December 28, 2015Anadolu University Eskişehir

When two or more languages are spoken in a country, how is the decision made?

Government, legal and educational bodies have to plan which one to be used for official business.

Language planningis all conscious efforts that aim at changing the linguistic behavior of a speech community.

 Language status is the position or standing of a language other languages.Juridical StatusSole official language (e.g. French in France and Turkish in Turkey)Joint official language (e.g. English and French in Canada; French, German, Italian and Romansh in Switzerland)

Regional official language (e.g. Igbo in Nigeria; Marathi in India)

Promoted language – lacks official status on a national or regional level but is promoted and sometimes used by public authorities for specific functions (e.g.Spanish in New Mexico)

Tolerated language – neither promoted nor proscribed; acknowledged but ignored (e.g. Native American languages in the United States)

Proscribed language – discouraged by official sanction or restriction (e.g. Macedonian in Greece)

Codification

Elaboration Implementation

The process of language planning:

Selection

Acceptance

Educational, legal and government systems gradually introduce a language as the ‘official language’

CodificationStandard variety is established via basic grammars, dictionaries and written models

Elaboration Standard variety is developed for use in all aspects of social life and the appearance of a body of literary work written in the standard

Implementation Government attempts to encourage the use of the standard

AcceptanceSubstantial majority of the population use the standard, and to think of it as the national language, playing a part in not only social, but also national identity

Language Reform – deliberate change in specific aspects of language, like orthography, spelling, or grammar, in order to facilitate use.  (Nahir 2003)Language reform and modern TurkishAfter the foundation of the Republic of Turkey and the script reform, the Turkish Language Association (TDK) was established in 1932 with the aim of conducting research on Turkish. One of the tasks of the newly established association was to initiate a language reform to replace words of Arabic and Persian origin with Turkish equivalents. 

While the generations born before the 1940s tend to use the older terms of Arabic or Persian origin, the younger generations favor new expressions.

Atatürk himself, in his lengthy speech to the new Parliament in 1927, used a style of Ottoman which sounded so alien to later listeners that it had to be "translated" three times into modern Turkish: first in 1963, again in 1986, and most recently in 1995.

TDKBanning the usage of imported words in the press, the association succeeded in removing several hundred foreign words from the language. While most of the words introduced to the language by the TDK were newly derived from Turkic roots, it also opted for reviving Old Turkish words which had not been used for centuries.

In 2005, 93% of the population of Turkey were native speakers of Turkish, about 67 million at the time, with Kurdish making up the biggest minority. However, most linguistic minorities in Turkey are bilingual, speaking Turkish with native-like fluency.

The past few decades have seen the continuing work of the TDK to coin new Turkish words to express new concepts and technologies as they enter the language, mostly from English. Many of these new words technology terms have received widespread acceptance. However, the TDK is occasionally criticized for coining words which sound artificial.

Dejenerasyon: Yozlaşma, Depresyon: Çökkünlük, Deterjan: Kirgideren, Endoskop: İçgöreç,

Migren: Yarım Baş Ağrısı, Nüks: Depreşme, Refleks: Tepke, Halusinasyon: Varsanım,Akut: İvegen, Kronik: Süreğen, Radyoaktif:

Işınetkin, Nazal: Burundan, Makyöz: Düzgüncü-

Yüzyapan, Grip: Paçavra Hastalığı, Kürtaj: Kazıma, Epilasyon: Kılsızlaştırma, Traş Bıçağı: Kılkeser,

Prospektüs: Tanıtmalık, Mazoşist: Özezer, Anestezi: Uyuşturum