The Turkish language belongs to the Altay branch of the Ural-Altaic linguistic family, which is the same language family Finnish and Hungarian belong to. This was actually quite surprising to me as I did not expect these European languages to be sister languages or very closely related to Turkish, at least not that of Finnish. Hungarian makes a bit more sense to me as it is a bit closer to Turkey, but Finland is so far away! Despite this, the actual language family of Turkish consists of the Turkic languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani (or Azeri), Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tatar, Turkmen, Uighur, Uzbek, and many other languages from Central Asia, the Balkans, northwestern China, and Siberia. Turkish itself refers to the language spoken in Turkey, however.
The existence of a great many Arabic and Persian loan words is a huge indicator of all the times Turkey has been in contact with Arab and Persian countries throughout its history. It seems that in almost each new Turkish vocabulary set I make or discover, there is a large number of Arab and Persian loan words that I recognize almost immediately. The Ottoman, Arab, and Persian empires have had many, many points of contact for hundreds of years, whether it be through the Silk Road, each empire conquering the other, the spread of Islam, or many, many other countless events of contact. Even before the Ottoman, Arab, or Persian empires being of existence, these people in that part of the world were in constant contact with one another and always in exchange of culture and language.
There is also the presence of many English and French loan words in Turkish, as there is in many languages across the world. This is an indicator of both previous colonialism and European influence in Turkey, as well as, in a more recent context, popular words being adopted into Turkish from popular Western cultural items that are known internationally.
All of this is a clear indicator of how language changes and adapts with culture. Language is a communicator of culture; just as culture is ever-changing from outside and inside influences, language is as well. Learning about the other influences that have impacted Turkish, such as Western languages and Arabic and Persian, can serve as a great supplement to my learning of the Turkish language. Additionally, learning Turkish can help me with all these languages as well! I am, though unintentionally, learning vocabulary for them as well as Turkish.
Comments
Hi Azin! I find your post really interesting. You mention how the Turkish language is a part of the Ural-Altaic linguistic family, but at the same time, it borrows words from English and French. It makes me wonder how linguists differentiate the roots of languages and the colonial influences over time. I would imagine that many languages are influenced by French and British English, considering their positions as long-standing global powers. I think observation can tell us a lot about the history of a country and its relationship with other cultures. Maltese demonstrates the same pattern as Turkish, where it is a part of the Siculo-Arabic family, but borrows many words from French, Italian and English. I all languages experience this phenomenon to some extent, as well.