Sun Language Theory
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The Sun Language Theory (Turkish: Güneş Dil Teorisi) was a linguistic hypothesis developed in Turkey in the 1930s that proposing that all human languages are descendants of one Central Asian primal language. The theory further proposed that the only language remaining more or less the same as this primal language was Turkish. According to the theory, the Central Asian worshippers, who wanted to salute the omnipotence of the sun and its life-giving qualities, had done so by transforming their meaningless blabbering into a coherent set of ritual utterings, and language were born, hence the name.[1]
The theory was influenced by the ideas of the French historian Hilaire de Barenton entitled "L'Origine des Langues, des Religions et des Peuples", that all languages originated from hieroglyphs and cuneiform used by Sumerians[2] and the paper of Austrian linguist Dr. Hermann F. Kvergić of Vienna entitled "La psychologie de quelques elements des langues Turques" ("the psychology of some elements of the Turkic Languages").[3]
The theory according to the The New York Times was[2]:
| “ | claims that the Sumerians, being Turks, originating in Central Asia, all languages also consequently originated there and first used by the Turks. the first language, in fact, came into being in this wise: Prehistoric man, i.e., Turks in the most primitive stage, was so struck by the effects of the sun on life that he made of it a deity whence sprang all good and evil. Thence came to him light, darkness, warmth and fire, with it were associated all ideas of time: height, distance, movement, size, and give expression to his feelings the sun was thus the first thing to which a name was given. It was "ag" [pronounced agh], and from this syllable all words in use today are derived. This, briefly, is the theory about the "sun language," and with the new conception of Turkish history it will be taught in the new Angora school. | ” |
In short, based upon a helio-centric view of the origin of civilization and human languages, the theory claimed that the Turkish language was the language which all civilized languages derived from.[4]
Thanks to goropism, some remarkable results were obtained[5]: the word for school is derived from Turkish okul (school). God is from Turkish kut (luck). Bulletin is from belleten (to learn by hearth). Electric is from yaltirik (shine). Finally, also the word philosophy can be traced back to Turkish origins [6].
According to linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann, "it is possible that the Sun Language Theory was adopted by Atatürk in order to legitimize the Arabic and Persian words which the Turkish language authorities did not manage to uproot. This move compensated for the failure to provide a neologism for every foreignism/loanword."[7]
The theory fell into final oblivion in the 1950s.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Aytürk, İlker (November 2004). "Turkish Linguists against the West: The Origins of Linguistic Nationalism in Atatürk's Turkey". Middle Eastern Studies (London: Frank Cass & Co (Routledge)) 40 (6): pp.1–25. doi:. ISSN 0026-3206. OCLC 86539631.
- ^ a b "Turks Teach New Theories". New York Times (Istanbul). 1936-02-09. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70914FC395F167B93CBA91789D85F428385F9.
- ^ Laut, Jens Peter (2002). "Noch einmal zu Dr. Kvergić" (in German) (PDF reprinted online). Turkic Languages (Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz Verlag) 6: pp.120–133. ISSN 1431-4983. OCLC 37421320. http://www.freidok.uni-freiburg.de/volltexte/1830/pdf/Laut_Noch_einmal_zu_Dr_Kvergic.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- ^ Cemal Kafadar, Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State, Published by University of California Press, 1996. pg 163.
- ^ Geoffrey Lewis, The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success
- ^ The word philosophy is derived from Greek φιλειν, to love/kiss and σοφíα, wisdom. The origin of φιλειν being unknown, the etymology of philosophy is prone to usurpation by crackpot lingüïsts, E.g. Martin Bernal (Black Athena, p.262) manages to fabricate philosophy from Egyptian phonemes.
- ^ Zuckermann, Ghil’ad (2003), ‘‘Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew’’, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 1-4039-1723-X, p. 165.
[edit] Further reading
- Arkman, Ceren (2006) (PDF). The Launching of the Turkish Thesis of History: A Close Textual Analysis. M.A. Thesis. Sabanci University. http://digital.sabanciuniv.edu/tezler/etezfulltext/arkmanceren.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- Aydingün, Ayşegül; Aydingün, İsmail (2004). "The Role of Language in the Formation of Turkish National Identity and Turkishness". Nationalism & Ethnic Politics (London: Frank Cass & Co (Routledge)) 10 (3): pp.415–432. doi:. ISSN 1353-7113. OCLC 86549020.
- Dilaçar, Agop (1936). Les bases Bio-Psychologiques de la Théorie Güneş Dil. Istanbul: Fazilet Basimevi. OCLC 162658746. (French) (Turkish)
- Karpat, Kemal H. (2004). Studies on Turkish Politics and Society: Selected Articles and Essays. Social, Economic, and Political Studies of the Middle East, vol. 94. Leiden, Netherlands and Boston, MA: Brill. ISBN 90-04-13322-4. OCLC 52334897.
- Kıbrıs, Güldeniz (2005) (PDF). Creating Turkishness: An Examination of Turkish Nationalism Through Gök-Börü. M.A. Thesis. Sabanci University. http://digital.sabanciuniv.edu/tezler/etezfulltext/kibrisg.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- Lewis, Geoffrey (1999). The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-198-23856-8. OCLC 41137543.
- Poulton, Hugh (1997). Top Hat, Grey Wolf and Crescent: Turkish Nationalism and the Turkish Republic. London: C. Hurst & Co.. ISBN 1-85065-326-7. OCLC 37787056.
- Shaw, Wendy M.K. (2004). "Whose Hittites, and Why? Language, Archaeology, and the Quest for the Original Turks". in Michael L. Galaty and Charles Watkinson (eds.). Archaeology Under Dictatorship. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. pp. 131–154. ISBN 0-306-48508-7. OCLC 54685395.
- Webster, Donald Everett (1939). The Turkey of Atatürk: Social Process in the Turkish Reformation. Philadelphia, PA: American Academy of Political and Social Science. OCLC 404655.
- Main ideas of Sun Language Theory (Turkish)
- 1936 Sun Language Commission's Report (Turkish) (French)
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