Language in Turkey – Turkish & minority languages
The national and official language of today's Turkey is the Turkic language Turkish, which is spoken by over 80 % of the population as their mother tongue and by a further 10–15 % as a second language. Turkish Sign Language was legally recognised in July 2005.
In addition, there are about twenty languages from a total of five different language families that are spoken today by non-Turkish ethnic groups and minorities resident in Turkey. In this sense Turkey is a multi-ethnic state. The most important of these languages are
Greek, especially Pontic, was still spoken around 1914 by 1.73 million people, who, however, were driven out by continuing persecution. To this day, 4,000 speakers have remained in Istanbul. Of the once widespread Aramaic languages – the dialects of the Aramaic Christians – only Turoyo (3,000 speakers) and the small Hertevin language (1,000 speakers) are still represented in Turkey today. The former Aramaic languages Assyrian Neo-Aramaic (“Assyrian”), Chaldean Neo-Aramaic (Kaldoyo) and Jewish Neo-Aramaic (Lishana Deni) are no longer spoken in Turkey today.
The Kartvelian group of the Caucasian languages in Turkey includes Georgian (40,000 speakers) and Laz (30,000). Besides the already mentioned languages Kabardian and Adyghe, the West Caucasian languages Abkhaz (5,000) and Abaza (10,000) are spoken in Turkey.
Other minority languages are the Indo-European languages Albanian (15,000 speakers in Turkey), Romani (25,000) and Domari (30,000). As a result of current refugee movements, in addition to the approximately twenty national languages mentioned, there are today smaller groups of speakers of the Turkic languages Turkmen, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Uyghur, Kumyk and Crimean Tatar; also a few hundred speakers of the Caucasian languages Chechen, Lak and Lezgian and of the Iranian languages Ossetian and Persian (Farsi). As these are refugee groups, these languages are not counted among the “languages of Turkey”.
Over the course of history, many important languages that are now extinct were spoken on the territory of today's Turkey. The most important include Hittite, Luwian, Lycian, Lydian, Phrygian, Akkadian (in the form of Assyrian), Urartian, Ancient Greek, Byzantine Greek, Old Armenian, Latin and Classical Syriac, the religious language of the Aramaic Christians.
Greetings
İyi sabahlar ! (early in the morning)
Good morning!
Günaydın!
Merhaba!
Similar to: Hello
İyi Günler!
Good day!
İyi Akşamlar!
Good evening!
İyi Geceler!
Good night!
Hoş geldin/iz!
Welcome! (informal/ formal)
Allahaısmarladık.(said by the one leaving)
Goodbye!
Güle güle. (said by the one staying)
Goodbye
Hoşça kal ! (modern Turkish)
Polite conversation
Nasılsın/ ınız?
How are you? (informal/ formal - plural)
İyiyim.
I am fine.
Şöyle böyle.
So-so.
Teşekkür ederim
Thank you very much.
Özür dilerim!
Sorry.
Rica edereim!
You're welcome!
Lütfen!
Please!
Evet.
Yes.
Hayır
No
Efendim?
Pardon?
Tamam!
Okay / Agreed
Şerefe (alcoholic drinks)
Cheers (To honour!
Sağlığına (alcoholic drinks)
To your health
Drinks
Su
Still water
Soda
Sparkling water
Çay
Black tea
Elma çay
Apple tea
Kahve
Coffee
Bira
Beer
Şarap
Wine
Kırmızı Şarap
Red wine
Beyaz Şarap
White wine
Rose Şarap
Rosé wine
General terms
Büyük/ Küçük
Big / Small
Orta
Medium
Çok/ Az
Much/ Little
Ağır/ Hafif
Heavy/ Light
Uzun/ Kısa
Long/ Short
Sağ/ Sol
Right/ Left
Sıcak/ Soğuk
Warm/ Cold
At the restaurant
Garson
Waiter
Bahşiş
Tip
Hesap lütfen !
The bill, please!
Afiyet olsun !
Enjoy your meal!
Shopping
Bu ne kadar ? O kaç para?
How much is this?
Çok pahalı!
That is very expensive!
Çok fazla!
That is too much!
Çok az!
That is too little
...istiyorum!
I would like...!
İki Kilo
2 kilos
yarım kilo
½ kilo
1 Litre
1 litre
Bir şişe
1 bottle
Yeter!
Enough!
Travelling
Otobüs
Bus
Dolmuş
Minibus/ shared taxi
Taksi
Taxi
Otagar/ Garaj
Bus station
Uçak
Aeroplane
Havalimanı/ Havaalanı
Airport
Gemi/ Liman
Ship/ Port
Araba/ Benzin istasyonu
Car/ Petrol station
Normal/ Kurşunsuz/ Mazot
Regular/ Unleaded/ Diesel
Oda/ Duş/ Havlu
Room/ Shower/ Towel
Yavaş yavaş
Slowly, slowly
Çabuk çabuk
Quick quick
Pronunciation
The following letters are unknown in German or are pronounced differently:
C/c:
- like j in jungle
Camii (mosque)- jamii
Ç/ç:
- like ch in church
Kaç (how much) – kach
E/e:
- like a short e as in bed
Evet (yes) – evet
Ğ/ğ:
- as lengthening after a, ı, o, u
Dağ (mountain) daa
- like y after e, i, ö, ü
değil (not) deyil
H/h:
- like h in house before a vowel
Postahane (post office) – postahane
- like ch in Scottish loch after a dark
vowel and before consonants or at the end of a word
Bahçe (garden) – bahche
- like ch in German ich after a light vowel and before consonants or at the end of a word
salih (pious) – salih
I/ı:
- like the dull e in the word taken
Halı (carpet) – hale
J/j:
- voiced sh like s in measure
Plaj (beach) – plaazh
S/s:
- voiceless s as in water
Su (water) – ssu
Ş/ş:
- like sh in short
Şelale (waterfall) – shelale
V/v:
- like v in very
Ve (and) – ve
- after a like ow
pilav (rice) pilau
Y/y:
- like y in yes
Yol (way) – yol
Z/z:
- voiced s like z in zoo
Güzel (beautiful) – güzel
Numbers
Bir
One
Iki
Two
Üç
Three
Dört
Four
Beş
Five
Altı
Six
Yedi
Seven
Sekiz
Eight
Dokuz
Nine
On
Ten
On bir
Eleven
On iki
Twelve
On üç etc.
Thirteen
Yirmi bir etc.
Twenty-one
Otuz bir etc.
Thirty-one
Kırk
Forty
Elli
Fifty
Altmış
Sixty
Yetmiş
Seventy
Seksen
Eighty
Doksan
Ninety
Yüz
Hundred
ki yüz
Two hundred
Bin
Thousand
İki bin
Two thousand
On bin
Ten thousand
Yirmi beş bin
Elli bin
Twenty-five thousand
İki yüz elli bin
Two hundred and fifty thousand
Beş yüz bin
Five hundred thousand
Bir milyon
One million
Beş milyon
Five million
On milyon
Ten million
On bir milyon
Eleven million
Yirmi milyon
Twenty million
Yüz milyon
One hundred million
Yüz elli milyon
One hundred and fifty million
Bir milyar
One billion
- Kurmanji or Northern Kurdish with about 6 million speakers(Indo-European language of the Iranian branch)
- Zazaki with 1.2–2 million speakers (Indo-European language of the Iranian branch)
- Arabic (North Mesopotamian Arabic) with about 1 million speakers (Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic branch)
- Azerbaijani with 550,000 speakers in Turkey (Turkic language of the Oghuz branch)
- Kabardian or East Circassian with 550,000 speakers in Turkey (West Caucasian language)
- Bulgarian (Pomak) with 300,000 speakers (Indo-European language of the Slavic branch)
- Adyghe or West Circassian with just under 300,000 speakers (West Caucasian language)
- Western Armenian and Homshetsi with 70,000 speakers (Indo-European language)