A significant number of languages are represented in Turkey , although the majority of the population (at least 80%) speaks only Turkish . Turkish is the only official language of the country. As article 42 of the Turkish Constitution states:
| Turkish languages | |
|---|---|
| Official | Turkish |
| Autochthonous | Turkish Kurdish ( Kurmanji ); Zazaki ; Arabic Lazsky ; Armenian |
| Regional | not |
| Minority languages | Kurdish ( Kurmanji ); Zazaki ; Arabic Lazsky ; Turkic languages |
| Major foreign languages | English German French Arabic Russian |
| Keyboard layout | |
No language other than Turkish should be taught as a mother tongue to Turkish citizens in any educational institutions. Foreign languages that must be taught in educational institutions, and the rules that must be followed when teaching in schools with the study of foreign languages, are determined by law. The provisions of international agreements are retained.
Such an official view is often criticized by human rights organizations, since according to the official point of view, there are only three ethnic-linguistic minorities in the country: Greeks , Armenians and Jews , whose rights are guaranteed by the 1923 Lausanne peace treaty . Talking about any other minorities, the Turkish government considers separatism [1] .
Nevertheless, approximately 50 languages are spoken in the country, the speakers of which, according to various estimates, make up from 10 to 25% of the Turkish population. The largest languages after Turkish are North Kurdish (Kurmanji) and Zazaki (Dimli), which are native speakers of the Kurds . It is because of different estimates of the number of these languages (like Kurds in Turkey in general) that the total number of non-Turkish population of the country is so different.
The last Turkish population census , which asked about the language, was conducted in 1965. Although it is often believed that the data on minority languages is noticeably underestimated in it, on the one hand it gives the minimum number of speakers, and on the other, a fairly correct distribution by province. If there are no other reliable estimates for many languages, the table below shows the data for this particular census. It should be borne in mind that the data for each language in this census are divided into two categories: " speakers of a given language as a native " and " speakers of a given language as a second ." However, according to the testimonies, people who did not speak Turkish at all fell into the first category, and those who owned it to some extent fell into the second category, it does not matter as the first, second or third. Therefore, below for each language, these numbers are summarized.
Content
Table
| Title | Number | Family: branch | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albanian | 53520 (1965, census) | IE : Albanian | moved in the 20th century |
| Western Armenian | 80 thousand = 56286 (1965, census) + 24 thousand Armenian-speaking khemshins (1975) | IE: Armenian | mainly Istanbul + several villages + khemshins in Artvin |
| Pontic language | 4535 (1965 census) | IE: Greek | Muslim Greeks in Trabzon |
| modern Greek language | 125705 (1965, census) | IE: Greek | Christians (Istanbul, etc.) + Muslim Cretans |
| Cappadocian Greek | 0 | IE: Greek | apparently not left in Turkey after 1923 |
| domari (gypsy-turkish) | 28500 (2000) | IE: Indo-Aryan | estimates are very approximate |
| european gypsy | 280,000 (2,000) | IE: Indo-Aryan | estimates are very approximate |
| Ossetian | 8943 (1975) | IE: Iranian | |
| Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) | 5.000.000 | IE: Iranian | 3973 thousand according to the census of 1965 |
| zazaki (dimly) | 1.5-2.5 million (1998/1999) | IE: Iranian | carriers are considered Kurds |
| Persian | 500,000 | IE: Iranian | recent immigrants |
| Sephardic language | 21000 (1965, census) | IE: romance | moved from Spain in the 15th century |
| Romanian language | 7368 (1965, census) | IE: romance | moved in the 20th century |
| Arumian language and meglenorumian language | ?? | IE: romance | moved in the 20th century |
| Bulgarian language | 300000 (2001), 101328 (1965, census) | IE: Slavic | mostly pomaks , migrated in the XX century |
| Serbo-Croatian language | 122350 (1965, census) | IE: Slavic | moved in the 20th century |
| Russian language | 2010 (1960, census) + approx. 50 thousand after 1990 | IE: Slavic | the remains of the settlers of the XIX century, almost all left for Russia in 1962 |
| Polish language | 80 (1989), 501 (1965, census) | IE: Slavic | 1 village of immigrants since 1839 |
| Georgian language | 83306 (1965, census) | Kartvel | |
| Laz language | 85108 (1965, census), 250,000 (1983) | Kartvel | |
| Syro-Mesopotamian Arabic | 544649 (1965, census), approx. 1 million (1992) | Semitic family : Arabian | Arabic, North Mesopotamian Spoken (400t), Mesopotamian Spoken Arabic (100,000), North Levantine Spoken Arabic (500,000), |
| touroyo | 20,000 (1967), 3,000 (1994) | Semitic: Aramaic | |
| mlahso | 0 | Semitic: Aramaic | the remains moved to Syria in the 20th century, where the last carrier died in 1998 |
| northeastern New Aramaic languages ( North Bokhtan, southwestern Christian Aramaic, northern KhA, central KhA, northeastern Hebrew Aramaic) | 4-10 thousand (1980s) | Semitic: Aramaic | most were carved or evicted in Syria in 1915 |
| Circassian ( Adyghe + Kabardino-Circassian ) | 113,369 (1965, census), 278,000 (2000) | SK : Abkhaz-Adyghe | resettled after 1860 |
| Abkhaz-Abaza | 12399 (1965, census) | SK: Abkhaz-Adyghe | resettled after 1860 |
| Ubykh language | 0 | SK: Abkhaz-Adyghe | resettled after 1860, the last carrier died in 1992 |
| Avar , Andean and Cesian ( Ginuh , Tsezsky , Bezhtinsky ) languages | 17 villages | SK: Nakh-Dagestan | moved to the 2nd floor. XIX century; total over 5200 people from Dagestan (1975) |
| Chechen language | OK. 10000 (2002) | SK: Nakh-Dagestan | resettled after 1860 |
| Dargin languages (North Dargin , Tsudahar, Kaitag) | at least 1 village | SK: Nakh-Dagestan | resettled after 1860 |
| Lak language | 300 (4 villages) | SK: Nakh-Dagestan | resettled after 1860 |
| Lezgi language | 1200 (21 villages) | SK: Nakh-Dagestan | resettled after 1860 |
| Uigur | 500 (1981) | Turkic : Karluk | migrated from China in the 1950s and 1968. |
| Uzbek language | 1980 (1982) | Turkic: Karluk | moved from the USSR and Afghanistan in 1945-1982. |
| Kyrgyz language | 1200 (1982) | Turkic: Kypchak | moved from the Vakhan corridor (Afghanistan) in 1953 and 1982. |
| Kazakh language | 2500 (1980) | Turkic: Kypchak | migrated from the USSR, China and Afghanistan in 1952-1982. |
| Kumyk language | 1703 (1975) | Turkic: Kypchak | resettled in 1861-1864. |
| Siberian Tatar language | 700 (1970) | Turkic: Kypchak | descendants of the Bukharaites who migrated from Siberia in 1907 |
| Nogai | several hundred | Turkic: Kypchak | resettled from 1783 to the end of the 19th century |
| Karachay-Balkarian language | 3917 (1975) | Turkic: Kypchak | resettled in 1905 and 1945 |
| Turkish language | 46278000 (1987) | Turkic: Oguz | |
| Azerbaijani language | 136000 (1959-1975) | Turkic: Oguz | incl. Karapakhs ; migrated from Russia in the 19th — 20th centuries. |
| Balkan-Turkic language | 320,000 (1993) | Turkic: Oguz | Yuruki: 320.000 |
| Turkmen language | 920 (1982) | Turkic: Oguz | only recent settlers from Central Asia ( Afghanistan , Turkmenistan ) can speak Turkmen ; local " Turkmens " speak Turkish |
| Crimean Tatar language | several million [2] , over 40 villages | Turkic: Oguz | resettled from 1783 to the end of the 19th century |
| Gagauz language | 7000 (1993) | Turkic: Oguz | |
| Estonian | 40-50 (1975) | Ural | residents of the village of Novoestonka in Kars , founded in 1886, when it was Russia |
Foreign languages
Turkey generally has a poor knowledge of foreign languages. According to 2006 data, 17% of the country could speak English, 4% - in German, 1% in French, and 1% - in Russian [3] .
Literature
- Andrews PA Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey . Wiesbaden: Reichert, 1989.
See also
- Turkey population
Notes
- ↑ Questions and Answers: Freedom of Expression and Language Rights in Turkey . - New York: Human Rights Watch, 2002-04.
- ↑ Untitled Document . ser-sad.narod.ru. Date of treatment September 4, 2016.
- ↑ Europeans and their Languages: Eurobarometer. (Fieldwork: November - December 2005, Publication: February 2006) Question D48T (pp. 152–153): Which languages do you speak well enough in order to be able to have a conversation, excluding your mother tongue? .