Turkish Language Reform

 This is the first full account of the transformation of Ottoman Turkish into modern Turkish. It is based on the author's knowledge, experience and continuing study of the language, history, and people of Turkey. That transformation of the Turkish language is probably the most thorough-going piece of linguistics engineering in history. Its prelude came in 1928, when the Arabo-Persian alphabet was outlawed and replaced by the Latin alphabet. It began in earnest in 1930 when Ataturk declared: Turkish is one of the richest of languages. It needs only to be used with discrimination. The Turkish nation, which is well able to protect its territory and its sublime independence, must also liberate its language from the yoke of foreign languages. A government-sponsored campaign was waged to replace words of Arabic or Persian origin by words collected from popular speech, or resurrected from ancient texts, or coined from native roots and suffixes. The snag - identified by the author as one element in the catastrophic aspect of the reform - was that when these sources failed to provide the needed words, the reformers simply invented them. The reform was central to the young republic's aspiration to be western and secular, but it did not please those who remained wedded to their mother tongue or to the Islamic past. The controversy is by no means over, but Ottoman Turkish is dead. Professor Lewis both acquaints the general reader with the often bizarre, sometimes tragicomic but never dull story of the reform, and provides a lively and incisive account for students of Turkish and the relations between culture, politics and language with some stimulating reading. The author draws on his own wide experience of Turkey and his personal knowledge of many of the leading actors. The general reader will not be at a disadvantage, because no Turkish word or quotation has been left untranslated. This book is important for the light it throws on twentieth-century Turkish politics and society, as much as it is for the study of linguistic change. It is not only scholarly and accessible; it is also an extremely good read.

Review: This is a study written with understanding and sympathy, avoiding such pitfalls as the opportunity to ridicule failures in the reform ... one cannot but admire the author for his expert analysis and convincing presentation ... a truly excellent book, which will remain the definitive scholarly work on the subject for a long time. * Language Policy *

A very important contribution ... While others have told the history of the language reform as well, it is Lewis's great merit that more than a third of his study is devoted to analyzing the "ingredients" and "concoctions" of this reform, as he calls them. This he does both expertly and wittily, enlivening his scholarly discussion of how intellectuals and others employed various suffixes to coin new words while frequently bending the rules of linguistics. * Language Policy *

This book will be compulsory reading for foreign students of Turkish. Geoffrey Lewis's account of one of the most thorough campaigns to purge a language of foreign elements will also attract the more general reader. There are substantial quotations from Turkish writers, and most will be thankful for the translations. * Bengisu Rona, Times Higher Education Supplement *

The Turkish Language Reform is a dramatic story, entertainingly written, and not overly long. What is more, it provides a great insight into the practicalities of language planning. * Journal of Sociolinguistics *

From the moment you read 'A catastrophic success' in the subtitle you know that Lewis's intention is to provide interesting, entertaining reading. The story is a great one ... and well worth the read. * Journal of Sociolinguistics *

Professor Lewis has written a fascinating book and he deserves the gratitude and appreciation of both colleagues and non-specialists alike. Lewis has succeeded in making a demanding task seem particularly easy and even graceful. As a stylist, Lewis is incisive, sometime brutally candid, and almost always witty. The book is sure to remain the last word on the language reform for a long time to come. * Journal of Middle Eastern Studies *

This book can and must be recommended to anyone interested in the modern Turkish language. * Anthropological Linguistics *