consisted of regions of the Balkans and southeastern Europe), immigrants have often spoken a version of Turkish known as Rumelian Turkish. This group includes the dialects of Adakale, Ludogorie, and Dinler.

 

            Map of the main subgroups of Turkish dialects. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

These distinct dialects show the potential influence of the Balkan sprachbund, which shows common similarity in grammar, syntax, and other areas of linguistics. In the only other country which has Turkish as an official language, the roughly 200,000 Turkish Cypriots speak a Turkish dialect known as Cypriot Turkish. The main difference between the two is that Cypriot Turkish uses a Verb-Object word order and standard Turkish uses an Object-Verb word order. Various other areas in Turkey, the surrounding area and areas formerly under the Ottoman Empire also have their own different dialects. For example, the Turkish city of Edrine, famous for its mosques, has its own dialect. In the Aegean region, the Ege dialect is spoken, and it extends to Antalya, which is the fifth-most populous Turkish city. The Yörüks, situated in the Mediterranean area, direct descendants of the Oghuz, have their own dialect. The Yoruk group should not be confused with the Yuruk nomads who live in North Macedonia, Greece and the European sector of Turkey. The Yuruks speak a Turkish dialect known as Balkan Gagauz Turkish. 

Turkish dialects are also varied in regions outside of Europe and Western Anatolia. Meskhetian Turks, an ethnic group that lives in parts of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Russia, and several more Central Asian Countries speak an Eastern Anatolian dialect that originated in the Kars, Ardahan and Artvin regions. 

In Central Anatolia, which includes the Turkish capital of Ankara, the primary dialect spoken is a variant of standard Turkish known as Orta Anadolu, which translates to Middle Anatolia. 

TURKISH PHONETICS

Turkish phonetics embody a structured and consistent sound system rooted in its Turkic origins and shaped by historical linguistic developments. Since the adoption of a Latin-based alphabet in 1928, Turkish has utilised a straightforward vowel system consisting of eight vowels: /a, e, ɛ, i, o, œ, u, y/, each with a singular pronunciation. This system promotes phonetic clarity and regularity, essential for the language’s coherence. Consonants in Turkish encompass a variety of sounds, including voiceless and voiced stops, fricatives, affricates, and nasals, such as /ç/ (similar to ‘ch’ in English ‘chair’), /ğ/ (a voiced velar fricative), and /ʃ/ (similar to ‘sh’ in English ‘shoe’). The stress pattern typically falls on the final syllable of words with two or more syllables, contributing to the rhythmic flow of spoken Turkish. Additionally, Turkish exhibits vowel harmony, requiring vowels within a word to be of the same front or back articulation, ensuring phonetic harmony in both word formation and suffixation. These elements collectively define Turkish phonetics, facilitating clear and consistent communication among its speakers.

TURKISH WRITING SYSTEM

The Turkish alphabet is a version of the Latin alphabet (A, B, C, D, E, etc.), which was made to replace thdʒ]at used by the Ottomans, which was a Pseudo-Arabic script. The spelling of Turkish is mainly phonetic, as that it spells as it sounds.       The Turkish Alphabet. Image source: Wikimedia Commons   The Turkish alphabet has 29 letters, largely similar to English with a few exceptions: c being the main one, denoting dʒ. Other letters with exceptions include j being ʒ, ı (the undotted i) denoting ɯ, ö and ü being ø and y, respectively. While the letter ğ typically denotes ɣ, it also can lengthen the preceding vowel as assimilating any subsequent one. Additionally, ş and ç represent ഽ and tʃ.  

Example Sentence: İki arkadaş, uzaktan gelen gök gürültüsüne aldırış etmeden çarşı sokaklarında yürüdüler. (The two friends walked the streets of the bazaar oblivious to the sound of thunder in the distance).

Note: Languages of the World is not affiliated with any third-party organisations. The images came from Wikimedia Commons, and the fun fact and the tables were made by the writer of this.

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