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Turkish language reform
The Turkish language reform (Turkish: Dil Devrimi), initiated on 12 July 1932, aimed to purge the Turkish language of Arabic and Persian-derived words and grammatical rules, transforming the language into a more vernacular form suitable for the Republic of Turkey.
Under the leadership of president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the reform commenced and persisted with varying degrees of intensity and momentum until the 1970s, following the most profound period of transformation between 1932 and 1938. The closure of the former Turkish Language Association in 1982 was officially recognized as the end of the language reform. Aligned with the alphabet reform in 1928, the language reform stands as one of the fundamental pillars of the significant structural alterations undergone by the Turkish language in the 20th century.
In 1277, Mehmet I of Karaman issued a firman making the Old Anatolian Turkish the official language in an attempt to break the dominance of Persian. The former later developed into Ottoman Turkish language.
During interactions with Arabic and Persian-speaking nations, Turks adopted words not present in their own language. Alongside these absent words, however, Turkish words gradually lost their functionality over time, yielding to Arabic and Persian vocabulary. For instance, the Turkic-origin word "od" meaning "fire" gave way to the Persian-origin word "ateş". Not only words but also grammatical rules and constructions were borrowed from both languages. Nevertheless, at the core, Turkish inflections and grammar rules were still used. The Ottoman Empire was governed from the Sublime Porte ("Bâb-ı Âlî" in Ottoman Turkish, borrowed from Arabic الباب العالي "Bab Al-A'li"), where "bâb" meaning "door" in Arabic combined with the Persian-origin possessive suffix (ezāfe) "-ı" and the Persian word "âlî" meaning "high" to form a new word in Ottoman Turkish. There was a gap between written and spoken language to the extent that newspapers, not understood by large segments of society, struggled to sell, leading journalists to seek ways to simplify their language. For example, they found it more comprehensible to use "Tabii İlimler" (natural sciences) instead of the Arabic term "Ulûm-i Tabiiyye" and resorted to such simplifications in their writings.
The issue of simplifying the written language by purging it of complex Arabic and Persian expressions and bringing it closer to spoken Turkish had concerned Turkish writers since the Tanzimat period. The trend toward simplification, which began with İbrahim Şinasi and Namık Kemal, made significant progress with Ahmet Mithat and reached its peak during the Second Constitutional Era with writers like Ömer Seyfettin and Mehmet Emin Yurdakul.
The 1910s witnessed the rise of Turkist and Turanist views within organizations such as the Turkish Hearths and the Committee of Union and Progress. During this period, new ideas began to be incorporated into the simplificationist perspective. Among these, the most influential was the idea of borrowing words from other Turkic languages, particularly the ancient written languages of Central Asia, besides the Istanbul Turkish. The publication of French orientalist Abel Pavet de Courteille's Chagatai Dictionary in 1870, the deciphering and publication of the Orkhon inscriptions in 1896, and the printing of Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk in 1917 provided abundant resources for this approach.
There was also a tendency circa 1914 to derive new words from existing Turkish roots to express new concepts.
Views on language modernization receded during the period of the War of Independence and the early years of the republic. Prior to 1931, there was no clear stance on this matter from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. However, with the establishment of the Turkish Language Association in 1932, the language reform gained momentum. In the opening speech of the parliament in 1932, Atatürk expressed caution regarding the language reform by stating, "We will ensure the rise of national culture by opening up all avenues. We expect all our national organizations to be cautious and engaged in enabling the Turkish language to regain its essence and beauty".
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Turkish language reform
The Turkish language reform (Turkish: Dil Devrimi), initiated on 12 July 1932, aimed to purge the Turkish language of Arabic and Persian-derived words and grammatical rules, transforming the language into a more vernacular form suitable for the Republic of Turkey.
Under the leadership of president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the reform commenced and persisted with varying degrees of intensity and momentum until the 1970s, following the most profound period of transformation between 1932 and 1938. The closure of the former Turkish Language Association in 1982 was officially recognized as the end of the language reform. Aligned with the alphabet reform in 1928, the language reform stands as one of the fundamental pillars of the significant structural alterations undergone by the Turkish language in the 20th century.
In 1277, Mehmet I of Karaman issued a firman making the Old Anatolian Turkish the official language in an attempt to break the dominance of Persian. The former later developed into Ottoman Turkish language.
During interactions with Arabic and Persian-speaking nations, Turks adopted words not present in their own language. Alongside these absent words, however, Turkish words gradually lost their functionality over time, yielding to Arabic and Persian vocabulary. For instance, the Turkic-origin word "od" meaning "fire" gave way to the Persian-origin word "ateş". Not only words but also grammatical rules and constructions were borrowed from both languages. Nevertheless, at the core, Turkish inflections and grammar rules were still used. The Ottoman Empire was governed from the Sublime Porte ("Bâb-ı Âlî" in Ottoman Turkish, borrowed from Arabic الباب العالي "Bab Al-A'li"), where "bâb" meaning "door" in Arabic combined with the Persian-origin possessive suffix (ezāfe) "-ı" and the Persian word "âlî" meaning "high" to form a new word in Ottoman Turkish. There was a gap between written and spoken language to the extent that newspapers, not understood by large segments of society, struggled to sell, leading journalists to seek ways to simplify their language. For example, they found it more comprehensible to use "Tabii İlimler" (natural sciences) instead of the Arabic term "Ulûm-i Tabiiyye" and resorted to such simplifications in their writings.
The issue of simplifying the written language by purging it of complex Arabic and Persian expressions and bringing it closer to spoken Turkish had concerned Turkish writers since the Tanzimat period. The trend toward simplification, which began with İbrahim Şinasi and Namık Kemal, made significant progress with Ahmet Mithat and reached its peak during the Second Constitutional Era with writers like Ömer Seyfettin and Mehmet Emin Yurdakul.
The 1910s witnessed the rise of Turkist and Turanist views within organizations such as the Turkish Hearths and the Committee of Union and Progress. During this period, new ideas began to be incorporated into the simplificationist perspective. Among these, the most influential was the idea of borrowing words from other Turkic languages, particularly the ancient written languages of Central Asia, besides the Istanbul Turkish. The publication of French orientalist Abel Pavet de Courteille's Chagatai Dictionary in 1870, the deciphering and publication of the Orkhon inscriptions in 1896, and the printing of Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk in 1917 provided abundant resources for this approach.
There was also a tendency circa 1914 to derive new words from existing Turkish roots to express new concepts.
Views on language modernization receded during the period of the War of Independence and the early years of the republic. Prior to 1931, there was no clear stance on this matter from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. However, with the establishment of the Turkish Language Association in 1932, the language reform gained momentum. In the opening speech of the parliament in 1932, Atatürk expressed caution regarding the language reform by stating, "We will ensure the rise of national culture by opening up all avenues. We expect all our national organizations to be cautious and engaged in enabling the Turkish language to regain its essence and beauty".