Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). Written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet, it borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Persian and Arabic (through Persian). Ottoman Turkish was largely unintelligible to rural Turks, who continued to use ("raw/vulgar Turkish"; compare Vulgar Latin and Demotic Greek), which used far fewer foreign loanwords and is the basis of the modern standard.
Terms for the language included lisan-i-Türki or zeban-i-Türki ("Turkish language"), or, alternatively during the Ottoman era, lisan-i-Rum or zeban-i-Rum ("the language of Rum"). ( or ). Modern Turkish uses the same terms when referring to the language of that era ( and ). More generically, the Turkish language was called or "Turkish".
History
Historically, Ottoman Turkish was transformed in three eras:
- (Old Ottoman Turkish): the version of Ottoman Turkish used until the 16th century. It was almost identical with the Turkish used by Seljuk empire and Anatolian beyliks and was often regarded as part of (Old Anatolian Turkish).
- (Middle Ottoman Turkish) or (Classical Ottoman Turkish): the language of poetry and administration from the 16th century until Tanzimat.
- (New Ottoman Turkish): the version shaped from the 1850s to the 20th century under the influence of journalism and Western-oriented literature.
Ottoman Turkish was developed and extensively promoted as an imperial and court language during the reign of Mehmed II, with whose encouragement the language became heavily Persianised. It also saw the replacement of the Perso-Arabic script with the extended Latin alphabet. The changes were meant to encourage the growth of a new variety of written Turkish that more closely reflected the spoken vernacular and to foster a new variety of spoken Turkish that reinforced Turkey's new national identity as being a post-Ottoman state.
See the list of replaced loanwords in Turkish for more examples of Ottoman Turkish words and their modern Turkish counterparts. Two examples of Arabic and two of Persian loanwords are found below.
{| class="wikitable"
! English !! Ottoman !! Modern Turkish
|-
| duty || ||
|-
| positive || ||
|-
| hardship || ||
|-
| province || ||
|-
| war || ||
|}
Legacy
Historically speaking, Ottoman Turkish is the predecessor of modern Turkish. However, the standard Turkish of today is essentially (Turkish of Turkey) as written in the Latin alphabet and with an abundance of neologisms added, which means there are now far fewer loan words from other languages, and Ottoman Turkish was not instantly transformed into the Turkish of today. At first, it was only the script that was changed, and while some households continued to use the Arabic system in private, most of the Turkish population was illiterate at the time, making the switch to the Latin alphabet much easier. Then, loan words were taken out, and new words fitting the growing amount of technology were introduced. Until the 1960s, Ottoman Turkish was at least partially intelligible with the Turkish of that day. One major difference between Ottoman Turkish and modern Turkish is the latter's abandonment of compound word formation according to Arabic and Persian grammar rules. The usage of such phrases still exists in modern Turkish but only to a very limited extent and usually in specialist contexts; for example, the Persian-derived genitive construction () (which reads literally as "the preordaining of the divine" and translates as "divine dispensation" or "destiny") is used, as opposed to the normative modern Turkish construction, (literally, "divine preordaining").
In 2014, Turkey's Education Council decided that Ottoman Turkish should be taught in Islamic high schools and as an elective in other schools, a decision backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said the language should be taught in schools so younger generations do not lose touch with their cultural heritage.
Writing system
thumb|right|250px|Calendar in [[Thessaloniki 1896, a cosmopolitan city; the first three lines in Ottoman script]]
Most Ottoman Turkish was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet (), a variant of the Perso-Arabic script. The Armenian, Greek and Rashi script of Hebrew were sometimes used by Armenians, Greeks and Jews. (See Karamanli Turkish, a dialect of Ottoman written in the Greek script; Armeno-Turkish alphabet)
Grammar
The actual grammar of Ottoman Turkish is not different from the grammar of modern Turkish. The focus of this section is on the Ottoman orthography; the conventions surrounding how the orthography interacted and dealt with grammatical morphemes related to conjugations, cases, pronouns, etc.
Cases
- Nominative and Indefinite accusative/objective: -∅, no suffix. 'the lake' 'a lake', 'soup', 'night'; 'he/she brought a rabbit'.
- Genitive: suffix . 'of the pasha'; 'of the book'.
- Definite accusative: suffix : 'he/she brought the rabbit'. The variant suffix does not occur in Ottoman Turkish orthography (unlike in Modern Turkish), although it's pronounced with the vowel harmony. Thus, 'the lake' vs. Modern Turkish .
- Dative: suffix : 'to the house'.
- Locative: suffix : 'at school', 'in (the/a) cage', 'at a/the start', 'in town'. The variant suffix used in Modern Turkish (, ) does not occur.
- Ablative: suffix : 'from the man'.
- Instrumental: suffix or postposition . Generally not counted as a grammatical case in modern grammars.
The table below lists nouns with a variety of phonological features that come into play when taking case suffixes; it includes a typical singular and plural noun, containing back and front vowels, words that end with the letter ( or ) (back and front vowels), words that end in a () sound, and words that end in either or (). These words are to serve as references, to observe orthographic conventions:
- Which vowels are written using the 4 letters: , , , and , and which are not.
- When words or morphemes are connected to each other, and when they are separated with the use of Zero-width non-joiner.
- When a final letter is softened when followed by a vowel sound, and when not; both in Ottoman orthography and in modern Latin orthography.
- When harmony of vowel roundness exists in spoken pronunciation and modern Latin orthography, but not in Ottoman orthography.
- When the letters () and () are used.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Declension of nouns for case
! rowspan=2 | Case
! rowspan=2 | Morpheme
! colspan=2 |
! colspan=2 |
! colspan=2 |
! colspan=2 |
! colspan=2 |
! colspan=2 |
! colspan=2 |
! colspan=2 |
! colspan=2 |
! colspan=2 |
|-
! colspan=2 | <br />
! colspan=2 | <br />
! colspan=2 | <br />
! colspan=2 | <br />
! colspan=2 | <br />
! colspan=2 | <br />
! colspan=2 | <br />
! colspan=2 | <br />
! colspan=2 | <br />
! colspan=2 | <br />
|-
!Nom
| —
| || ok
| || oklar
| || ev
| || evler
| || kurt
| || çartak
| || ipek
| || para
| || pide
| || köprü
|-
!rowspan=2| Acc
|
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | oku
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | okları
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | evi
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | evleri
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | kurdu
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | çartağı
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | ipeği
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | parayı
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | pideyi
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | köprüyü
|-
| -ı -i -u -ü
|-
!rowspan=2| Dat
|
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | oka
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | oklara
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | eve
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | evlere
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | kurda
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | çartağa
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | ipeğe
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | paraya
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | pideye
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | köprüye
|-
| -a -e
|-
!rowspan=2| Loc
|
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | okta
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | oklarda
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | evde
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | evlerde
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | kurt'ta
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | çartakta
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | ipekde
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | parada
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | pidede
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | köprüde
|-
| -da -de -ta -te
|-
!rowspan=2| Abl
|
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | oktan
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | oklardan
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | evden
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | evlerden
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | kurttan
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | çartaktan
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | ipekden
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | paradan
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | pideden
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | köprüden
|-
| -dan -den -tan -ten
|-
!rowspan=2| Gen
|
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | okun
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | okların
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | evin
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | evlerin
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | kurdun
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | çartağın
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | ipeğin
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | paranın
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | pidenin
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | köprünün
|-
| -ın -in -un -ün
|-
!rowspan=2| Inst
|
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | okla
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | oklarla
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | evle
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | evlerle
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | kurtla
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | çartakla
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | ipekle
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | parala
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | pidele
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | köprülü
|-
| -la -le -lu -lü
|}
Possessives
Table below shows the suffixes for creating possessed nouns. Each of these possessed nouns, in turn, take case suffixes as shown above.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Declension of nouns for possession
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan=2 colspan=2 |
! rowspan=2
! colspan=4 | açmak<br />'to open'
! colspan=4 | sevilmek<br />'to be loved'
|-
! colspan=2 | Singular
! colspan=2 | Plural
! colspan=2 | Singular
! colspan=2 | Plural
|-
! rowspan=15
! rowspan=3 | Present Imperfect<br />am/is/are opening<br />am/is/are being loved
! 1
|
| açıyorum
|
| açıyoruz
|
| seviliyorum
|
| seviliyoruz
|-
! 2
|
| açıyorsun
|
| açıyorsunuz
|
| seviliyorsun
|
| seviliyorsunuz
|-
! 3
|
| açıyor
|
| açıyorlar
|
| seviliyor
|
| seviliyorlar
|-
! rowspan=3 | Past Imperfect<br />was/were opening<br />was/were being loved
! 1
|
| açıyordum
|
| açıyorduk
|
| seviliyordum
|
| seviliyorduk
|-
! 2
|
| açıyordun
|
| açıyordunuz
|
| seviliyordun
|
| seviliyordunuz
|-
! 3
|
| açıyordu
|
| açıyordular
|
| seviliyordu
|
| seviliyordular
|-
! rowspan=3 | Present Aorist<br />shall habitually open<br />shall habitually be loved
! 1
|
| açarım
|
| açarız
|
| sevilirim
|
| seviliriz
|-
! 2
|
| açarsın
|
| açarsınız
|
| sevilirsin
|
| sevilirsiniz
|-
! 3
|
| açar
|
| açarlar
|
| sevilir
|
| sevilirler
|-
! rowspan=3 | Past Perfect<br />opened<br />was loved
! 1
|
| açtım
|
| açtık
|
| sevildim
|
| sevildik
|-
! 2
|
| açtın
|
| açtınız
|
| sevildin
|
| sevildiniz
|-
! 3
|
| açtı
|
| açtılar
|
| sevildi
|
| sevildiler
|-
! rowspan=3 | Future<br />will open<br />will be loved
! 1
|
| açacağım
|
| açacağız
|
| sevileceğim
|
| sevileceğiz
|-
! 2
|
| açacaksın
|
| açacaksınız
|
| sevileceksin
|
| sevileceksiniz
|-
! 3
|
| açacak
|
| açacaklar
|
| sevilecek
|
| sevilecekler
|-
! rowspan=4
! rowspan=4 | Perfect<br />have/has opened, I believe<br />was/were loved, I believe
! 1
|
| açmışım
|
| açmışız
|
| sevilmişim
|
| sevilmişiz
|-
! 2
|
| açmışsın
|
| açmışsınız
|
| sevilmişsin
|
| sevilmişsiniz
|-
! rowspan=2 | 3
|
| açmış
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | açmışlar
|
| sevilmiş
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | sevilmişler
|-
|
| açmışdır
|
| sevilmişdir
|-
! rowspan=6
! rowspan=3 | Aorist<br />must open<br />must be loved
! 1
|
| açmalıyım
|
| açmalıyız
|
| sevilmeliyim
|
| sevilmeliyiz
|-
! 2
|
| açmalısın
|
| açmalısınız
|
| sevilmelisin
|
| sevilmelisiniz
|-
! 3
|
| açmalı
|
| açmalılar
|
| sevilmeli
|
| sevilmeliler
|-
! rowspan=3 | Past<br />must've open<br />must've been loved
! 1
|
| açmalıydım
|
| açmalıydık
|
| sevilmeliydim
|
| sevilmeliydik
|-
! 2
|
| açmalıydın
|
| açmalıydınız
|
| sevilmeliydin
|
| sevilmeliydiniz
|-
! 3
|
| açmalıydı
|
| açmalıydılar
|
| sevilmeliydi
|
| sevilmeliydiler
|-
! rowspan=4
! rowspan=4 | Present<br />that may open<br />that may be loved
! rowspan=2 | 1
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | açayım
|
| açayız
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | sevileyim
|
| sevileyiz
|-
|
| açalım
|
| sevilelim
|-
! 2
|
| açasın
|
| açasınız
|
| sevilesin
|
| sevilesiniz
|-
! 3
|
| aça
|
| açalar
|
| sevile
|
| sevileler
|-
! rowspan=6
! rowspan=3 | Aorist<br />if open<br />if be loved
! 1
|
| açsam
|
| açsak
|
| sevilsem
|
| sevilsek
|-
! 2
|
| açsan
|
| açsanız
|
| sevilsen
|
| sevilseniz
|-
! 3
|
| açsa
|
| açsalar
|
| sevilse
|
| sevilseler
|-
! rowspan=3 | Past<br />if opened<br />if were loved
! 1
|
| açsaydım
|
| açsaydık
|
| sevilseydim
|
| sevilseydik
|-
! 2
|
| açsaydın
|
| açsaydınız
|
| sevilseydin
|
| sevilseydiniz
|-
! 3
|
| açsaydı
|
| açsaydılar
|
| sevilseydi
|
| sevilseydiler
|-
! rowspan=4 colspan=2 | Imperative
! 1
| colspan=2 align=center | —
|
| açalım
| colspan=2 align=center | —
|
| sevilelim
|-
! rowspan=2 | 2
|
| aç
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | açınız
|
| sevil
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | seviliniz
|-
|
| açın
|
| sevilin
|-
! 3
|
| açsın
|
| açsınlar
|
| sevilsin
|
| sevilsinler
|}
Negation and complex verbs
Below table shows the conjugation of a negative verb, and a positive complex verb expressing ability. In Turkish, complex verbs can be constructed by adding a variety of suffixes to the base root of a verb. The two verbs are (not to write) and (to be able to love). As in most other Turkic and foreign languages of Islamic communities, the Arabic borrowings were borrowed through Persian, not through direct exposure of Ottoman Turkish to Arabic, a fact that is evidenced by the typically Persian phonological mutation of the words of Arabic origin.
The conservation of archaic phonological features of the Arabic borrowings furthermore suggests that Arabic-incorporated Persian was absorbed into pre-Ottoman Turkic at an early stage, when the speakers were still located to the north-east of Persia, prior to the westward migration of the Islamic Turkic tribes. An additional argument for this is that Ottoman Turkish shares the Persian character of its Arabic borrowings with other Turkic languages that had even less interaction with Arabic, such as Tatar, Bashkir, and Uyghur. From the early ages of the Ottoman Empire, borrowings from Arabic and Persian were so abundant that original Turkish words were hard to find. In Ottoman, one may find whole passages in Arabic and Persian incorporated into the text.
|- align=center
| 0 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 1 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 2 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 3 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 4 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 5 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 6 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 7 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 8 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 9 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 10 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 11 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|- align=center
| 12 || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || style="font-size:135%;line-height:150%;" | || align=left |
|}
Transliterations
The transliteration system of the has become a de facto standard in Oriental studies for the transliteration of Ottoman Turkish texts. In transcription, the New Redhouse, Karl Steuerwald, and Ferit Devellioğlu dictionaries have become standard. Another transliteration system is the (DMG), which provides a transliteration system for any Turkic language written in Arabic script. There are few differences between the İA and the DMG systems.
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See also
- Old Anatolian Turkish language
- Culture of the Ottoman Empire
- List of Persian loanwords in Turkish
Notes
References
Further reading
; English
- Online copies: [https://books.google.com/books?id=eS8rAAAAYAAJ], [https://archive.org/details/ottomanturkishc00hagogoog], [https://archive.org/details/ottomanturkishc00hagogoog]
- Online copies from Google Books: [https://books.google.com/books?id=bYqvxt5wQrcC], [https://archive.org/details/apracticalgramm00wellgoog], [https://books.google.com/books?id=MD1bAAAAQAAJ]
- Lewis, Geoffrey. The Jarring Lecture 2002. "The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success".
; Other languages
- Mehmet Hakkı Suçin. Qawâ'id al-Lugha al-Turkiyya li Ghair al-Natiqeen Biha (Turkish Grammar for Arabs; adapted from Mehmet Hengirmen's Yabancılara Türkçe Dilbilgisi), Engin Yayınevi, (2003).
- Mehmet Hakkı Suçin. Atatürk'ün Okuduğu Kitaplar: Endülüs Tarihi (Books That Atatürk Read: History of Andalucia; purification from the Ottoman Turkish, published by Anıtkabir Vakfı, 2001).
External links
- Latin to Ottoman Turkish transliteration
- Michael Talbot. 2021. Central Europe in 1910 as Seen Through the Lens of Ottoman Turkish (pp. 68-71). In: Tomasz Kamusella. Words in Space and Time: A Historical Atlas of Language Politics in Modern Central Europe. Budapest and Vienna: Central European University Press.
- Ottoman Text Archive Project
- Ottoman Turkish Language: Resources – University of Michigan
- Ottoman Turkish Language Texts
- Ottoman-Turkish-English Open Dictionary
- Ottoman<->Turkish Dictionary – University of Pamukkale You can use ? character instead of an unknown letter. It provides results from Arabic and Persian dictionaries, too.
- Ottoman<->Turkish Dictionary – ihya.org
- Kubbealtı Lugatı