Ottoman Turkish

For other uses, see Ottoman Turkish (disambiguation).

Ottoman Turkish (Ottoman Turkish: لِسانِ عُثمانی, romanized: Lisân-ı Osmânî, Turkish pronunciation: [liˈsaːnɯ osˈmaːniː]; Turkish: Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. Ottoman Turkish was largely unintelligible to the less-educated lower-class and to rural Turks, who continued to use kaba Türkçe ("raw/vulgar Turkish"; compare Vulgar Latin and Demotic Greek), which used far fewer foreign loanwords and is the basis of the modern standard.^[3] The Tanzimât era (1839–1876) saw the application of the term "Ottoman" when referring to the language^[4] (لسان عثمانی lisân-ı Osmânî or عثمانلیجه Osmanlıca); Modern Turkish uses the same terms when referring to the language of that era (Osmanlıca and Osmanlı Türkçesi). More generically, the Turkish language was called تركچه Türkçe or تركی Türkî "Turkish".

Ottoman Turkish
لسان عثمانی Lisân-ı Osmânî
Ottoman Turkish written in Nastaliq style (لسان عثمانی)
Region	Ottoman Empire
Ethnicity	Ottoman Turks
Era	c. 15th century; developed into modern Turkish in 1928[1]
Language family	Turkic Common Turkic Oghuz Western Oghuz Ottoman Turkish
Early form	Old Anatolian Turkish
Writing system	Ottoman Turkish alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Beylik of Tunis Cretan State Emirate of Jabal Shammar Khedivate of Egypt Ottoman Empire Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus Provisional Government of Western Thrace Turkish Provisional Government Turkey (until 1928)[a]
Language codes
ISO 639-2	ota
ISO 639-3	ota
Linguist List	ota
Glottolog	otto1234
The Ottoman Empire was at its peak, Ottoman Turkish culture including the language also developed in the conquered areas

History

Historically, Ottoman Turkish was transformed in three eras:

• Eski Osmanlı Türkçesi اسکی عثمانلی تورکچه‌سی (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 Eski Anadolu Türkçesi اسکی آناطولی تورکچه‌سی (Old Anatolian Turkish).
• Orta Osmanlı Türkçesi اورتا عثمانلی تورکچه‌سی (Middle Ottoman Turkish) or Klasik Osmanlıca (Classical Ottoman Turkish): the language of poetry and administration from the 16th century until Tanzimat.
• Yeni Osmanlı Türkçesi یڭی عثمانلی تورکچه‌سی (New Ottoman Turkish): the version shaped from the 1850s to the 20th century under the influence of journalism and Western-oriented literature.

Language reform

Further information: Turkish language reform

In 1928, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I and the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, widespread language reforms (a part in the greater framework of Atatürk's Reforms) instituted by Mustafa 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 nationalist Ziya Gökalp.^[5] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.

English	Ottoman	Modern Turkish
obligatory	واجب vâcib	zorunlu
hardship	مشكل müşkül	güçlük
city	شهر şehir	kent (also şehir)
province	ولایت vilâyet	il
war	حرب harb	savaş

Legacy

Historically speaking, Ottoman Turkish is the predecessor of modern Turkish. However, the standard Turkish of today is essentially Türkiye Türkçesi (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 genitive construction 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 President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said the language should be taught in schools so younger generations do not lose touch with their cultural heritage.^[6]

Writing system

Main article: Ottoman Turkish alphabet

Calendar in Thessaloniki 1896, a cosmopolitan city; the first three lines in Ottoman script

Most Ottoman Turkish was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet (Ottoman Turkish: الفبا, romanized: elifbâ), 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

Main article: Turkish grammar

A poem about Rumi in Ottoman Turkish.

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. گول göl 'the lake' 'a lake', چوربا çorba 'soup', گیجه gece 'night'; طاوشان گترمش ṭavşan getirmiş 'he/she brought a rabbit'.
• Genitive: suffix ڭ/نڭ –(n)ıñ, –(n)iñ, –(n)uñ, –(n)üñ. پاشانڭ paşanıñ 'of the pasha'; كتابڭ kitabıñ 'of the book'.
• Definite accusative: suffix ی –ı, -i: طاوشانی گترمش ṭavşanı 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 the vowel harmony. Thus, گولی göli 'the lake' vs. Modern Turkish gölü.^[7]
• Dative: suffix ه –e: اوه eve 'to the house'.
• Locative: suffix ده –de, –da: مكتبده mektebde 'at school', قفسده ḳafeṣde 'in (the/a) cage', باشده başda 'at a/the start', شهرده şehirde 'in town'. The variant suffix used in Modern Turkish (–te, –ta) does not occur.
• Ablative: suffix دن –den, -dan: ادمدن adamdan 'from the man'.
• Instrumental: suffix or postposition ایله ile. Generally not counted as a grammatical case in modern grammars.

Table below lists nouns with a variety of phonological features that come into play when taking case suffixes. The table includes a typical singular and plural noun, containing back and front vowels, words that end with the letter ه ـه ([a] or [e]), both back and front vowels, word that ends in a ت ([t]) sound, and word that ends in either ق or ك ([k]). These words are to serve as references, to observe orthographic conventions:

• Which vowels are written using the 4 letters: ʾalif ا, wāw و, hāʾ ه ـه, and yāʾ ي; and which are not;
• Where words or morphemes are connected to each other, and where they are separated with the use of Zero-width non-joiner.
• where a final letter is softened when followed by a vowel sound, and when not; both in Ottoman orthography and in modern Latin orthography.
• Where harmony of vowel roundness exists in spoken pronunciation, and in modern Latin orthography, but not in Ottoman orthography.
• Where the letter ڭ is used and when the letter ن.

Declension of nouns for case^[8]

Case	Morpheme	اُوق		اُوقلَر		اَو		اَولَر		قورت		چارطاق		ایپك		پاره		پیده		كوپری
		ok 'arrow'		oklar 'arrows'		ev 'house'		evler 'houses'		kurt 'wolf'		çartak 'gazebo'		ipek 'silk'		para 'money'		pide 'pita'		köprü 'bridge'
Nom	—	اوق	ok	اوقلر	oklar	او	ev	اولر	evler	قورت	kurt	چارطاق	çartak	ایپك	ipek	پاره	para	پیده	pide	كوپری	köprü
Acc	- ـی	اوقی	oku	اوقلری	okları	اوی	evi	اولری	evleri	قوردی	kurdu	چارطاغی	çartağı	ایپگی	ipeği	پاره‌یی	parayı	پیده‌یی	pideyi	كوپریی	köprüyü
	-ı -i -u -ü
Dat	- ـه / - ه	اوقه	oka	اوقلره	oklara	اوه	eve	اولره	evlere	قورده	kurda	چارطاغه	çartağa	ایپگه	ipeğe	پاره‌یه	paraya	پیده‌یه	pideye	كوپریه	köprüye
	-a -e
Loc	- ده	اوقده	okta	اوقلرده	oklarda	اوده	evde	اولرده	evlerde	قورتده	kurt'ta	چارطاقده	çartakta	ایپكده	ipekde	پاره‌ده	parada	پیده‌ده	pidede	كوپریده	köprüde
	-da -de -ta -te
Abl	- دن	اوقدن	oktan	اوقلردن	oklardan	اودن	evden	اولردن	evlerden	قورتدن	kurttan	چارطاقدن	çartaktan	ایپكدن	ipekden	پاره‌دن	paradan	پیده‌دن	pideden	كوپریدن	köprüden
	-dan -den -tan -ten
Gen	- ـڭ	اوقڭ	okun	اوقلرڭ	okların	اوڭ	evin	اولرڭ	evlerin	قوردڭ	kurdun	چارطاغڭ	çartağın	ایپگڭ	ipeğin	پاره‌‌نڭ	paranın	پیده‌‌نڭ	pidenin	كوپرینڭ	köprünün
	-ın -in -un -ün
Inst	- ـله	اوقله	okla	اوقلرله	oklarla	اوله	evle	اولرله	evlerle	قورتله	kurtla	چارطاقله	çartakla	ایپكله	ipekle	پاره‌‌‌یله	parala	پیده‌‌یله	pidele	كوپریله	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.

Declension of nouns for possession^[8]

Person	Morpheme	اُوق		اُوقلَر		اَو		اَولَر		قورت		چارطاق		ایپك		پاره		پیده		كوپری
		ok 'arrow'		oklar 'arrows'		ev 'house'		evler 'houses'		kurt 'wolf'		çartak 'gazebo'		ipek 'silk'		para 'money'		pide 'pita'		köprü 'bridge'
—	—	اوق	ok	اوقلر	oklar	او	ev	اولر	evler	قورت	kurt	چارطاق	çartak	ایپك	ipek	پاره	para	پیده	pide	كوپری	köprü
1st Person Sg.	- ـم	اوقم	okum	اوقلرم	oklarım	اویم	evim	اولرم	evlerim	قوردم	kurdum	چارطاغم	çartağım	ایپگم	ipeğim	پاره‌م	param	پیده‌م	pidem	كوپری‌م	köprüm
	-m -ım -im -um -üm
2nd Person Sg.	- ـڭ	اوقڭ	okun	اوقلرڭ	okların	اویڭ	evin	اولرڭ	evlerin	قوردڭ	kurdun	چارطاغڭ	çartağın	ایپگڭ	ipeğin	پاره‌ڭ	paran	پیده‌ڭ	piden	كوپری‌ڭ	köprün
	-n -ın -in -un -ün
3rd Person Sg.	- ـی - ـسی	اوقی	oku	اوقلری	okları	اوی	evi	اولری	evleri	قوردی	kurdu	چارطاغی	çartağı	ایپگی	ipeği	پاره‌سی	parası	پیده‌سی	pidesi	كوپریسی	köprüsü
	-(s)ı -(s)i -(s)u -(s)ü
1st Person Pl.	- ـمز	اوقمز	okumuz	اوقلرمز	oklarımız	اومز	evimiz	اولرمز	evlerimiz	قوردمز	kurdumuz	چارطاغمز	çartağımız	ایپگمز	ipeğimiz	پاره‌مز	paramız	پیده‌مز	pidemiz	كوپریمز	köprümüz
	-(ı)mız -(i)miz -(u)muz -(ü)müz
2nd Person Pl.	- ـڭز	اوقڭز	okunuz	اوقلرڭز	oklarınız	اوڭز	eviniz	اولرڭز	evleriniz	قوردڭز	kurdunuz	چارطاغڭز	çartağınız	ایپگڭز	ipeğiniz	پاره‌ڭز	paranız	پیده‌ڭز	pideniz	كوپریڭز	köprünüz
	-(ı)nız -(i)niz -(u)nuz -(ü)nüz
3rd Person Pl.	- ـلری	اوقلری	okları	اوقلرلری	okları	اولری	evleri	اولرلری	evleri	قورتلری	kurtları	چارطاقلری	çartakleri	ایپكلری	ipekleri	پاره‌لری	paraları	پیده‌لری	pideleri	كوپریلری	köprüleri
	-ları -leri

For third person (singular and plural) possessed nouns, that end in a vowel, when it comes to taking case suffixes, a letter - ـنـ [n] comes after the possessive suffix. For singular endings, the final vowel ی is removed in all instances. For plural endings, if the letter succeeding the additional - ـنـ [n] is a vowel, the final vowel ی is kept; otherwise it is removed (note the respective examples for kitaplarını versus kitaplarından). Examples below :

	Nom	Acc	Dat	Loc	Abl	Gen
his/her book	کتابی	کتابنی	کتابنه	کتابنده	کتابندن	کتابنڭ
	kitabı	kitabını	kitabına	kitabında	kitabından	kitabının
his/her books	کتابلری	کتابلرینی	کتابلرینه	کتابلرنده	کتابلرندن	کتابلرینڭ
	kitapları	‌ kitaplarını	kitaplarına	kitaplarında	kitaplarından	kitaplarının
his/her maternal aunt	تیزه‌سی	تیزه‌‌سنی	تیزه‌‌سنه	تیزه‌‌سنده	تیزه‌‌سندن	تیزه‌‌سنڭ
	teyzesi	teyzesini	teyzesine	teyzesinde	teyzesinden	teyzesinin
his/her maternal aunts	تیزه‌لری	تیزه‌لرینی	تیزه‌لرینه	تیزه‌لرنده	تیزه‌لرندن	تیزه‌لرینڭ
	teyzeleri	teyzelerini	teyzelerine	teyzelerinde	teyzelerinden	teyzelerinin

Verbs

Below table shows the positive conjugation for two sample verbs آچمق açmak (to open) and سولمك sevilmek (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 orthograhpy).^[9]

		آچمق açmak 'To open'				سولمك sevilmek 'To be loved'
Indicative	Present Imperfect am/is/are opening am/is/are being loved	آچیورم	açıyorum	آچیورز	açıyoruz	سولیورم	seviliyorum	سولیورز	seviliyoruz
		آچیورسن	açıyorsun	آچیورسڭز	açıyorsunuz	سولیورسن	seviliyorsun	سولیورسڭز	seviliyorsunuz
		آچیور	açıyor	آچیورلر	açıyorlar	سولیور	seviliyor	سولیورلر	seviliyorlar
	Past Imperfect was/were opening was/were being loved	آچیوردم	açıyordum	آچیوردق	açıyorduk	سولیوردم	seviliyordum	سولیوردك	seviliyorduk
		آچیوردڭ	açıyordun	آچیوردڭز	açıyordunuz	سولیوردڭ	seviliyordun	سولیوردڭز	seviliyordunuz
		آچیوردی	açıyordu	آچیوردیلر	açıyordular	سولیوردی	seviliyordu	سولیوردیلر	seviliyordular
	Present Aorist shall habitually open shall habitually be loved	آچارم	açarım	آچارز	açarız	سولورم	sevilirim	سولورز	seviliriz
		آچارسن	açarsın	آچارسڭز	açarsınız	سولورسن	sevilirsin	سولورسڭز	sevilirsiniz
		آچار	açar	آچارلر	açarlar	سولور	sevilir	سولورلر	sevilirler
	Past Perfect opened was loved	آچدم	açtım	آچدق	açtık	سولدم	sevildim	سولدك	sevildik
		آچدڭ	açtın	آچدڭز	açtınız	سولدڭ	sevildin	سولدڭز	sevildiniz
		آچدی	açtı	آچدیلر	açtılar	سولدی	sevildi	سولدیلر	sevildiler
	Future will open will be loved	آچه‌جغم	açacağım	آچه‌جغز	açacağız	سوله‌جگم	sevileceğim	سوله‌جگز	sevileceğiz
		آچه‌جقسن	açacaksın	آچه‌جقسڭز	açacaksınız	سوله‌جكسن	sevileceksin	سوله‌جكسڭز	sevileceksiniz
		آچه‌جق	açacak	آچه‌جقلر	açacaklar	سوله‌جك	sevilecek	سوله‌جكلر	sevilecekler
Inferential	Perfect have/has opened, I believe was/were loved, I believe	آچمشم	açmışım	آچمشز	açmışız	سولمشم	sevilmişim	سولمشز	sevilmişiz
		آچمشسن	açmışsın	آچمشسڭز	açmışsınız	سولمشسن	sevilmişsin	سولمشسڭز	sevilmişsiniz
		آچمش آچمشدر	açmış açmışdır	آچمشلر	açmışlar	سولمش سولمشدر	sevilmiş sevilmişdir	سولمشلر	sevilmişler
Necessitative	Aorist must open must be loved	آچملویم	açmalıyım	آچملویز	açmalıyız	سولملویم	sevilmeliyim	سولملویز	sevilmeliyiz
		آچملوسن	açmalısın	آچملوسڭز	açmalısınız	سولملوسن	sevilmelisin	سولملوسڭز	sevilmelisiniz
		آچملو	açmalı	آچملولر	açmalılar	سولملو	sevilmeli	سولملولر	sevilmeliler
	Past must've open must've bee loved	آچملویدم	açmalıydım	آچملویدق	açmalıydık	سولملویدم	sevilmeliydim	سولملویدق	sevilmeliydik
		آچملویدڭ	açmalıydın	آچملویدڭز	açmalıydınız	سولملویدڭ	sevilmeliydin	سولملویدڭز	sevilmeliydiniz
		آچملویدی	açmalıydı	آچملویدیلر	açmalıydılar	سولملویدی	sevilmeliydi	سولملویدیلر	sevilmeliydiler
Optative	Present that may open that may be loved	آچه‌یم	açayım	آچه‌یز آچه‌لم	açayız açalım	سوله‌یم	sevileyim	سوله‌یز سوله‌لم	sevileyiz sevilelim
		آچه‌سن	açasın	آچه‌سڭز	açasınız	سوله‌سن	sevilesin	سوله‌سڭز	sevilesiniz
		آچه	aça	آچه‌لر	açalar	سوله	sevile	سوله‌لر	sevileler
Conditional	Aorist if open if be loved	آچسم	açsam	آچسق	açsak	سولسم	sevilsem	سولسك	sevilsek
		آچسڭ	açsan	آچسڭز	açsanız	سولسڭ	sevilsen	سولسڭز	sevilseniz
		آچسه	açsa	آچسه‌لر	açsalar	سولسه	sevilse	سولسه‌لر	sevilseler
	Past if opened if were loved	آچسیدم	açsaydım	آچسیدق	açsaydık	سولسیدم	sevilseydim	سولسیدك	sevilseydik
		آچسیدڭ	açsaydın	آچسیدڭز	açsaydınız	سولسدیڭ	sevilseydin	سولسیدڭز	sevilseydiniz
		آچسیدی	açsaydı	آچسیدیلر	açsaydılar	سولسیدی	sevilseydi	سولسیدیلر	sevilseydiler
Imperative		-	-	آچالم	açalım	-	-	سوله‌لم	sevilelim
		آچ آچڭ	aç açın	آچڭز	açınız	سول سولڭ	sevil sevilin	سولڭز	seviliniz
		آچسون	açsın	آچسونلر	açsınlar	سولسون	sevilsin	سولسونلر	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 یازممق yazmamaq (not to write) and سوه‌بلمك sevebilmek (to be able to love).^[9]

		یازممق yazmamaq 'Not to write'				سوه‌بلمك sevebilmek 'To be able to love'
Indicative	Present Imperfect am/is/are not writing can love	یازمیورم	yazmayorum	یازمیورز	yazmayoruz	سوه‌بیلیورم	sevebiliyorum	سوه‌بیلیورز	sevebiliyoruz
		یازمیورسن	yazmayorsun	یازمیورسڭز	yazmayorsunuz	سوه‌بیلیورسن	sevebiliyorsun	سوه‌بیلیورسڭز	sevebiliyorsunuz
		یازمیور	yazmayor	یازمیورلر	yazmayorlar	سوه‌بیلیور	sevebiliyor	سوه‌بیلیورلر	sevebiliyorlar
	Past Imperfect was/were not writing was/were able to love	یازمیوردم	yazmıyordum	یازمیوردق	yazmıyorduk	سوه‌بیلیوردم	sevebiliyordum	سوه‌بیلیوردك	sevebiliyorduk
		یازمیوردڭ	yazmıyordun	یازمیوردڭز	yazmıyordunuz	سوه‌بیلیوردڭ	sevebiliyordun	سوه‌بیلیوردڭز	sevebiliyordunuz
		یازمیوردی	yazmıyordu	یازمیوردیلر	yazmıyordular	سوه‌بیلیوردی	sevebiliyordu	سوه‌بیلیوردیلر	sevebiliyordular
	Present Aorist do not write shall be able to love	یازمم	yazmam	یازمیز	yazmayız	سوه‌بلورم	sevebilirim	سوه‌بلورز	sevebiliriz
		یازمازسن	yazmazsın	یازمازسڭز	yazmazsınız	سوه‌بلورسن	sevebilirsin	سوه‌بلورسڭز	sevebilirsiniz
		یازماز	yazmaz	یازمازلر	yazmazlar	سوه‌بلور	sevebilir	سوه‌بلورلر	sevebilirler
	Past Perfect used not to write could love	یازمادم	yazmadım	یازمادق	yazmadık	سوه‌بلدم	sevebildim	سوه‌بلدك	sevebildik
		یازمادڭ	yazmadın	یازمادڭز	yazmadınız	سوه‌بلدڭ	sevebildin	سوه‌بلدڭز	sevebildiniz
		یازمادی	yazmadı	یازمادیلر	yazmadılar	سوه‌بلدی	sevebildi	سوه‌بلدیلر	sevebildiler
	Future shall not write will be able to love	یازمیه‌جغم	yazmayacağım	یازمیه‌جغز	yazmayacağız	سوه‌بله‌جگم	sevibileceğim	سوه‌بله‌جگز	sevibileceğiz
		یازمیه‌جقسن	yazmayacaksın	یازمیه‌جقسڭز	yazmayacaksınız	سوه‌بله‌جكسن	sevibileceksin	سوه‌بله‌جكسڭز	sevibileceksiniz
		یازمیه‌جق	yazmayacak	یازمیه‌جقلر	yazmayacaklar	سوه‌بله‌جك	sevibilecek	سوه‌بله‌جكلر	sevibilecekler
Necessitative	Aorist must open must be loved	یازمه‌ملییم	yazmamalıyım	یازمه‌ملییز	yazmamalıyız	سوه‌بلملییم	sevibilmeliyim	سوه‌بلملییز	sevibilmeliyiz
		یازمه‌ملیسن	yazmamalısın	یازمه‌ملیسڭز	yazmamalısınız	سوه‌بلملیسن	sevibilmelisin	سوه‌بلملیسڭز	sevibilmelisiniz
		یازمه‌ملی	yazmamalı	یازمه‌ملیلر	yazmamalılar	سوه‌بلملی	sevibilmeli	سوه‌بلملیلر	sevibilmeliler
Optative	Present that may not open that may not be able to love	یازمیه‌یم	yazmayayım	یازمیه‌یز یازمیه‌لم	yazmayayız yazmayalım	سوه‌بله‌یم	sevibileyim	سوه‌بله‌یز سوه‌بله‌لم	sevibileyiz sevibilelim
		یازمیه‌سن	yazmayasın	یازمیه‌سڭز	yazmayasınız	سوه‌بله‌سن	sevibilesin	سوه‌بله‌سڭز	sevibilesiniz
		یازمیه	yazmaya	یازمیه‌لر	yazmayalar	سوه‌بله	sevibile	سوه‌بله‌لر	sevibileler
Imperative		-	-	یازمیه‌لم	yazmayalım	-	-	سوبله‌لم	sevibilelim
		یازمه یازمیڭ	yazma yazmayın	یازمیڭز	yazmayınız	سوبل سوبلڭ	sevibil sevibilin	سوبلڭز	sevibiliniz
		یازمسون	yazmasın	یازمسونلر	yazmasınlar	سوبلسون	sevibilsin	سوبلسونلر	sevibilsinler

Compound verbs

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 (ایتمك etmek) or to become (اولمق olmaq). For example, note the following two verbs:

• راضی اولمق razı olmaq (to consent) ;
• قتل ایتمك katletmek (to slaughter); تشكر ایتمك teşekkür etmek (to thank);
• ایو اولنمق iyi olunmak (to get better).

Below table shows some sample conjugations of these two verbs. The conjugation of the verb "etmek" isn't 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.

		اولمق olmaq 'To become'				ایتمك etmek 'To do'
Indicative	Present Imperfect	اولیورم	oluyorum	اولیورز	oluyoruz	ایدیورم	ediyorum	ایدیورز	ediyoruz
		اولیورسن	oluyorsun	اولیورسڭز	oluyorsunuz	ایدیورسن	ediyorsun	ایدیورسڭز	ediyorsunuz
		اولیور	oluyor	اولیورلر	oluyorlar	ایدیور	ediyor	ایدیورلر	ediyorlar
	Past Imperfect	اولیوردم	oluyordum	اولیوردق	oluyorduk	ایدیوردم	ediyordum	ایدیوردق	ediyorduk
		اولیوردڭ	oluyordun	اولیوردڭز	oluyordunuz	ایدیوردڭ	ediyordun	ایدیوردڭز	ediyordunuz
		اولیوردی	oluyordu	اولیوردیلر	oluyordular	ایدیوردی	ediyordu	ایدیوردیلر	ediyordular
	Present Aorist	اولورم	olurum	اولورز	oluruz	ایدرم	ederim	ایدرز	ederiz
		اولورسن	olursun	اولورسڭز	olursunuz	ایدرسن	edersin	ایدرسڭز	edersiniz
		اولور	olur	اولورلر	olurlar	ایدر	eder	ایدرلر	ederler
	Past Perfect	اولدم	oldum	اولدق	olduk	ایتدم	ettim	ایتدك	ettik
		اولدڭ	oldun	اولدڭز	oldunuz	ایتدڭ	ettin	ایتدڭز	ettiniz
		اولدی	oldu	اولدیلر	oldular	ایتدی	etti	ایتدیلر	ettiler
	Future	اوله‌جغم	olacağım	اوله‌جغز	olacağız	ایده‌جگم	edeceğim	ایده‌جگز	edeceğiz
		اوله‌جقسن	olacaksın	اوله‌جقسڭز	olacaksınız	ایده‌جكسن	edeceksin	ایده‌جكسڭز	edeceksiniz
		اوله‌جق	olacak	اوله‌جقلر	olacaklar	ایده‌جك	edecek	ایده‌جكلر	edecekler
Necessitative	Aorist	اولملویم	olmalıyım	اولملویز	olmalıyız	ایتملییم	etmeliyim	ایتملییز	etmeliyiz
		اولملوسن	olmalısın	اولملوسڭز	olmalısınız	ایتملیسن	etmelisin	ایتملیسڭز	etmelisiniz
		اولملو	olmalı	اولملولر	olmalılar	ایتملی	etmeli	ایتملیلر	etmeliler
	Past	اولملویدم	olmalıydım	اولملویدق	olmalıydık	ایتملییدم	etmeliydim	ایتملییدق	etmeliydik
		اوللویدڭ	olmalıydın	اولملویدڭز	olmalıydınız	ایتملییدڭ	etmeliydin	ایتکلییدڭز	etmeliydiniz
		اولملویدی	olmalıydı	اولملویدیلر	olmalıydılar	ایتملییدی	etmeliydi	ایتملییدیلر	etmeliydiler
Optative	Present	اوله‌یم	olayım	اوله‌یز اوله‌لم	olayız olalım	ایده‌یم	edeyim	ایده‌یز ایده‌لم	edeeyiz edelim
		اوله‌سن	olasın	اوله‌سڭز	olasınız	ایده‌سن	edesin	ایده‌سڭز	edesiniz
		اوله	ola	اوله‌لر	olalar	ایده	ede	ایده‌لر	edeler
Imperative		-	-	اوله‌لم	olalım	-	-	ایده‌لم	edelim
		اول اولڭ	ol olun	اولڭز	olunuz	ایت ایدڭ	et edin	ایدڭز	ediniz
		اولسون	olsun	اولسونلر	olsunlar	ایتسون	etsin	ایتسونلر	etsinler

'to be' and 'not to be' Verbs

In Turkish, there is a verb representing to be, but it is a defective verb. It doesn't have an infinitive or several other tenses. It is usually a suffix.

		'To be'
Indicative	Present	م یم	-ım -im -um -üm -yim, -yım, -yüm, -yum	ز یز	-iz, -ız, -üz, -uz -yiz, -yız, -yüz, -yuz
		سن	-sın -sin -sun -sün	سڭز	-sınız -siniz -sunuz -sünüz
		در	-tir, -tır, -tür, -tur -dir, -dır, -dür, -dur	درلر	-tirler, -tırlar, -türler, -turlar -dirler, -dırlar, -dürler, -durlar
	Past	دیم	idim	ایدك	idik
		ایدڭ	idin	ایدڭز	idiniz
		ایدی	idi	ایدی	idiler
Conditional	Aorist	ایسم	isem	ایسك	isek
		ایسڭ	isen	ایسڭز	iseniz
		ایسه	ise	ایسه‌لر	iseler
	Past	ایسیدم	iseydim	ایسیدك	iseydik
		ایسیدڭ	iseydin	ایسیدڭز	iseydiniz
		ایسیدی	iseydi	ایسیدیلر	iseydiler

Negative verb to be is created with the use of the word دگل değil, followed by the appropriate conjugation of the to 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 کندم ایچون حاضر دگلسیدم. / Eğer kendim için hazır değilseydim.: 'If I'm not ready for myself.'

'to exist/have' and 'not to exist/have' Verbs

Generally, the verbs 'to exist' and 'to have' are expressed using what's called an existential copula, the word وار var.

• 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 copula وار var, followed by the 3rd person singular form of the verb 'to do: ایتمك etmek 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 copula یوق yok 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'

Verb Construction

Turkish being an agglutinative 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 verb تپمك tepmek meaning 'to kick', whose root (which is also 2nd person imperative) is تپ tep. Each of the produced new verbs below can be made into an infinitive with the addition of ـمك -mek at the end.^[8]

Classes		Active
		Transitive or Intransitive	Transitive or Intransitive	Intransitive
		Determinate	Indeterminate	Reciprocal
Afirmative	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
Afirmative	Simple	تپل (tepil) be kicked	تپنل (tepinil) be kicked about	تپشل (tepişil) be mutually kick in
	Causative (Permissive)	تپدرل (teptiril) be mad 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

Structure

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 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.^[11][12][13]

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.^[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 Türkçe فصیح تورکچه (Eloquent Turkish): the language of poetry and administration, Ottoman Turkish in its strict sense;
• Orta Türkçe اورتا تورکچه (Middle Turkish): the language of higher classes and trade;
• Kaba Türkçe قبا تورکچه (Rough Turkish): the language of lower classes.

A person would use each of the varieties above for different purposes, with the fasih variant being the most heavily suffused with Arabic and Persian words and kaba the least. For example, a scribe would use the Arabic asel (عسل) to refer to honey when writing a document but would use the native Turkish word bal (بال) when buying it.

Numbers

See also: Eastern Arabic numerals

Cardinal numbers^[15]

1	١	بر	bir
2	٢	ایكی	iki
3	٣	اوچ	üç
4	٤	درت	dört
5	٥	بش	beş
6	٦	آلتی	altı
7	٧	یدی	yedi
8	٨	سكز	sekiz
9	٩	طقوز	dokuz
10	١٠	اون	on
11	١١	اون بر	on bir
12	١٢	اون ایکی	on iki

Transliterations

See also: Ottoman Turkish alphabet

The transliteration system of the İslâm Ansiklopedisi has become a de facto standard in Oriental studies for the transliteration of Ottoman Turkish texts.^[16] In transcription, the New Redhouse, Karl Steuerwald, and Ferit Devellioğlu dictionaries have become standard.^[17] Another transliteration system is the Deutsche 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.

İA-Transliteration^[19]

ا

ب

پ

ت

ث

ج

چ

ح

خ

د

ذ

ر

ز

ژ

س

ش

ص

ض

ط

ظ

ع

غ

ف

ق

ك

گ

ڭ

ل

م

ن

و

ه

ی

ʾ/ā

b

p

t

s

c

ç

ḥ

ḫ

d

ẕ

r

z

j

s

ş

ṣ

ż

ṭ

ẓ

[ʿ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help)

ġ

f

ḳ

k,g,ñ,ğ

g

ñ

l

m

n

v

h

y

See also

• Languages portal
• Turkey portal

• Old Anatolian Turkish language
• Culture of the Ottoman Empire
• List of Persian loanwords in Turkish

Notes

1. The national language was called "Turkish" in the 1921 and 1924 constitutions of the Republic of Turkey.^[2]

References

1. "Turkey – Language Reform: From Ottoman To Turkish". Countrystudies.us. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
2. "5662". DergiPark.
3. Glenny, Misha (2001). The Balkans — Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804–1999. Penguin. p. 99.
4. Kerslake, Celia (1998). "Ottoman Turkish". In Lars Johanson; Éva Á. Csató (eds.). Turkic Languages. New York: Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 0415082005.
5. Aytürk, İlker (July 2008). "The First Episode of Language Reform in Republican Turkey: The Language Council from 1926 to 1931". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 18 (3): 277. doi:10.1017/S1356186308008511. hdl:11693/49487. ISSN 1474-0591. S2CID 162474551.
6. Pamuk, Humeyra (December 9, 2014). "Erdogan's Ottoman language drive faces backlash in Turkey". Reuters. Istanbul. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
7. Redhouse, William James. A Simplified Grammar of the Ottoman-Turkish Language. p. 52.
8. Sir James William Redhouse (1884). A simplified grammar of the Ottoman-Turkish language. Trübner.
9. Charles Wells (1880). A practical grammar of the Turkish language (as spoken and written). B. Quaritch. Online copies from Google Books: (PDF can be accessed at: archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.31137)
10. Bertold Spuler [de]. Persian Historiography & Geography Pustaka Nasional Pte Ltd ISBN 9971774887 p 69
11. Percy Ellen Algernon Frederick William Smythe Strangford, Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe Strangford, Emily Anne Beaufort Smythe Strangford, "Original Letters and Papers of the late Viscount Strangford upon Philological and Kindred Subjects", Published by Trübner, 1878. pg 46: "The Arabic words in Turkish have all decidedly come through a Persian channel. I can hardly think of an exception, except in quite late days, when Arabic words have been used in Turkish in a different sense from that borne by them in Persian."
12. 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.
13. 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".
14. Korkut Bugday. An Introduction to Literary Ottoman Routledge, 5 dec. 2014 ISBN 978-1134006557 p XV.
15. Hagopian, V. H. (1907). Ottoman-Turkish conversation-grammar; a practical method of learning the Ottoman-Turkish language. Heidelberg: J. Groos. p. 89. Retrieved 5 May 2018 – via Internet Archive.
16. Korkut Buğday Osmanisch, p. 2
17. Korkut Buğday Osmanisch, p. 13
18. Transkriptionskommission der DMG Die Transliteration der arabischen Schrift in ihrer Anwendung auf die Hauptliteratursprachen der islamischen Welt, p. 9 Archived 2012-07-22 at the Wayback Machine
19. Korkut Buğday Osmanisch, p. 2f.

Further reading

English

• V. H. Hagopian (1907). Ottoman-Turkish conversation-grammar: a practical method of learning the Ottoman-Turkish language, Volume 1. D. Nutt. Online copies: , ,
• Charles Wells (1880). A practical grammar of the Turkish language (as spoken and written). B. Quaritch. Online copies from Google Books: , ,
• V. H. Hagopian (1908). Key to the Ottoman-Turkish conversation-grammar. Nutt.
• Sir James William Redhouse (1884). A simplified grammar of the Ottoman-Turkish language. Trübner.
• Frank Lawrence Hopkins (1877). Elementary grammar of the Turkish language: with a few easy exercises. Trübner.
• Sir James William Redhouse (1856). An English and Turkish dictionary: in two parts, English and Turkish, and Turkish and English. B. Quarich.
• Sir James William Redhouse (1877). A lexicon, English and Turkish: shewing in Turkish, the literal, incidental, figurative, colloquial, and technical significations of the English terms, indicating their pronunciation in a new and systematic manner; and preceded by a sketch of English etymology, to facilitate to Turkish students ... (2nd ed.). Printed for the mission by A.H. Boyajian.
• Charles Boyd, Charles Boyd (Major.) (1842). The Turkish interpreter: or, A new grammar of the Turkish language. Printed for the author.
• Thomas Vaughan (1709). A Grammar of The Turkish Language. Robinson.
• William Burckhardt Barker (1854). A practical grammar of the Turkish language: With dialogues and vocabulary. B. Quaritch.
• William Burckhardt Barker, Nasr-al-Din (khwajah.) (1854). A reading book of the Turkish language: with a grammar and vocabulary ; containing a selection of original tales, literally translated, and accompanied by grammatical references : the pronunciation of each word given as now used in Constantinople. J. Madden.
• James William Redhouse (sir.) (1855). The Turkish campaigner's vade-mecum of Ottoman colloquial language.
• 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).
• 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. Aix-en-Provence: Edisud. pp. 129–138.
• Korkut M. Buğday (1999). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag (ed.). Osmanisch: Einführung in die Grundlagen der Literatursprache.

External links

• Latin to Ottoman Turkish transliteration
• 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