Learning an Ottoman Language (or Two)

Seçil Yılmaz, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York

The nineteenth century was a time of rising literacy and language reform. Beyond intellectual debates about the expansion of public education, language became a fundamental component of nationalist, imperial and religious ideologies. It also largely shaped the formation of discourses about citizenship at the time. Although these developments largely constrained language and discouraged multilingualism, other factors encouraged it. Learning to read had been the primary requirement of a respectable citizenship status, and proficiency in a lingua franca, namely the French language in nineteenth-century Ottoman society, presented countless advantages and opportunities whether in the job market, the realm of politics or while filling out the immigration form at a foreign consulate.

As Benjamin Fortna suggests in Learning to Read in the Late Ottoman Empire and Early Turkish Republic, putting Ottoman/Turkish language reform experience into global perspective, for example by looking at Russian and Chinese experiences at the time, would help exploring various implications of the efforts in raising the literacy and its relation to practices of modernity in multi-linguistic societies at the turn of the twentieth century. (Fortna, Learning to Read, pp. 11-12)

Osmanlıca Bilenlere Dört Günde Ermenice Okumanın Usulü (1892)

While various ideologies sought to define and theorize the language of the nation during the long nineteenth century, the multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic social composition of the Ottoman Empire complicated and enriched the conditions of co-existence of different languages on the same street, on the same petition and in the same daily newspaper. In Ottoman society, everyday life accommodated and required access to various languages including but not limited to Turkish, Greek, Arabic, Armenian, Ladino and Kurdish. As the Ottoman administration became more involved in the provinces, officials and civil servants were increasingly expected to speak multiple languages. Meanwhile, vernacularization and the rise of print increased the types of interaction and exchanges between Ottoman languages. Novels published in Armeno-Turkish and Karamanlidika or newspapers offering multiple languages side by side represent common examples of interaction, exchange, and hybridization between the languages commonly spoken in Ottoman society.

One major barrier to accessing such publications was the ignorance of different alphabets and the basics of grammar. Hacı Bey Zade Ahmet Muhtar’s book entitled Osmanlıca Bilenlere Dört Günde Ermenice Okumanın Usulü (How to Read Armenian in 4 Days for Ottoman Speakers) serves as a good example of a means of overcoming the difficulties of learning to read Armeno-Turkish using the “teach yourself” method. In the preface, Hacı Bey Zade Ahmet Muhtar explains that his motivation in preparing such a book was to provide a guide that would enable Ottoman-Turkish readers to have access to newspapers, weekly magazines and novels published in (Ottoman-)Turkish with Armenian letters (Türkçe ibarenin Ermenice harfleriyle yazılıp ve neşr olunan). Hacı Bey Zade Ahmet Muhtar also considers this book as a guide for Turkish-speaking Armenians who wish to refine their own language. Hacı Bey Zade Ahmet Muhtar defines the book (licensed by the Ministry of Education on 18 Rebiülevvel 1310 [10 October 1892]) as an “easy way” to become proficient in reading Armenian letters. He stresses, however, that only strict adherence to his tried and true method will make this possible. Readers are instructed to follow the lessons in order and not skip to the following lesson without studying the previous one properly.

Darerk Osmanyan Lezvii (1884)

A quick look at the materials will reveal that the Armenian alphabet matches up surprisingly well with Ottoman. Thus, it is no wonder that various reformists throughout the late Ottoman period suggested Armenian as opposed to the Latin spellings would provide the best basis for a new Turkish alphabet. Hacı Bey Zade Ahmet Muhtar’s book, now over 100 years old, offers a new possibility and a challenge for Ottoman Turkish readers to teach themselves how to read Armeno-Turkish in 4 days. For those up to the challenge, we've provided a complete PDF of Osmanlıca Bilenlere Dört Günde Ermenice Okumanın Usulü digitized by Marmara University and İSAM.

Just as the political climate of the late Ottoman period encouraged Turkish speakers to begin learning other languages and alphabets such as Armenian, Ottoman Istanbul was also a popular destination for intellectuals and professionals from abroad, especially Armenians, many of whom could not read Ottoman Turkish. For those purposes, works such as this one from 1884 explaining Ottoman Turkish grammar and orthography were also common.

http://www.docblog.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2014/08/ottoman-armenian-alphabet-armeno-turkish.html