Ottoman Turkish alphabet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Ottoman Turkish alphabet
Type abjad
Languages Ottoman Turkish language
Time period 1500–1928
Parent systems
ISO 15924 Arab, 160
Direction Right-to-left
Unicode alias Arabic
Unicode range
This article contains Ottoman Turkish text, written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters written left-to-right, instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Ottoman script.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.
Atatürk introducing the new Turkish alphabet to the people of Kayseri, September 20, 1928

The Ottoman Turkish alphabet (Ottoman Turkish: الفبا elifbâ ) was the version of the Arabic Alphabet Perso-Arabic Script that was used for the Ottoman Turkish language during the time of the Ottoman Empire and in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, until the adoption of the new Turkish alphabet, derived from the Latin script.[1][2] The change was formalized by the Turkish Republic's law number 1353, the Law on the Adoption and Implementation of the Turkish Alphabet,[3] passed on November 1, 1928. The law went into effect on January 1, 1929, making the use of the new alphabet compulsory in all public communications.[4]

Ottoman Turkish was primarily written in the Ottoman Turkish script. It was not, however, unknown for Ottoman Turkish to also be written using the Armenian script; for instance, the first novel to be written in the Ottoman Empire was 1851's Akabi, written in the Armenian script by Vartan Pasha. Similarly, when the Armenian Düzoğlu family managed the Ottoman mint during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid I (r. 1839–61), they kept records in Ottoman Turkish, but used the Armenian script. Other scripts, too — such as the Greek alphabet and the Rashi script of Hebrew — were used by non-Muslim groups to write the language, since the Arabic alphabet was identified with Islam. On the other hand, for example, Greek-speaking Muslims would write Greek using the Ottoman Turkish script.

Contents

Alphabet[edit]

Calendar in Thessaloniki 1896, a cosmopolitan city with the first 3 lines in Ottoman Turkish language Arabic script

As with Arabic and Persian, texts in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet are written right-to-left. The appearance of a letter changes depending on its position in a word: isolated (in a one-letter word); final (in which case it is joined on the right to the preceding letter); medial (joined on both sides); and initial (joined on the left to the following letter). Some letters cannot be joined to the left and do therefore not possess separate medial and initial forms; in medial position the final form is used, and in initial position the isolated form is used.

Isolated Final Medial Initial Name Modern Turkish ALA-LC[5] IPA
ا‎ ـا‎ — elif a, e —, ā a, e
ء‎ — hemze —
ب‎ ـب‎ ـبـ‎ بـ‎ be b b b
پ‎ ـپ‎ ـپـ‎ پـ‎ pe p p p
ت‎ ـت‎ ـتـ‎ تـ‎ te t t t
ث‎ ـث‎ ـثـ‎ ثـ‎ se s s s
ج‎ ـج‎ ـجـ‎ جـ‎ cim c c d͡ʒ
چ‎ ـچ‎ ـچـ‎ چـ‎ çim ç ç t͡ʃ
ح‎ ـح‎ ـحـ‎ حـ‎ ha h ḥ h
خ‎ ـخ‎ ـخـ‎ خـ‎ hı h ḫ h
د‎ ـد‎ — dal d d d
ذ‎ ـذ‎ — zel z z z
ر‎ ـر‎ — re r r ɾ
ز‎ ـز‎ — ze z z z
ژ‎ ـژ‎ — je j j ʒ
س‎ ـس‎ ـسـ‎ سـ‎ sin s s s
ش‎ ـش‎ ـشـ‎ شـ‎ şın ş ș ʃ
ص‎ ـص‎ ـصـ‎ صـ‎ sad s ṣ s
ض‎ ـض‎ ـضـ‎ ضـ‎ dad d, z ż d
ط‎ ـط‎ ـطـ‎ طـ‎ tı t ṭ t
ظ‎ ـظ‎ ـظـ‎ ظـ‎ zı z ẓ z
ع‎ ـع‎ ـعـ‎ عـ‎ ayn ', h (or omitted) ‘ ʔ
غ‎ ـغ‎ ـغـ‎ غـ‎ gayn g, ğ ġ ɡ, ɣ
ف‎ ـف‎ ـفـ‎ فـ‎ fe f f f
ق‎ ـق‎ ـقـ‎ قـ‎ kaf k ḳ k
ك‎ ـك‎ ـكـ‎ كـ‎ kef k, g, ğ, n k k
گ‎ ـگ‎ ـگـ‎ گـ‎ gef (1) g, ğ g ɡ
ڭ‎ ـڭ‎ ـڭـ‎ ڭـ‎ nef, sağır kef n ŋ ŋ
ل‎ ـل‎ ـلـ‎ لـ‎ lam l l l
م‎ ـم‎ ـمـ‎ مـ‎ mim m m m
ن‎ ـن‎ ـنـ‎ نـ‎ nun n n n
و‎ ـو‎ — vav v, o, ö, u, ü v, ū, aw, avv, ūv v, o, œ, u, y
ه‎ ـه‎ ـهـ‎ هـ‎ he h, e, a h (2) h, æ
ی‎ ـی‎ ـیـ‎ یـ‎ ye y, ı, i y, ī, ay, á, īy j, ɯ, i

Notes[edit]

  1. A correct Ottoman variant of "gef " will have the "mini-kaf " of ﻙ and the doubled upper stroke of گ. This feature is unavailable in Unicode characters.
  2. The Library of Congress recommends "he " in a word in the construct state be romanized t and when a word ending in "he " is used adverbially, it should be romanized tan.

Numerals[edit]

Ottoman Turkish used the Eastern Arabic numerals. The following is the list of basic cardinal numerals with their spelling in the modern Turkish alphabet.

Arabic form Number Ottoman Turkish Modern Turkish
٠‎ 0
صفر
 sıfır
۱‎ 1
بر
 bir
۲‎ 2
ایكی
 iki
٣‎ 3
اوچ
 üç
٤‎ 4
درت
 dört
٥‎ 5
بش
 beş
٦‎ 6
التی
 altı
٧‎ 7
یدی
 yedi
٨‎ 8
سكز
 sekiz
٩‎ 9
طقوز
 dokuz
۱٠‎ 10
اون
 on

References[edit]

  1. ^ Dil Derneği, Yazım Kılavuzu, 2002 (the writing guide of the Turkish language)
  2. ^ Nationalist Notes, Time, July 23, 1928
  3. ^ "Tūrk Harflerinin Kabul ve Tatbiki Hakkında Kanun" [Acceptance and Application of Turkish Letters LAW] (in Turkish). Retrieved January 14, 2012. 
  4. ^ Erik Jan Zürcher (2004), Turkey: a Modern History, pages 188–9. ISBN 978-1-85043-399-6
  5. ^ Ottoman script PDF (166 KB), Library of Congress. Retrieved January 14, 2012.

External links[edit]
Europe
Asia
Africa
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ottoman_Turkish_alphabet&oldid=552727525"