The Ottoman Empire at its peak. During this time Ottoman Turkish culture including the language also developed in the conquered areas.
This article containsOttoman Turkish text, written from right to left with someArabic letters and additional symbols joined. Without properrendering support, you may see unjoined letters or other symbols.
Ottoman Turkish (لسان عثمانی,Lisân-ı Osmânî,Turkish pronunciation:[liˈsaːnɯosˈmaːniː];Turkish:Osmanlıca) was the standardizedregister of theTurkish language in theOttoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, fromPersian andArabic (through Persian). It was written in theOttoman Turkish alphabet. Ottoman Turkish was largely unintelligible to rural Turks, who continued to usekaba Türkçe ("raw/vulgar Turkish"; compareVulgar Latin andDemotic Greek), which used far fewer foreignloanwords and is the basis of the modern standard.[3] TheTanzimât era (1839–1876) saw the application of the term "Ottoman" when referring to the language[4] (لسان عثمانیlisân-ı Osmânî orعثمانلیجهOsmanlıca); Modern Turkish uses the same terms when referring to the language of that era (Osmanlıca andOsmanlı Türkçesi). More generically, the Turkish language was calledتركچهTürkçe orتركیTürkî "Turkish".
Historically, Ottoman Turkish was transformed in three eras:
Eski Osmanlı Türkçesiاسكی عثمانلی توركچهسی (Old Ottoman Turkish): the version of Ottoman Turkish used until the 16th century. It was almost identical with the Turkish used bySeljuk empire andAnatolian beyliks and was often regarded as part ofEski Anadolu Türkçesiاسكی آناطولی توركچهسی (Old Anatolian Turkish).
Orta Osmanlı Türkçesiاورتا عثمانلی توركچهسی (Middle Ottoman Turkish) orKlasik Osmanlıca (Classical Ottoman Turkish): the language of poetry and administration from the 16th century untilTanzimat.
Yeni Osmanlı Türkçesiیڭی عثمانلی توركچهسی (New Ottoman Turkish): the version shaped from the 1850s to the 20th century under the influence of journalism and Western-oriented literature.
In 1928, following thefall of the Ottoman Empire afterWorld War I and the establishment of theRepublic of Turkey, widespread language reforms (a part in the greater framework ofAtatürk's reforms) instituted byMustafa Kemal Atatürk saw the replacement of many Persian and Arabic origin loanwords in the language with their Turkish equivalents. One of the main supporters of the reform was the Turkish nationalistZiya Gökalp.[5] It also saw the replacement of thePerso-Arabic script with theextended 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 newnational identity as being a post-Ottomanstate.[citation needed]
Historically speaking, Ottoman Turkish is the predecessor of modern Turkish. However, the standard Turkish of today is essentiallyTürkiye Türkçesi (Turkish of Turkey) as written in the Latin alphabet and with an abundance ofneologisms 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 ofcompound 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 inspecialist contexts; for example, the Persian-derivedgenitive constructionتقدیر الهی (takdîr-i ilâhî) (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,ilâhî takdîr (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 PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said the language should be taught in schools so younger generations do not lose touch with their cultural heritage.[6]
The actual grammar of Ottoman Turkish is not different from thegrammar 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.
Nominative andIndefiniteaccusative/objective: -∅, no suffix.گولgöl 'the lake' 'a lake',چورباçorba 'soup',گیجهgece 'night';طاوشان گترمشṭavşan getirmiş 'he/she brought a rabbit'.
Genitive: suffixڭ/نڭ–(n)ıñ, –(n)iñ, –(n)uñ, –(n)üñ.پاشانڭpaşanıñ 'of the pasha';كتابڭkitabıñ 'of the book'.
Definiteaccusative: suffixی–ı, -i:طاوشانی گترمشṭavşanı getürmiş 'he/she brought the rabbit'. The variant suffix–u, –ü does not occur in Ottoman Turkish orthography (unlike in Modern Turkish), although it's pronounced with thevowel harmony. Thus,گولیgöli 'the lake'vs. Modern Turkishgölü.[7]
Locative: suffixده–de, –da:مكتبدهmektebde 'at school',قفسدهḳafeṣde 'in (the/a) cage',باشدهbaşda 'at a/the start',شهردهşehirde 'in town'. The variant suffix used in Modern Turkish (–te,–ta) does not occur.
Ablative: suffixدن–den, -dan:ادمدنadamdan 'from the man'.
Instrumental: suffix or postpositionایلهile. 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 letterـه (-a or-e) (back and front vowels), words that end in aـت (-t) sound, and words that end in eitherـق orـك (-k). These words are to serve as references, to observe orthographic conventions:
Which vowels are written using the 4 letters:elifا,vavو,heه, andyeی, and which are not.
When words or morphemes are connected to each other, and when they are separated with the use ofZero-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.
Whenharmony of vowel roundness exists in spoken pronunciation and modern Latin orthography, but not in Ottoman orthography.
For third person (singular and plural) possessed nouns, that end in a vowel, when it comes to taking case suffixes, a letterـنـ (-n-) comes after the possessive suffix. For singular endings, the final vowelـی (-ı or-i) is removed in all instances. For plural endings, if the letter succeeding the additionalـنـ (-n-) is a vowel, the final vowelـی (-ı or-i) is kept; otherwise it is removed (note the respective examples forkitaplarını andkitaplarından).
Below table shows the positive conjugation for two sample verbsآچمقaçmak (to open) andسولمكsevilmek (to be loved). The first verb is the active verb, and the other has been modified to form a passive verb. The first contains back vowels, the second front vowels; both containing non-rounded vowels (which also impacts pronunciation and modern Latin orthography).[9]
Person
آچمقaçmak 'to open'
سولمكsevilmek 'to be loved'
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Indicative
Present Imperfect am/is/are opening am/is/are being loved
1
آچیورم
açıyorum
آچیورز
açıyoruz
سولیورم
seviliyorum
سولیورز
seviliyoruz
2
آچیورسڭ
açıyorsun
آچیورسڭز
açıyorsunuz
سولیورسڭ
seviliyorsun
سولیورسڭز
seviliyorsunuz
3
آچیور
açıyor
آچیورلر
açıyorlar
سولیور
seviliyor
سولیورلر
seviliyorlar
Past Imperfect was/were opening was/were being loved
1
آچیوردم
açıyordum
آچیوردق
açıyorduk
سولیوردم
seviliyordum
سولیوردك
seviliyorduk
2
آچیوردڭ
açıyordun
آچیوردڭز
açıyordunuz
سولیوردڭ
seviliyordun
سولیوردڭز
seviliyordunuz
3
آچیوردی
açıyordu
آچیوردیلر
açıyordular
سولیوردی
seviliyordu
سولیوردیلر
seviliyordular
Present Aorist shall habitually open shall habitually be loved
1
آچارم
açarım
آچارز
açarız
سولورم
sevilirim
سولورز
seviliriz
2
آچارسڭ
açarsın
آچارسڭز
açarsınız
سولورسڭ
sevilirsin
سولورسڭز
sevilirsiniz
3
آچار
açar
آچارلر
açarlar
سولور
sevilir
سولورلر
sevilirler
Past Perfect opened was loved
1
آچدم
açtım
آچدق
açtık
سولدم
sevildim
سولدك
sevildik
2
آچدڭ
açtın
آچدڭز
açtınız
سولدڭ
sevildin
سولدڭز
sevildiniz
3
آچدی
açtı
آچدیلر
açtılar
سولدی
sevildi
سولدیلر
sevildiler
Future will open will be loved
1
آچهجغم
açacağım
آچهجغز
açacağız
سولهجگم
sevileceğim
سولهجگز
sevileceğiz
2
آچهجقسڭ
açacaksın
آچهجقسڭز
açacaksınız
سولهجكسن
sevileceksin
سولهجكسڭز
sevileceksiniz
3
آچهجق
açacak
آچهجقلر
açacaklar
سولهجك
sevilecek
سولهجكلر
sevilecekler
Inferential
Perfect have/has opened, I believe was/were loved, I believe
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 areیازممقyazmamaq (not to write) andسوهبلمكsevebilmek (to be able to love).[9]
Person
یازممقyazmamaq 'not to write'
سوهبلمكsevebilmek 'to be able to love'
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Indicative
Present Imperfect am/is/are not writing can love
1
یازمیورم
yazmayorum
یازمیورز
yazmayoruz
سوهبیلیورم
sevebiliyorum
سوهبیلیورز
sevebiliyoruz
2
یازمیورسن
yazmayorsun
یازمیورسڭز
yazmayorsunuz
سوهبیلیورسن
sevebiliyorsun
سوهبیلیورسڭز
sevebiliyorsunuz
3
یازمیور
yazmayor
یازمیورلر
yazmayorlar
سوهبیلیور
sevebiliyor
سوهبیلیورلر
sevebiliyorlar
Past Imperfect was/were not writing was/were able to love
1
یازمیوردم
yazmıyordum
یازمیوردق
yazmıyorduk
سوهبیلیوردم
sevebiliyordum
سوهبیلیوردك
sevebiliyorduk
2
یازمیوردڭ
yazmıyordun
یازمیوردڭز
yazmıyordunuz
سوهبیلیوردڭ
sevebiliyordun
سوهبیلیوردڭز
sevebiliyordunuz
3
یازمیوردی
yazmıyordu
یازمیوردیلر
yazmıyordular
سوهبیلیوردی
sevebiliyordu
سوهبیلیوردیلر
sevebiliyordular
Present Aorist do not write shall be able to love
1
یازمم
yazmam
یازمیز
yazmayız
سوهبلورم
sevebilirim
سوهبلورز
sevebiliriz
2
یازمازسن
yazmazsın
یازمازسڭز
yazmazsınız
سوهبلورسن
sevebilirsin
سوهبلورسڭز
sevebilirsiniz
3
یازماز
yazmaz
یازمازلر
yazmazlar
سوهبلور
sevebilir
سوهبلورلر
sevebilirler
Past Perfect used not to write could love
1
یازمادم
yazmadım
یازمادق
yazmadık
سوهبلدم
sevebildim
سوهبلدك
sevebildik
2
یازمادڭ
yazmadın
یازمادڭز
yazmadınız
سوهبلدڭ
sevebildin
سوهبلدڭز
sevebildiniz
3
یازمادی
yazmadı
یازمادیلر
yazmadılar
سوهبلدی
sevebildi
سوهبلدیلر
sevebildiler
Future shall not write will be able to love
1
یازمیهجغم
yazmayacağım
یازمیهجغز
yazmayacağız
سوهبلهجگم
sevibileceğim
سوهبلهجگز
sevibileceğiz
2
یازمیهجقسن
yazmayacaksın
یازمیهجقسڭز
yazmayacaksınız
سوهبلهجكسن
sevibileceksin
سوهبلهجكسڭز
sevibileceksiniz
3
یازمیهجق
yazmayacak
یازمیهجقلر
yazmayacaklar
سوهبلهجك
sevibilecek
سوهبلهجكلر
sevibilecekler
Necessitative
Aorist must open must be loved
1
یازمهملییم
yazmamalıyım
یازمهملییز
yazmamalıyız
سوهبلملییم
sevibilmeliyim
سوهبلملییز
sevibilmeliyiz
2
یازمهملیسن
yazmamalısın
یازمهملیسڭز
yazmamalısınız
سوهبلملیسن
sevibilmelisin
سوهبلملیسڭز
sevibilmelisiniz
3
یازمهملی
yazmamalı
یازمهملیلر
yazmamalılar
سوهبلملی
sevibilmeli
سوهبلملیلر
sevibilmeliler
Optative
Present that may not open that may not be able to love
Another common category of verbs in Turkish (more common in Ottoman Turkish than in modern Turkish), is compound verbs. This consists of adding a Persian or Arabic active or passive participle to a neuter verb,to do (ایتمكetmek) orto become (اولمقolmaq). For example, note the following two verbs:
راضی اولمقrazı olmaq (to consent);
قتل ایتمكkatletmek (to slaughter);تشكر ایتمكteşekkür etmek (to thank);
ایو اولنمقiyi olunmak (to get better).
Below table shows some sample conjugations of these two verbs. The conjugation of the verb "etmek" is not straightforward, because the root of the verb ends in a [t]. This sound transforms into a [d] when followed by a vowel sound. This is reflected in conventions of Ottoman orthography as well.
In Turkish, there is a verb representingto be, but it is a defective verb. It does not have an infinitive or several other tenses. It is usually a suffix.
Negative verbto be is created with the use of the wordدگلdeğil, followed by the appropriate conjugation of theto be verb; or optionally used as a standalone for 3rd person.
بن ایشجی دگلم /ben işçi değilim: 'I am not a worker'
او چفتجی دگلدر /o çiftçi değildir: 'he is not a farmer'
او چفتجی دگل /o çiftçi değil: 'he is not a farmer'
اگر كندم ایچون حاضر دگلسیدم /eğer kendim için hazır değilseydim.: 'if I'm not ready for myself'
Generally, the verbs 'to exist' and 'to have' are expressed using what's called anexistential copula, the wordوارvar.
او وار /ev var: 'there is a house'
The verb 'to have' is expressed in the same way, except that the object noun will take a possessive pronoun, producing sentences that will literally mean "there exists house of mine".
اوم وار /evim var: 'I have a house'
The verbs 'to exist' and 'to have' conjugated for other tenses, are expressed in the same way, with a possessive pronoun if needed, and copulaوارvar, followed by the 3rd person singular form of the verb 'to do:ایتمكetmek attached as a suffix (or separate as a stanadalone verb); as conjugated in the above section.
اوڭ واردی /evin vardı: 'you had a house'
بناء وارملییدی /bina varmalıydı: 'there had to be a building'
The verbs 'not to exist' and 'not to have' are created in the exact same manner and conjugation, except that the copulaیوقyok is used.
او یوق /ev yok: 'there isn't a house'
اوم یوق /evim yok: 'I don't have a house'
اوڭ یوقدی /evin yoktu: 'you didn't have a house'
بناء یوقملییدی /bina yokmalıydı: 'there must not have been a building'
Turkish being anagglutinative language as opposed to an analytical one (generally), means that from a single root verb, with the addition of a variety of morphemes and suffixes, multiple new and different verbs meanings can be expressed in single but larger words.
Below table is a sample from the verbتپمك (tepmek, "to kick"), whose root (which is also 2nd person imperative) isتپ (tep). Each of the produced new verbs below can be made into an infinitive with the addition ofـمك (-mek) at the end.[8]
Classes
Active
Transitive or Intransitive
Transitive or Intransitive
Intransitive
Determinate
Indeterminate
Reciprocal
Affirmative
Simple
تپ (tep) kick
تپن (tepin) kick about, dance
تپش (tepiş) mutually kick one another
Causative (Permissive)
تپدر (teptir) make/let s.o. kick/be kicked
تپندر (tepindir) make s.o. kick about
تپشدر (tepiştir) make s.o.s kick one another mutually
Negative
Simple
تپمه (tepme) don't kick
تپنمه (tepinme) don't kick about, don't dance
تپشمه (tepişme) don't mutually kick one another
Causative (Permissive)
تپدرمه (teptirme) make/let not s.o. kick/be kicked
تپندرمه (tepindirme) make not s.o. kick about
تپشدرمه (tepiştirme) make not s.o.s kick one another mutually
Impotential
Simple
تپهمه (tepeme) be unable to kick
تپنهمه (tepineme) be unable to kick about, dance
تپشهمه (tepişeme) be unable to mutually kick one another
Causative (Permissive)
تپدرهمه (teptireme) be unable to make/let s.o. kick/be kicked
تپندرهمه (tepindireme) be unable to make s.o. kick about
تپشدرهمه (tepiştireme) be unable to make s.o.s kick one another mutually
Classes
Passive
Transitive or Intransitive
Transitive or Intransitive
Intransitive
Determinate
Indeterminate
Reciprocal
Affirmative
Simple
تپل (tepil) be kicked
تپنل (tepinil) be kicked about
تپشل (tepişil) be mutually kick in
Causative (Permissive)
تپدرل (teptiril) be made to be kicked
تپندرل (tepindiril) be made to be kicked about
تپشدرل (tepiştiril) be made to kick one another mutually
Negative
Simple
تپلمه (tepilme) not be kicked
تپنلمه (tepinilme) not be kicked about
تپشلمه (tepişilme) not be mutually kicked
Causative (Permissive)
تپدرلمه (teptirilme) be not made to be kicked
تپندرلمه (tepindirilme) be not made to be kicked about
تپشدرلمه (tepiştirilme) be not made to be one another mutually kicked
Impotential
Simple
تپلهمه (tepilme) be unable to be kicked
تپنلهمه (tepinileme) be unable to be kicked about
تپشلهمه (tepişileme) be unable to be mutually kicked
Causative (Permissive)
تپدرلهمه (teptirileme) be unable to be made to be kicked
تپندرلهمه (tepindirileme) be unable to be made to be kicked about
تپشدرلهمه (tepiştirileme) be unable to be made to be mutually kicked
Redhouse's Turkish Dictionary, Second Edition (1880)
Ottoman Turkish was highly influenced by Arabic and Persian. Arabic and Persian words in the language accounted for up to 88% of its vocabulary.[10] As in most other Turkic and foreign languages of Islamic communities, the Arabicborrowings were borrowed through Persian, not through direct exposure of Ottoman Turkish to Arabic, a fact that is evidenced by the typically Persianphonological mutation of the words of Arabic origin.[11][12][13]
The conservation of archaic phonological features of the Arabic borrowings furthermore suggests that Arabic-incorporated Persian was absorbed into pre-OttomanTurkic at an early stage, when the speakers were still located to the north-east ofPersia, 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 asTatar,Bashkir, andUyghur. From the early ages of the Ottoman Empire, borrowings from Arabic and Persian were so abundant that original Turkish words were hard to find.[14] In Ottoman, one may find whole passages in Arabic and Persian incorporated into the text.[14] It was however not only extensive loaning of words, but along with them much of the grammatical systems of Persian and Arabic.[14]
In a social and pragmatic sense, there were (at least) three variants of Ottoman Turkish:
Fasih Türkçeفصیح توركچه (Eloquent Turkish): the language of poetry and administration, Ottoman Turkish in its strict sense;
Orta Türkçeاورتا توركچه (Middle Turkish): the language of higher classes and trade;
Kaba Türkçeقبا توركچه (Rough Turkish): the language of lower classes.
A person would use each of the varieties above for different purposes, with thefasih variant being the most heavily suffused with Arabic and Persian words andkaba the least. For example, a scribe would use the Arabicasel (عسل) to refer tohoney when writing a document but would use the native Turkish wordbal (بال) when buying it.
The transliteration system of theİslâm Ansiklopedisi has become ade facto standard inOriental studies for the transliteration of Ottoman Turkish texts.[16] Intranscription, the New Redhouse, Karl Steuerwald, and Ferit Devellioğlu dictionaries have become standard.[17] Another transliteration system is theDeutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft (DMG), which provides a transliteration system for any Turkic language written in Arabic script.[18] There are few differences between the İA and the DMG systems.
^M. Sukru Hanioglu, "A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire", Published by Princeton University Press, 2008. p. 34: "It employed a predominant Turkish syntax, but was heavily influenced by Persian and (initially through Persian) Arabic.
^Pierre A. MacKay, "The Fountain at Hadji Mustapha",Hesperia, Vol. 36, No. 2 (Apr. – Jun., 1967), pp. 193–195: "The immense Arabic contribution to the lexicon of Ottoman Turkish came rather through Persian than directly, and the sound of Arabic words in Persian syntax would be far more familiar to a Turkish ear than correct Arabic".
V. H. Hagopian (1907).Ottoman-Turkish conversation-grammar: a practical method of learning the Ottoman-Turkish language, Volume 1. D. Nutt. Online copies:[2],[3],[4]
Charles Wells (1880).A practical grammar of the Turkish language (as spoken and written). B. Quaritch. Online copies fromGoogle Books:[5],[6],[7]
Mehmet Hakkı Suçin.Qawâ'id al-Lugha al-Turkiyya li Ghair al-Natiqeen Biha (Turkish Grammar for Arabs; adapted from Mehmet Hengirmen'sYabancılara Türkçe Dilbilgisi), Engin Yayınevi, (2003).
Mehmet Hakkı Suçin.Atatürk'ün Okuduğu Kitaplar: Endülüs Tarihi (Books ThatAtatürk Read: History of Andalucia; purification from the Ottoman Turkish, published by Anıtkabir Vakfı, 2001).
Kerslake, Celia (1998). "La construction d'une langue nationale sortie d'un vernaculaire impérial enflé: la transformation stylistique et conceptuelle du turc ottoman". In Chaker, Salem (ed.).Langues et Pouvoir de l'Afrique du Nord à l'Extrême-Orient (in French).Aix-en-Provence:Edisud. pp. 129–138.
Korkut M. Buğday (1999). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag (ed.).Osmanisch: Einführung in die Grundlagen der Literatursprache (in German).
