Languages of the Ottoman Empire

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Languages of the Ottoman Empire
Zazaki, Bosnian
ForeignFrench

The language of the court and government of the

Arabia, North Africa, Mesopotamia and the Levant.[4]

Although the minorities of the Ottoman Empire were free to use their language amongst themselves, if they needed to communicate with the government they had to use Ottoman Turkish.[5] Some ordinary people had to hire special "request-writers" (arzuhâlcis) to be able to communicate with the government.[6] In villages where two or more populations lived together, the inhabitants would often speak each other's languages. In cosmopolitan cities, people often spoke their family languages, and many non-ethnic Turks spoke Turkish as a second language.[citation needed] Educated Ottoman Turks spoke Arabic and Persian, as these were the main non-Turkish languages in the pre-Tanzimat era.[7][1]

Italian seems to have remained the best known European language among Turks for some time, and as late as the nineteenth century (B.Lewis “The muslim discovery of Europe”, III On language and translation). The original version of the treaty of Küçük Kaynarka(1774) between Ottoman and Russian Empire was in Italian and was later translated in Russian and Turkish.

In the last two centuries, French and English emerged as popular languages, especially among the Christian

Levantine communities. The elite learned French at school, and used European products as a fashion statement.[citation needed] The use of Ottoman Turkish for science and literature grew steadily under the Ottomans, while Persian declined in those functions. During this period, Ottoman Turkish gained many loanwords from Arabic and Persian.[4]

Linguistic groups were varied and overlapping. In the Balkan Peninsula,

Aramaic—were also spoken. In Syria, Iraq, Arabia, Egypt and north Africa, most of the population spoke varieties of Arabic while elites spoke Turkish. However, in no province of the Empire was a single language spoken exclusively.[8]

Translations of government documents

As a result of having multiple linguistic groups, the Ottoman authorities had government documents translated into other languages, especially in the pre-

Ottoman Constitution of 1876.[13]

Alsina-i Thalātha

Ottoman Turkish

See also:
Ottoman Turkish language

Throughout the empire's history, Turkish enjoyed official status,[1] having an important role as the lingua franca of the multilingual governing elite.[14] Written in Perso-Arabic script, Ottoman Turkish contained many loanwords from Arabic and Persian.[15] The 1876 Constitution of the Ottoman Empire stated that Ottoman Turkish was the official language of the government and that in order to take a public office post, one had to know Ottoman Turkish.[16]

Vekayi-i giridiyye, a newspaper published in Egypt after 1830, was the first newspaper in the Turkish language in the empire. It was published in both Turkish and Greek.[9]

At the time of the empire, Turkish fluency was low among Jewish people, who interacted with their millet in other languages and who had a lack of opportunity to learn Turkish.[17]

Arabic

Arabic was the liturgical and legal language of the empire,[1] being one of the two major languages (along with Ottoman Turkish) for Ilm (Ottoman Turkish: ulûm).[1][18]

Arabic was the language taught in the Madaris.

Maddhab of the empire.[24]

The Arabic newspaper

Ottoman Constitution of 1876.[26]

Several provincial newspapers (

Ottoman Turkish: vilayet gazeteleri) were written in Arabic.[25] The first Arabic language newspaper published in the Arab area of the empire was Ḥadīqat al-Akhbār, which Strauss has described as having a "semi-official" status.[27] There was a French edition with the title Hadikat-el-Akhbar. Journal de Syrie et Liban.[28] Others include the Tunis-based Al-Rāʾid at-Tūnisī and the bilingual Ottoman Turkish-Arabic paper in Iraq, Zevra/al-Zawrāʾ. According to Strauss, the latter had "the highest prestige, at least for a while" of the provincial Arabic newspapers.[29]

During the

Pan-Islamist propaganda.[30]

The Düstur was published in Arabic.[10] Ziya Pasha wrote a satirical article about the difficulty of translating it into Arabic, suggesting that Ottoman Turkish needed to be changed to make governance easier.[31]

In 1915, the Arabic-language university Al-Kuliyya al-Ṣalaḥiyya (

Ottoman Turkish: Salahaddin-i Eyyubî Külliyye-i islamiyyesi) was established in Jerusalem.[32]

Persian

Akhtar
 ("The Star"), a newspaper in Persian

Persian was the language of the high court and literature between the 16th and 19th centuries.[1]

The Persian-language paper

Akhtar ("The Star") published Persian versions of Ottoman government documents, including the 1876 Constitution.[25]

According to Strauss, Persian versions of the Takvim-i Vekayi may have existed.[9]

Non-Muslim minority languages

In 1861, the Greek language newspaper Anatolikos Astēr ("Eastern Star") was established. Konstantinos Photiadis was the editor in chief,[33] and Demetrius Nicolaides served as an editor.[34] In 1867, Nicolaides established his own Greek-language newspaper, Kōnstantinoupolis. According to Strauss, this "was long to remain the most widely read Greek paper in the Ottoman Empire."[34] Nicolaides also edited Thrakē ("Thrace") and Avgi ("Aurora").[35]

There was a bilingual Turkish-Greek version of Vekayi-i giridiyye (Greek: Κρητική Εφημερίς).[9] The Edict of Gülhane and the Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856 were published in Greek.[9]

The Düstur was published in Armenian, Bulgarian, Greek and Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino), as well as in Turkish using the Armenian alphabet.[10] A version of the Düstur was also published in Karamanli Turkish.[10] The Mecelle was also published in Greek, with Photiadis and Ioannis Vithynos as co-translators.[36]

The

Ottoman Constitution of 1876 was published in multiple non-Muslim languages, including Armenian, Bulgarian, Greek and Judeao-Spanish[13] There was also a version in Turkish written in the Armenian alphabet.[37]

Moglena, while Aromanian was spoken all over the Balkans, but south the Romanian-speaking parts[clarify
].

When French-medium schools operated by

Alliance Israelite Universelle opened in the 1860s, the position of Judaeo-Spanish began to weaken in the Ottoman Empire areas. This resulted in a rapid loss of the language in time periods after the end of the empire.[38] Judaeo-Spanish was not used as a language of instruction in any time in history, and was instead acquired though families; therefore Hebrew was perceived as the ethnic instructional language for Jewish people, used for religious reasons, in the empire.[39]

Foreign languages

Beginning in the 1600s, many Christians took up certain educational professions as many Ottoman Muslims did not focus on foreign languages.[40]

French

Constantinople (Istanbul
), showing signage in Ottoman Turkish, French, Greek, and Armenian

As Westernisation increased during and after the

Young Turk groups, both used French.[44]

According to Strauss, "In a way reminiscent of English in the contemporary world, French was almost omnipresent in the Ottoman lands."[45] Strauss also stated that French was "a sort of semi-official language",[46] which "to some extent" had "replaced Turkish as an 'official' language for non-Muslims".[13] Strauss added that it "assumed some of the functions of Turkish and was even, in some respects, capable of replacing it."[46] As part of the process, French became the dominant language of modern sciences in the empire.[18]

Laws and official gazettes were published in French,

Treaty of Paris of 1856 "seems to have been translated from the French."[41] In particular versions of official documents in languages of non-Muslims such as the 1876 Constitution originated from the French translations.[41] French was also officially the working language of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the period after the Crimean War.[49]

In addition, newspapers written in other western European languages had editions in French or editions with portions in French.[45] The cities of Constantinople, Beirut, Salonika (Thessaloniki) and Smyrna (İzmir) had domestically-published French-language newspapers.[45]

In 1827

which?] also taught in French. By the 1860s advocates of French-language instruction and Ottoman Turkish–language instruction were engaged in a conflict; Turks advocated for Turkish while minoritarian groups and foreigners advocated for French.[45] Spyridon Mavrogenis, employed in the imperial medical school as a professor, advocated for the usage of French.[50] The empire later made Ottoman Turkish the language of the two medical schools.[45] Another French-medium medical school was Beirut's Faculté Française de Médecine de Beyrouth. The Turkish-medium Şam Mekteb-i tıbbiyye-i mulkiyye-i şahane in Damascus acquired books written in French and enacted French proficiency tests.[51] In 1880, a dual Ottoman Turkish and French-medium law school, Mekteb-i Hukuk, was established.[32]

Others

In 1904, Garnett wrote that many males of "official circles" within Constantinople "read, if they do not speak, English".[43]

In regards to foreign languages in general, Garnett stated "in all large towns there are quite as many Turks who read and write some foreign language as would be found in a corresponding class in this country [meaning the United Kingdom]."[43]

Gallery

  • Ottoman lira note from 1880, denominated in five languages: Armenian, Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, French, and Greek
    Ottoman lira note from 1880, denominated in five languages: Armenian, Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, French, and Greek
  • A fabric merchant's letterhead in six languages: French, Ottoman Turkish, Armenian, Ladino, Greek, and Bulgarian
    A fabric merchant's letterhead in six languages: French, Ottoman Turkish, Armenian, Ladino, Greek, and Bulgarian
  • 1896 calendar in Salonika (now Thessaloniki), a cosmopolitan city; the first three lines are in Ottoman script
    1896 calendar in Salonika (now Thessaloniki), a cosmopolitan city; the first three lines are in Ottoman script

Sources

  • Strauss, Johann (2010). "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages". In Herzog, Christoph; Malek Sharif (eds.). The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy.
    Martin Luther University
    )
  • Strauss, Johann (2016-07-07). "Language and power in the late Ottoman Empire". In Murphey, Rhoads (ed.). Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean: Recording the Imprint of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Rule. Routledge.

Notes

  1. ^ In Republic of Ragusa which was under Ottoman protection.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Saydam, Y., 2009. Language problems in the Ottoman empire. Ekklesiastikos Pharos, 91(1), pp.38-57.
  2. ^ a b c Strauss, J., 2003. Who Read What in the Ottoman Empire (19th-20th centuries)?. Middle Eastern Literatures, 6(1), pp.39-76.
  3. ^ "The Rise of the Turks and the Ottoman Empire". Archived from the original on 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9789004304994, as "DIE HISTORISCHE UND GEOGRAPHISCHE LITERATUR IN PERSISCHER SPRACHE
    ." Same pages cited: p. 163-165.
  5. ^ Language use in the Ottoman Empire and its problems, 1299-1923 Archived 2012-12-24 at archive.today
  6. ISBN 90-04-12101-3
    .
  7. ^
    doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.01.162
    . - From: Akdeniz Language Studies Conference 2012 - Cited: p. 1091.
  8. ^ Imber, Colin (2002). "The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power" (PDF). p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-26.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 22 (PDF p. 24)
  10. ^ a b c d Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 24 (PDF p. 26)
  11. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 23 (PDF p. 25)
  12. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 31 (PDF p. 33)
  13. ^
    ISBN 9781317118442), Google Books PT193
    .
  14. ^ Darling, L.T., 2012. 5. Ottoman Turkish: Written Language and Scribal Practice, 13th to 20th Centuries. In Literacy in the Persianate World (pp. 171-195). University of Pennsylvania Press.
  15. ^ Korkut, J., Morphology and lexicon-based machine translation of Ottoman Turkish to Modern Turkish.
  16. U.S. Department of State, dated December 26, 1876 (PDF version
    )
  17. OCLC 865002828
    .
  18. ^
    ISBN 9781317118442), Google Books 198
    . "In the Ottoman Empire, the scientific language for Muslims had been traditionally Arabic[...] or Ottoman Turkish. But this applied to the traditional sciences (ulûm)."
  19. ^ Ihsanoglu, E. and Al-Hassani, S., 2004. The Madrasas of the Ottoman Empire. Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation, Manchester. Mathematics Education in the Balkan Societies Up To the WWI.
  20. ^ Panaite, V., 2019. Ottoman Law of War and Peace: The Ottoman Empire and Its Tribute-Payers from the North of the Danube. Brill.
  21. ^ C. Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (Leiden: Brill, 1937–1949), G II 583, S II 654.
  22. ^ Ali, Mohammed Farid. "Principles of issuing fatwa (usul al-ifta) in the Hanafi legal school: an annotated translation, analysis and edition of sharh uqud rasm al-mufti of IbnAbidin Al-Shami." (2013).
  23. ^ Taşkömür, H., 2019. Books on Islamic Jurisprudence, Schools of Law, and Biographies of Imams from the Hanafi School. In Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4)(2 vols) (pp. 389-422). Brill.
  24. ^ Peters, R., 2020. What Does It Mean to Be an Official Madhhab?: Hanafism and the Ottoman Empire. In Sharia, Justice and Legal Order (pp. 585-599). Brill.
  25. ^ a b c Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 25 (PDF p. 27)
  26. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 34 (PDF p. 36)
  27. ISBN 9781317118442), Google Books PT192
    .
  28. ISBN 9781317118442), Google Books PT192 and PT193
    .
  29. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 25-26 (PDF p. 27-28)
  30. ^ Chouinard, A.M., 2010. A Response to Tanzimat: Sultan Abdul Hamid II and Pan-Islamism. Inquiries Journal, 2(05).
  31. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 21 (PDF p. 23)
  32. ^
    ISBN 9781317118442), Google Books PT 197
    .
  33. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 32 (PDF p. 34)
  34. ^ a b Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 29 (PDF p. 31)
  35. ISBN 9783863095277. - Volume 12 of Bamberger Orientstudien // Cited: p. 37
  36. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 31-32 (PDF p. 33-34)
  37. ^ a b Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 33 (PDF p. 35)
  38. ^
    Hurriyet
    . Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  39. OCLC 865002828
    .
  40. S2CID 11201905
    . - First published November 1, 2003. - Cited: p. 226 (PDF p. 1/5).
  41. ^
    ISBN 9781317118459), p. 121
    .
  42. ^ a b c Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 26 (PDF p. 28)
  43. ^
    G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1904. p. 206
    .
  44. ^ Kevorkian, Raymond (2008-06-03). "The Extermination of Ottoman Armenians by the Young Turk Regime (1915-1916)". Sciences Po. Retrieved 2020-07-12. [...]these Turkish and Armenian elites —both francophone—[...]
  45. ^
    ISBN 9781317118459), p. 122
    .
  46. ^
    ISBN 9781317118442), Google Books PT192
    .
  47. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 26-27 (PDF p. 28-29)
  48. ^ Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 27 (PDF p. 29)
  49. Ankara Üniversitesi Diş Munasebetler Enstitüsü, 2000. (head book says 2000/2 Special Issue of Turkish-American Relations. Issue 31, Page 13. p. 13
    . "Chambre des Conseillers Légistes de la Porte as was their title in French, which had, after the Crimean War become the official working language of the Ottoman Foreign Ministry."
  50. S2CID 11201905
    . - First published November 1, 2003. - Cited: p. 228 (PDF p. 3/5).
  51. ISBN 9781317118442), Google Books PT194
    .

Further reading
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Languages_of_the_Ottoman_Empire&oldid=1204482798"