| Ottoman Turkish alphabet | |
|---|---|
| Script type | |
Period | 1299–1928 |
| Direction | Right-to-left script  |
| Languages | Ottoman Turkish |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | Egyptian hieroglyphs
|
Child systems | |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Arab(160), Arabic |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Arabic |
TheOttoman Turkish alphabet (Ottoman Turkish:الفبا,romanized: elifbâ) is a version of thePerso-Arabic script used to writeOttoman Turkish for over 600 years until 1928, when it wasreplaced by theLatin-based modernTurkish alphabet.
Though Ottoman Turkish was primarily written in this script,non-Muslim Ottoman subjects sometimes wrote it in other scripts, includingArmenian,Greek, Latin andHebrew alphabets.
The variousTurkic languages have been written in a number of different alphabets, includingArabic,Cyrillic,Greek,Latin and other writing systems.
The earliest known Turkic alphabet is theOrkhon script. When Turks adopted Islam, they began to use Arabic script for their languages, especially under theKara-Khanids. Though theSeljuks used Persian as their official language, in the late Seljuk period, Turkish began to be written again in Anatolia in the nascentOttoman state.[1]
The Ottoman Turkish alphabet is a form of the Perso-Arabic script that, despite not being able to differentiate O and U, was otherwise generally better suited to writing Turkic words rather than Perso-Arabic words. Turkic words had all of their vowels written in and had systematic spelling rules and seldom needed to be memorized.[2] Other Oghuz Turkic languages such as Azerbaijani and Turkmen enjoyed a high degree of written mutual intelligibility as the Ottoman Alphabet catered to anachronistic Turkic consonants and spellings that demonstrated Anatolian Turkish' shared history with Azerbaijani and Turkmen. The Ottoman Turkish alphabet however was poorly suited to Arabic and Persian loanwords which needed to be memorized by students learning Turkish as it would omit vowels making them difficult to read.Arabic has several consonants that do not exist in Turkish, making several Arabic letters superfluous.
The introduction of the telegraph and the printing press in the 19th century exposed further weaknesses in the Arabic script.[3]
Some Turkish reformers promoted the Latin script well beforeAtatürk's reforms. In 1862, duringan earlier period of reform, the statesmanMünif Pasha advocated a reform of the alphabet. At the start of the 20th century, similar proposals were made by several writers associated with theYoung Turk movement, includingHüseyin Cahit,Abdullah Cevdet andCelâl Nuri.[3] In 1917,Enver Pasha introduced a revised alphabet, thehurûf-ı munfasıla representing Turkish sounds more accurately; it was based on Arabic letter forms, but written separately, not joined cursively. It was for a time the official script of the Army.[4]
The romanization issue was raised again in 1923 during theİzmir Economic Congress of the newTurkish Republic, sparking a public debate that was to continue for several years. A move away from the Arabic script was strongly opposed by conservative and religious elements. It was argued that romanization of the script would detach Turkey from the wider Islamic world, substituting a foreign (European) concept of national identity for theconfessional community.
Others opposed romanization on practical grounds, as there was no suitable adaptation of the Latin script that could be used for Turkish phonemes. Some suggested that a better alternative might be to modify the Arabic script to introduce extra characters for better representing Turkish vowels.[5]
In 1926, the Turkic republics of theSoviet Union adopted the Latin script, giving a major boost to reformers in Turkey.[3]
Ottoman Turkish script was replaced by theLatin-based newTurkish alphabet. Its use became compulsory in all public communications in 1929.[6][7] The change was formalized by theLaw on the Adoption and Implementation of the Turkish Alphabet,[8] passed on November 1, 1928, and effective on January 1, 1929.[9]
As withArabic,Persian andUrdu, texts in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet are written right to left. The appearance of a letter changes depending on its position in a word:
Some letters cannot be joined to the left and so do not possess separate medial and initial forms. In medial position, the final form is used. In initial position, the isolated form is used.
There were no standardised romanisation rules for Ottoman Turkish, and throughout the many centuries that the language was in use, transcriptions varied greatly. A notable example is theTreaty of Küçük Kaynarca, which was variously transcribed as "Kuchuk Kainardji", "Kuchuk Kainarji", "Koutchouk-Kaïnardji", "Kütschük Kainardschi", or "Chiuciuc Cainarggi" depending on the source and the linguistic background of the translator.
| Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial | Name | Modern Turkish | ALA-LC[10] | IPA[11] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ا | ـا | — | elif | a, e, â | —, ā, ' | æ,e, —, (ʔ),aː | |
| ء | — | hemze | —, ' | —, (ʔ) | |||
| ب | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | be | b (p) | b | b (p) |
| پ | ـپ | ـپـ | پـ | pe | p | p | |
| ت | ـت | ـتـ | تـ | te | t | t | |
| ث | ـث | ـثـ | ثـ | se | s | s̠ | s |
| ج | ـج | ـجـ | جـ | cim | c | d͡ʒ | |
| چ | ـچ | ـچـ | چـ | çim | ç | t͡ʃ | |
| ح | ـح | ـحـ | حـ | ha | h | ḥ | h |
| خ | ـخ | ـخـ | خـ | hı | ḫ | h (x) | |
| د | ـد | — | dal | d | d | ||
| ذ | ـذ | zel | z | z̠ | z | ||
| ر | ـر | re | r | ɾ | |||
| ز | ـز | ze | z | z | |||
| ژ | ـژ | je | j | ʒ | |||
| س | ـس | ـسـ | سـ | sin | s | s | |
| ش | ـش | ـشـ | شـ | şın | ş | ș | ʃ |
| ص | ـص | ـصـ | صـ | sad | s | ṣ | s |
| ض | ـض | ـضـ | ضـ | dad | d, z | ż | z (d) |
| ط | ـط | ـطـ | طـ | tı | t | ṭ | t (d) |
| ظ | ـظ | ـظـ | ظـ | zı | z | ẓ | z |
| ع | ـع | ـعـ | عـ | ayn | ', — | ‘ | —,◌ː,ʔ |
| غ | ـغ | ـغـ | غـ | gayn | g, ğ, (v) | ġ | g,ɣ,◌ː,v |
| ف | ـف | ـفـ | فـ | fe | f | f | |
| ق | ـق | ـقـ | قـ | qaf | k | q | k (q) |
| ك | ـك | ـكـ | كـ | kef | k, g, ğ, (v), n, (ñ), y | c,k,ɟ, (v),n, (ŋ),j | |
| گ | ـگ | ـگـ | گـ | gef[a], kāf-ı fārsī[a] | g, ğ, (v) | g | ɟ,g, (v) |
| ڭ | ـڭ | ـڭـ | ڭـ | nef, ñef, sağır kef[a], kāf-ı nūnī | n | ñ | n, (ŋ) |
| ل | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | lam | l | l | |
| م | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | mim | m | m | |
| ن | ـن | ـنـ | نـ | nun | n | n | |
| و | ـو | — | vav | v, o, ö, u, ü, û | v, ū, aw, avv, ūv | v,o,œ,u,y,uː | |
| ه | ـه | ـهـ | هـ | he[b] | h, e, a | h[c] | h,æ,e,a |
| ی | ـی | ـیـ | یـ | ye | y, ı, i, î | y, ī, ay, á, īy | j,ɯ,i,iː |
| Position in word: | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glyph form: (Help) | څ | ـڅ | ـڅـ | څـ |
The orthography of Ottoman Turkish, like many otherabjads, is complex:
The Persian consonant (ژ) is not native to Turkish but is still pronounced distinctively with the letter J in the modern Turkish Latin alphabet.
Turkish has 8 total vowels which are evenly split between front and back vowels. One of the shortcomings of the Ottoman Turkish alphabet is that it could not differentiate between the front and back vowels with the exception of A and E. This situation required readers to infer the frontness or backness of vowels based on consonants and the vowels A and E.
Another shortcoming was that it could not differentiate between O/Ö and U/Ü in the first syllable (O/Ö do not exist in the second syllable in Turkic, Arabic, or Persian words with the exception of one suffix -iyor/ıyor). Although this issue only existed in the first syllable, the O/Ö sounds were generally more common than U/Ü in the first syllable.
They are written in their original orthography: for example, and if usingArabic vowel points (harakat),sabit 'firm' is written as⟨ثَابِت⟩s̱âbit, with⟨ث⟩s̱ representing /s/ (in Arabic /θ/),⟨ا⟩ representing the long vowel /aː/ as in Arabic,⟨ب⟩ representing /b/,⟨ـِ⟩ representing the short vowel /i/, and⟨ت⟩ representing /t/. However, as in Arabic and Persian,[11]harakat are generally found only in dictionaries and didactic works, therefore the same wordsabit will generally be found written thus:⟨ثابت⟩ (with no indication of the short /i/). As in Persian, thealif hamza (⟨أ⟩’) is rarely used in initial position and is replaced instead by a plain alif (⟨ا⟩); theta marbuta (⟨ة⟩, appearing in final position of Arabic words) is also rarely used itself and is instead replaced by a plain ha (⟨ه⟩). The letters ث ح ذ ض ظ ع are found only in borrowings from Arabic; ژ is only in borrowings from Persian and French.
Consonant letters are classified in three series, based onvowel harmony: soft, hard, and neutral. The soft consonant letters, ت س ک گ ه, are found infront vowel (e, i, ö, ü) contexts; the hard, ح خ ص ض ط ظ ع غ ق, inback vowel (a, ı, o, u) contexts; and the neutral, ب پ ث ج چ د ذ ر ز ژ ش ف ل م ن, in either. In Perso-Arabic borrowings, the vowel used in Turkish depends on the softness of the consonant. Thus,⟨كلب⟩klb 'dog' (Arabic /kalb/) is /kelb/, while⟨قلب⟩ḳlb 'heart' (Arabic /qalb/) is /kalb/. Conversely, in Turkish words, the choice of consonant reflects the native vowel.[11]
On the other hand, both soft and hard consonants (especially in Perso-Arabic borrowings) forcibly become either hard (a, o, u) or soft (i) when vowels are etymologically long, e.g.⟨ایمان⟩ 'iman' (faith),⟨حساب⟩ 'hesap' (arithmetic),⟨صحیح⟩ 'sahih' (authentic, true),⟨عید⟩ 'id' (Islamic holiday), etc.
Despite these rules, there might be few exceptions that break these rules, e.g.⟨عمر⟩ 'Ömer' (where it should theoretically pronounced 'Omer'),⟨ایوب⟩ 'Eyüp' (where it should theoretically pronounced 'Eyyup'),⟨تمام⟩ 'tamam' (where it should be theoretically 'temam', just likeسلام 'selam'),
| Phoneme | /t/ | /d/ | /s/ | /z/ | /k/ | /ɡ/ | /∅/ | /h/ |
| Soft (front) | ت | د | س | ز | ک | گ | ء | ه |
| Hard (back) | ط | ط ض | ص | ظ ض | ق | غ | ع | ح خ |
All other letters are considered by default soft [front].
In Turkish words, vowels are sometimes written using the vowel letters as the second letter of a syllable:elif⟨ا⟩ for /a/;ye⟨ی⟩ for /i/, /ɯ/;vav⟨و⟩ for /o/, /œ/, /u/, /y/;he⟨ه⟩ for /a/, /e/. The correspondingharakat are there:üstün⟨َ○⟩ (Arabicfatḥah) for /a/, /e/;esre⟨ِ○⟩ (Arabickasrah) for /ɯ/, /i/;ötre⟨ُ○⟩ (Arabicḍammah) for /o/, /œ/, /u/, /y/. The names of theharakat are also used for the corresponding vowels.[11]
| Name | Arabic name | Point | Letter | Front reading | Back reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| üstün | fatḥah | َ○ | اelif هhe | /e/ | /a/ |
| esre | kasrah | ِ○ | یye | /i/ | /ɯ/ |
| ötre | ḍammah | ُ○ | وvav | /œ/, /y/ | /o/, /u/ |
The rule for vowels in native Turkish words are the following:[11]
The above rules have the two following exceptions:
As mentioned in previous sections, in written Ottoman Turkish conventions, some letters, especially the letter⟨ک⟩k could represent many phonemes: /k/, /ɡ/, /n/, /j/, or /ː/ (lengthening the preceding vowel; modernğ). Same applied to vowels, if they were even written usingelif⟨ا⟩ for /a/;ye⟨ی⟩ for /i/, /ɯ/;vav⟨و⟩ for /o/, /œ/, /u/, /y/;he⟨ه⟩ for /a/, /e/. In many cases they were not.[11][12][page needed]
Therefore, some Ottoman Turkish dictionaries and language textbooks sought to address this issue by introducing new notations and letters. None of these proposed notations ever gained wider popularity, and none came to be adopted by the society at large. For example, in the Ottoman Turkish-Turkish compiled by Ottoman Albanian lexicographerŞemseddin Sâmi, these notations have been defined and have been used. The necessity arose from the fact that this was a solely Turkish dictionary, and thusŞemseddin Sâmi avoided using any Latin or other foreign notations.[14]
The other book with such notations is a book called theOttoman Turkish Guide (Osmanlıca. 1: Rehberi). This book was first published in 1976, and has been continuously published over the years well into the 21st century. This book byAli Kemal Belviranlı, is an alphabet premier book and guide, and its primary purpose is to help and teach modernnative Turkish speakers who are literate in the modern Latin alphabet, to learn and be able to read and decipher older Turkish language documents that were written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. This book also employs specific notations and letters in order to distinguish between different phonemes, so as to match with the Modern Turkish alphabet.[15]
Azerbaijani Turkish orthography, which at the time was similar to Ottoman Turkish orthography, has undergone a similar process in Iran, of letters being assigned diacritics and notations to distinguish them. Those modifications have over the decades gained widespread legitimacy and acceptance. These are also shown for comparison in the table below.
| Letter | IPA | Ottoman Turkish Dictionary (Ş. Sâmi) | Ottoman Turkish Guide (A. K. Belviranlı) | Modern Azerbaijani (Iran) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U u | [u] | و | وُ | |
| O o | [o] | وۤ | وْ | |
| Ü ü | [y] | ۏ | ۉ | وٚ |
| Ö ö | [œ] | ۊ | ۆ | ؤ |
| I ı[a] | [ɯ] | ◌ٖ / یٖـ / یٖ | یٛـ / یٛ | |
| A a[a] | [a] | ◌َ / ◌ٰ / ـا / هٰ ـهٰ | ـا | |
| K k[b] | [k~c] | ك | ک | |
| G g[c] | [g~ɟ] | گ | گ[d] | گ |
| Ğ ğ[e] | [ː],[.],[j] ([g ~ɟ]) | ࢰ | ࢰ[d] | |
| N n (ñ) | [n] ([ŋ]) | ڭ | ن | |
Other scripts were sometimes used by non-Muslims to write Ottoman Turkish since the Arabic alphabet was identified with Islam.
The firstnovel to be written in the Ottoman Empire wasAkabi (1851), which was written in the Armenian script byVartan Pasha. Similarly, when theArmenian Duzian family managed the Ottoman mint during the reign ofSultanAbdülmecid I (r. 1839–61), they kept records in Ottoman Turkish but used the Armenian script.[16]
TheGreek alphabet and theRashi script ofHebrew were used by Greeks, Orthodox Turks and Jews for Ottoman.Greek-speaking Muslims would writeGreek using the Ottoman Turkish script.Karamanlides (Orthodox Turks in Central Anatolia around Karaman region) used Greek letters for Ottoman Turkish.
Ottoman Turkish usedEastern Arabic numerals. The following is the list of basiccardinal numerals with the spelling in the modern Turkish alphabet:
| Arabic form | Number | Ottoman Turkish[17] | Modern Turkish |
|---|---|---|---|
| ٠ | 0 | صفر | sıfır |
| ١ | 1 | بیر | bir |
| ٢ | 2 | ایكی | iki |
| ٣ | 3 | اوچ | üç |
| ٤ | 4 | دورت | dört |
| ٥ | 5 | بش | beş |
| ٦ | 6 | آلتی | altı |
| ٧ | 7 | یدی | yedi |
| ٨ | 8 | سکیز | sekiz |
| ٩ | 9 | دوقوز | dokuz |
| ١٠ | 10 | اون | on |
| ١٠٠ | 100 | يوز | yüz |
| ١٠٠٠ | 1000 | بیڭ | bin |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
