Origins of the Turkish Language

Merhaba Arkadaşlar! Welcome to Turkish Lessons

It’s going to be an exciting journey. Before we start learning any words, we need to speak about the origins of the Turkish language. From the steppes of Central Asia to the bustling cities of modern Turkiye, the Turkish language has a rich and diverse history. Let’s dive into the origins and evolution of this fascinating language.

1. Steppes

Our story begins in the Proto-Turk era, a time long before recorded history. The Proto-Turkic language was spoken by early Turkic peoples in the steppes of Central Asia. Whole nations’ destinies were shaped around these great steppes. These nomadic tribes roamed vast expanses, developing a unique culture deeply connected to the land, which also vastly affected the language.

2. Ural-Altaic Language Family

The concept of the Altaic language family has been a topic of significant debate among linguists. It was proposed as a hypothetical language family that includes several language groups spoken in Eurasia. Can you imagine the Korean language is closer to the Turkish language than any Indo-European languages?

Even though it became controversial after the 1960s, all these languages have common features. Some of the interesting features are:

• Vowel Harmony: All these languages have a feature called vowel harmony. For example, in Turkish, the plural suffix is -ler or -lar. We check the last vowel in a word to add our suffix. For instance, “Ev” means house, and “Evler” means houses. We used the -ler suffix here because the last vowel in “ev” is e. “Araba” means car, and “Arabalar” means cars. We used the -lar suffix because the last vowel is a in “araba.” Or in Finnish, “sa” or “sä” means in. Again, we check the last vowel and add accordingly. “Talo” means house, “talossa” means in the house, or “vede” means water, “vedessä” means in the water.
• No Grammatical Gender: We don’t have he, she, it. In Turkish, we use “O” for all of them, in Hungarian, it’s “ő.”
• Agglutinative Morphology: This means that we can add suffixes after suffixes, and each suffix will change the meaning, also meaning that we can make longer words. Which also means that we can mean more with fewer words. For example, “görüşemeyeceklermiş.”
• Postpositions Instead of Prepositions: In Turkish, “evin içinde” (inside the house) and in Hungarian, “házban” (in the house).
• SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) Word Order: We follow a subject-object-verb (SOV) structure when constructing sentences. For example:
  • In Turkish: “Ben elma yiyorum.”
  • In Korean: “나는 사과를 먹는다.”
  • In Finnish: “Minä syön omenan.”

3. First Turkic State

Back to the origins of the language: fast forward to the time of the Huns in the 3rd century BC. That state was established in 220 BC, and the supreme leader was Mete Han. Mete Han created the decimal army system, which means that every 10 soldiers has a commander called “onbaşı,” every 10 “onbaşı” has “yüzbaşı,” and it goes like this. This system is still used in the Turkish army.

Today, the Turkish Land Forces claims the beginning of his reign in 209 BCE as its symbolic founding date, which we can see under the army emblem. Then some of the Hunnic tribes moved to the west and built another Hun state, the European Hun state. Under the leadership of Attila, the Huns created an empire that stretched across Europe and Asia. Their language and culture influenced many other tribes and regions, spreading elements of Turkic languages far and wide.

4. First Written Texts

Back to the steppes. The vast steppes of Central Asia were home to many Turkic tribes. These nomadic peoples lived in yurts, herded livestock, and traveled with the seasons. Their way of life and oral traditions helped preserve and transmit their language across generations. Early Turkic peoples were primarily nomadic, which meant they relied more on oral traditions rather than written records. This nomadic lifestyle made the preservation of written texts less common.

One of the earliest known written forms of Turkish is found in the Göktürk Yazıtları, or the Orkhon Inscriptions. Dating back to the 8th century, these inscriptions provide invaluable insights into the language, history, and beliefs of the Göktürks.

5. Journey of Turkish

The early Turkic tribes, such as the Göktürks, Uighurs, and Khazars, played a crucial role in the development of the Turkish language. Each tribe contributed to the linguistic and cultural tapestry that would become the Turkish language as we know it today.

The Seljuks and Ottomans were instrumental in shaping the Turkish language. The Seljuk Empire, which had two states, brought Turkish into the Islamic world, enriching it with Persian and Arabic influences. Later, the Ottoman Empire, with its vast and diverse territories, further developed and standardized Turkish. The Ottoman Turkish language incorporated many loanwords from Arabic, Persian, and other languages, creating a rich and complex linguistic heritage.

6. After the Republic

With the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, significant linguistic reforms were undertaken. One of the most notable changes was the adoption of the Latin alphabet in 1928, replacing the Arabic script. This reform, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, aimed to modernize the language and increase literacy rates. Another linguistic reform was purification. Atatürk aimed to purge the Turkish language of Arabic, Persian, and other foreign influences that had accumulated over centuries. The goal was to replace these loanwords with Turkish-origin words or newly coined terms. This process was known as “language purification” (özleştirme). The Turkish Language Association (Türk Dil Kurumu) was established in 1932 to oversee and promote these efforts. With these reforms, loanwords in Turkish fell down to 11%. But I need to remind you that 9% is still used very commonly in daily speech.

7. The Language of the Future

Lastly, to understand the future of Turkish with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the decline of Russian influence in Central Asia, Turkic countries are getting closer to each other day by day. The Organization of Turkic States was built in recent years. Noted that the 1st Summit of the Turkic Council held in Almaty marks a new era in the development of bilateral and multilateral relations and cooperation amongst Turkic States. Motivated by their common history, culture, identity, and language, they expressed their determination to further develop mutual interests, relations, and solidarity.

Turkish is not just a language of the past; it is a language of the future. As global dynamics shift, the importance of Turkish is poised to rise. Embrace the opportunity today, and be a part of the future tomorrow.

“Turkish language,” “origins of Turkish,” “Proto-Turkic language,” “Ural-Altaic language family,” “Seljuk Empire,” “Ottoman Empire,” “Turkish Republic,” and “Organization of Turkic States”