Your ideas about Turkish which has over 150 million speakers

Selçuk from Turkey   Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:11 pm GMT
I just wonder if you had ever tried to learn it or wondered it.It's a language that must be researched.Take care of Turkish, as Napoleon told you to do this because Turkish has a long lasting future.Just do research on it because you will be fascinated by Turkish language which is the past of the Great Ottoman Empire!
Guest   Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:17 pm GMT
Naaahh it's still far from reaching English, Spanish, Chinese, German or even French.
Selçuk from Turkey   Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:20 pm GMT
I didn't prepare this subject for animals out of humanity.I prepared this for humans.Please I am waiting for HUMAN's ideas!
Sander   Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:28 pm GMT
* Actually Turkish has about 75 million speakers, of which 60 million natively.

* The language has been researched, like most languages.

* The future of Turkish is about as long lasting as any language spoken by more that 10 million people.

* I don't see the direct link between Turkish and the Ottoman empire, which wasn't so 'great' as it's responsible from much of the present tensions in the middle east.


Those are my ideas on Turkish.Satisfied?
Selcuk   Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:36 pm GMT
You must agree that the Ottoman Empire was the greatest one your grand granddads could ever see!Or you don't know your country's history!You learn it and then come here and respond my forum, ok?Turkish isn't just Turkey's Turkish!Turkish is Kazakhstan's, Uzbekistan's, Turkmenistan's, Azerbaijan's and so on's Turkish!We Turkey's Turkish can also understand others!You search it and then speak to me courageously, ok?
Piotr   Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:41 pm GMT
The Turks were one of many linguistic and ethnic groups within the Ottoman Empire. Members of the military, civil and religious elite conducted their business in Ottoman Turkish dialect, a mixture of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. Arabic was the primary language of religion and religious law, while Persian was the language of art, literature. and diplomacy. Ottoman Turkish borrowed vocabulary words as well as entire expressions and syntactic structures from Arabic and Persian.

Pure Turkish was used primarily by the lower class and illiterate. It was generally not used in writing. Ottoman Turkish, on the other hand, was the language of the educated elite, in both written and oral communications .

When Mustafa Kemal Ataturk came to power in 1923, he instituted sweeping reforms in Turkey. One of these reforms dealt with language. The goal was to introduce a language more Turkish, modern, practical, precise, and easier to learn than the old language. The two basic elements of this language reform were the adoption of a new alphabet and the purification of the language.

Beginning in May, 1928, numbers written in Arabic were replaced with their Westem equivalents. In November of that year, the Grand National Assembly approved the new Roman (or Latin) alphabet, which had been devised by a committee of scholars including several American linguists.

Although some assembly members favored introducing the new system gradually over a period of years, Ataturk was determined that the transition last only a few months. As one who set an example by doing, Ataturk traveled throughout Turkey with chalk and a portable blackboard, personally teaching the new alphabet in schools, village squares, and other public places. On January 1, 1929, it became unlawful to use the Arabic alphabet.

The new alphabet represents the Turkish vowels and consonants more clearly that does the old alphabet.

Composed of Latin letters and a few additional variants including s (as in church), 6 (as in shell), and U (as in few), it contains one symbol for each sound of standard Turkish. The adoption of the Latin alphabet was a conscious tum away from the Islamic world and toward the West.

The long-term effects of the language reform have been considered positive overall. Reading, spelling, and printing are now mush simpler than before, and literacy has greatly increased. Modem Turkish is more direct and concise than Ottoman Turkish which makes it better suited to modem life, including science and technology.

Guide to Pronunciation

Pronunciation of Turkish words is phonetic with all letters having the same value in every situation. The Turkish alphabet contains all the letters of the English alphabet except for q, x, and w. In general, most letters are pronounced about the same as in English with a few exceptions.

The stress on Turkish words is more pronounced than in English. It usually falls on the last syllable, although many people argue it is the first syllable. Names of places are the exceptions where stress can be on any syllable, such as Istanbul, Marmaris, and Izmir.
Sander   Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:53 pm GMT
=>You must agree that the Ottoman Empire was the greatest one your grand granddads could ever see!Or you don't know your country's history!You learn it and then come here and respond my forum, ok?Turkish isn't just Turkey's Turkish!Turkish is Kazakhstan's, Uzbekistan's, Turkmenistan's, Azerbaijan's and so on's Turkish!We Turkey's Turkish can also understand others!You search it and then speak to me courageously, ok? <=

I'm not very impressed by that tone of yours selcuk.
The 'greatest empire' in the sense of size was the empire of the mogol empire, which included Turkey btw.

http://www.silk-road.com/maps/images/mongol.jpg

No matter how far my great-grandfathers would have looked, they'd never would have seen Turkey, not even Istanbul.

Turkish is a national language in: Turkey, Cyprus, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Bulgaria,and the Republic of Macedonia.

* In Uzbekistan , they speak Uzbek.Uzbekistan has 25 million inhabitants, 18 million of them speak Uzbek - a Eastern turkic language -.

* In Azerbaijan, they speak Azerbaijani.Azerbaijanhas 8 million inhabitants, 8 million of them speak Azerbaijani - a Southern turkic language -.

* In Kazakhstan, they speak Kazakh and Russian.Kazakhstan has 15 million inhabitants, 8 million of them speak Kazakh - a western turkic language -.

* In Turkmenistan , they speak Turkmen.Turkmenistan has 5 million inhabitants, 3.5 million of them speak Turkmen - a Southern turkic language -.

Even if they are the same language, which you claim, that totals as 18+8+8+3.5 = 37,5 + 60 native Turks still is under 100 million speakers.Not by far 150million as you claim.

I think YOU need to get your facts straight, Selcuk.
Alex   Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:55 pm GMT
I started to learn Turkish two years ago.I have some problems with it.Because Turkish too many different rules from European languages.Turkish has vowel harmony which I have still problem with it.It's very difficult for foreigners to understand it.And it si full of suffixes.And these suffixes come together and make a very long sentence sometimes:
Çekoslovakyalılaştıramadıklarımızdan mıymışsınız? means "Are you one of the people who we couldn't make Czech?"
And a very interesting tense called miş'li geçmiş zaman.
They, Turkish use it when they hear a news indirectly, when someone else tell the news to the speaker.Different, isn't it?
Selçuk from Turkey   Sun Jan 15, 2006 10:59 am GMT
Thank you Brennus.I hope you enjoyed studying Turkish.
Frank   Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:09 pm GMT
My friend knows Turkish very well. Actually he's a teacher of Turkish and now he's gone to ankara for 8 monts. He says it's a relatively easy language. Is "character" really translated into Turkish like "huy"? It's very funny for us because in Russian "huy" it's a very bad word, meaning "penis"
As regards Azerbajdzan, Kazakh, Uzbek they are definitely different languages, not just Turkish dialects.
Selçuk from Turkey   Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:14 pm GMT
We Turkish people say "huy, davranış" for "manner".And we say "Karakter" for "Character".I'm very please to hear that your friend knows Turkish.I'm happy to learn that meaning for "huy" in Russian :-)
Thank you Frank
Sander   Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:19 pm GMT
=>You must agree that the Ottoman Empire was the greatest one your grand granddads could ever see!Or you don't know your country's history!You learn it and then come here and respond my forum, ok?Turkish isn't just Turkey's Turkish!Turkish is Kazakhstan's, Uzbekistan's, Turkmenistan's, Azerbaijan's and so on's Turkish!We Turkey's Turkish can also understand others!You search it and then speak to me courageously, ok? <=

I'm not very impressed by that tone of yours selcuk.
The 'greatest empire' in the sense of size was the empire of the mogol empire, which included Turkey btw.

http://www.silk-road.com/maps/images/mongol.jpg

No matter how far my great-grandfathers would have looked, they'd never would have seen Turkey, not even Istanbul.

Turkish is a national language in: Turkey, Cyprus, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Bulgaria,and the Republic of Macedonia.

* In Uzbekistan , they speak Uzbek.Uzbekistan has 25 million inhabitants, 18 million of them speak Uzbek - a Eastern turkic language -.

* In Azerbaijan, they speak Azerbaijani.Azerbaijanhas 8 million inhabitants, 8 million of them speak Azerbaijani - a Southern turkic language -.

* In Kazakhstan, they speak Kazakh and Russian.Kazakhstan has 15 million inhabitants, 8 million of them speak Kazakh - a western turkic language -.

* In Turkmenistan , they speak Turkmen.Turkmenistan has 5 million inhabitants, 3.5 million of them speak Turkmen - a Southern turkic language -.

Even if they are the same language, which you claim, that totals as 18+8+8+3.5 = 37,5 + 60 native Turks still is under 100 million speakers.Not by far 150million as you claim.

I think YOU need to get your facts straight, Selcuk.
Selçuk from Turkey   Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:24 pm GMT
But we, Turkey's people can understand Azerbaijan's and Cyprus's Turkish.Because they are very very very alike ours.But Khazak, Uzbek, Kyrgiz's Turkish is undestood by us, too.Uzbek and Turkey's Turkish are as different as Italian and Spanish.So we can understand each other, no need to translator.For example they say "men" and we say "ben" for "I".And Russians say "чай" for "tea" and we Turkishs say "çay".It is read the same.
Selçuk from Turkey   Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:29 pm GMT
Hey Sander.Do you know how many tourists come to Turkey each year.Russians come, Ukrainians come,Gemans come, Britishs come, Italians, Spanishs, Frenchs, so on.Do you know that?It's your deficiency that yours don't come!Russians come to work here, too.Over 2,000,000 people come to enjoy here and live here!
Selçuk from Turkey   Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:36 pm GMT
You visit the site if you don't believe the greatness of the Ottoman Empire, Sander! :
http://www.ottomansouvenir.com/General/maps_of_ottoman_empire.htm