Ottoman Turkish facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ottoman Turkish
لسان عثمانى Lisân-ı Osmânî
Ottoman Turkish written in Nastaliq style (لسان عثمانى)
Region	Ottoman Empire
Ethnicity	Ottoman Turks
Era	c. 15th century; developed into Modern Turkish in 1928
Language family	Turkic Common Turkic Oghuz Western Oghuz Ottoman Turkish
Early forms:	Old Anatolian Turkish Ottoman 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)
Linguist List	ota

Ottoman Turkish (Ottoman Turkish: لِسانِ عُثمانى, romanized: Lisân-ı Osmânî) was the official language of the Ottoman Empire, which existed from the 14th to the 20th century. It was a special version, or register, of the Turkish language. This language borrowed many words and grammar rules from Arabic and Persian.

People who spoke Ottoman Turkish used the Ottoman Turkish alphabet for writing. This alphabet was based on the Perso-Arabic script. At the peak of the Ottoman Empire's power, in the 16th century, a large part of the words used in Ottoman Turkish came from Arabic and Persian. Sometimes, up to 88% of the words in a text were foreign.

Because of all these borrowed words, Ottoman Turkish was often hard for ordinary people to understand. Most people in the countryside or those with less education spoke a simpler form of Turkish. This simpler language, called kaba Türkçe (meaning "rough Turkish"), had far fewer foreign words. This "rough Turkish" is actually the basis for the Modern Turkish spoken today.

What Made Ottoman Turkish Unique?

Ottoman Turkish was very different from everyday Turkish. It was heavily influenced by Arabic and Persian languages. Many words from these languages became part of Ottoman Turkish.

Interestingly, most Arabic words came into Ottoman Turkish through Persian. This means they often sounded more like Persian words. This also happened in other Turkic languages like Tatar and Uyghur.

From the start of the Ottoman Empire, so many Arabic and Persian words were borrowed that it was hard to find original Turkish words. Sometimes, whole sentences in Arabic or Persian were used directly in Ottoman texts. It wasn't just words; many grammar rules from Persian and Arabic were also adopted.

Different Ways of Speaking

People in the Ottoman Empire used different versions of Ottoman Turkish depending on the situation. There were mainly three types:

• Fasih Türkçe (Eloquent Turkish): This was the most formal version. It was used for poetry and official government documents. It had the most Arabic and Persian words.
• Orta Türkçe (Middle Turkish): This was spoken by the upper classes and used in trade. It was less formal than Eloquent Turkish.
• Kaba Türkçe (Rough Turkish): This was the language of the common people. It had the fewest Arabic and Persian words.

Imagine a government writer. They might use the Arabic word asel (عسل) for "honey" in an official report. But if they went to the market to buy honey, they would use the native Turkish word bal.

A Brief History of the Language

Ottoman Turkish changed over time. Historians divide its development into three main periods:

• Eski Osmanlı Türkçesi (Old Ottoman Turkish): This version was used until the 16th century. It was very similar to the Turkish spoken by the Seljuk Empire.
• Orta Osmanlı Türkçesi (Middle Ottoman Turkish) or Klasik Osmanlıca (Classical Ottoman Turkish): This was the language of poetry and government from the 16th century until the mid-1800s.
• Yeni Osmanlı Türkçesi (New Ottoman Turkish): This version developed from the 1850s to the 20th century. It was influenced by newspapers and Western books.

How the Language Changed

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire and World War I, the Republic of Turkey was formed in 1928. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of the new republic, started big language reforms. These changes were part of his plan to modernize Turkey.

One major change was replacing many Persian and Arabic words with Turkish ones. Another huge change was replacing the old Perso-Arabic writing system with the Latin alphabet. These changes aimed to make written Turkish closer to how people spoke. They also helped create a new national identity for Turkey, separate from the old Ottoman Empire.

Here are some examples of words that changed:

Ottoman Turkish Today

Ottoman Turkish is the ancestor of Modern Turkish. However, they are not exactly the same. Modern Turkish uses the Latin alphabet and has many new words. It has far fewer borrowed words from other languages.

When the language reform happened, the writing system changed first. Most Turkish people at the time could not read or write, so switching to the Latin alphabet was easier. Then, many old loanwords were removed, and new words were added, especially for new technologies.

Until the 1960s, people who spoke Modern Turkish could still understand some of Ottoman Turkish. One big difference is that Modern Turkish rarely uses compound words formed with Arabic or Persian grammar rules.

In 2014, Turkey's Education Council decided that Ottoman Turkish should be taught in some high schools. It can also be an elective subject in other schools. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan supported this decision. He believes teaching the language helps younger generations connect with their cultural history.

Writing System

A calendar from Thessaloniki in 1896, showing Ottoman script.

Most Ottoman Turkish was written using the Ottoman Turkish alphabet (Ottoman Turkish: الفبا, romanized: elifbâ). This was a version of the Perso-Arabic script. However, people sometimes used other alphabets too. For example, Armenians used the Armenian alphabet, Greeks used the Greek alphabet, and Jews sometimes used the Rashi script (a form of the Hebrew alphabet).

Numbers in Ottoman Turkish

Here are some numbers in Ottoman Turkish:

Images for kids

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  A poem about Rumi in Ottoman Turkish.

See also

In Spanish: Idioma turco otomano para niños

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