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Contemporary Turkish includes Ottoman Turkish loanwords—mostly of Arabic and French, but also Persian, Greek, and Italian origin—which were officially replaced with their Turkish counterparts suggested by the Turkish Language Association (Turkish: Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK) as a part of the cultural reforms—in the broader framework of Atatürk's Reforms—following the foundation of Republic of Turkey.
Contents
- Connotations and implications of word choice
- Origin of the words in Turkish vocabulary
- Word derivations
- Loanwords of Arabic origin
- Loanwords of French origin
- Loanwords of Persian origin
- Loanwords of other origin
- References
The TDK, established by Atatürk in 1932 in order to conduct research on the Turkish language, also undertook the initiative to replace Arabic and Persian loanwords with their Turkish counterparts. The Association succeeded in removing several hundred Arabic words from the language. While most of the words introduced into the language in this process were newly derived from existing Turkish verbal roots, TDK also suggested using old Turkish words which had not been used in the language for centuries; like yanıt, birey, gözgü. Some words were used before language reform too but they were used much less than the Arabic and the Persian ones. Some words were taken from rural areas but most of them had different meanings, like ürün. Mongolian also played an important role too, because Mongolian preserved the old Turkic borrowings, such as ulus and çağ.
There are generational differences in vocabulary preference. While those born before the 1940s tend to use the old Arabic-origin words (even the obsolete ones), younger generations commonly use the newer expressions. Some new words have not been widely adopted, in part because they failed to convey the intrinsic meanings of their old equivalents. Many new words have taken up somewhat different meanings, and cannot necessarily be used interchangeably with their old counterpart.
Many of the loanwords (especially the Arabic, Persian and French ones) are still widely used today, though decreasing in tendency.
Connotations and implications of word choice
Historically, Arabic was the language of the mosque and Persian was the language of education. Its deliberate usage (eschewing the usage of a "western" word) often implies romanticism or a religious subtext, respectively. Similarly, the use of European words may be favored to impart a perceived "modern" character. The use of "pure Turkic" words may be employed as an expression of nationalism or as a linguistic "simplification".
Origin of the words in Turkish vocabulary
The 2005 edition of Güncel Türkçe Sözlük, the official dictionary of the Turkish language published by Turkish Language Association, contains 104,481 words, of which about 86% are Turkish and 14% are of foreign origin. Among the most significant foreign contributors to Turkish vocabulary are Arabic, French, Persian, Italian, English, and Greek.
Word derivations
Most of the new Turkish words are derived from other words with thematic suffixes. For example:
bat- is the root of the verb batmak, which means "to sink" or "to set". The derived word batı means "west". Another example would be aylık, which means "salary" as well as monthly. This is derived from the word ay, which means "month".
Here are some other examples of derivations:
Some of the Turkish words are also compound words, such as:
For more information, see the related article: Turkish vocabulary.
Loanwords of Arabic origin
The list gives the Ottoman Turkish word, the modern spelling of the word in Turkish (as suggested by TDK), the modern Turkish equivalent, and its meaning in English.
* Old words that are still used in modern Turkish together with their new Turkish counterparts.
** New words that are not as frequently used as the old words.
Loanwords of French origin
The French words started to infiltrate the Turkish language in the 1800s, when the administrative reforms (Tanzimat) started taking place in the Ottoman Empire. The extent of French influence was so much that the number of French loanwords was close to 5,000.
Most of the French loanwords are still widely used in today's Turkish.
* Words that are still used in modern Turkish together with their new Turkish counterparts.
Loanwords of Persian origin
The list gives the Ottoman Turkish word, the modern spelling of the word in Turkish (as suggested by TDK), the modern Turkish equivalent, and its meaning in English.
Most of the original Persian words are still widely used in modern Turkish. In fact, there are over 1,500 Persian words in Turkish. However, for many of the Persian words (unlike Arabic words), there is no TDK-prescribed equivalent. TDK did not put as much effort into replacing Persian words as it did for Arabic words, largely because the Persian words were better assimilated into the language. Arabic language and culture is general perceived by Turks to be more "foreign" than Persian language and culture, which had a native presence in Anatolia since the time of the Achaemenids, and was patronised for millennia afterwards by other dynasties with a presence in Anatolia such as the Sasanians, Seleucids, Seljuks, Sultanate of Rum, and lastly, the Ottomans, amongst others.
* New words that are not as frequently used as the old words.
Loanwords of other origin
* Words that are still used in modern Turkish together with their new Turkish counterparts.