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Turkish

About 72 million people speak Turkish in Turkey, where Turkish is the official language, and 90% of the population speaks it as a first language. Turkish is also the language spoken at home by those living in areas that had been governed by the Ottoman Empire. For instance, in Bulgaria, there are about 850,000 speakers (Grimes 1992). About 37,000 Turkish speakers live in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan. In Cyprus, Turkish is a co-official language (with Greek), where it is spoken as a first language by 19 percent of the population (Comrie 1990). Over a million speakers are found in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Greece; over 2 million speakers live in Germany (and other northern European countries), where Turks have lived as "guest workers" for many years. Additionally, about 24,000 Turkish speakers live in the United States (Grimes 1992).
Turkish belongs to the Turkish branch of the Altaic language family. It is the westernmost of the Turkic languages spoken across Central Asia and is generally classified as a member of the South-West group, also known as the Oguz group (Baskakov 1966, Campbell 1991).
Except for some differences in vocabulary, the Turkic languages are similar enough that under other political circumstances, they would most likely be considered dialects of the same language.

Turkish is mutually intelligible, barring these vocabulary differences, with the Turkic languages spoken in adjacent areas, such as Azerbaijani, Uzbek, and Turkmen.  A speaker of Turkish can be understood as far east as Kyrgyzstan.

Like all Turkic languages, Turkish is agglutinative; that is, grammatical functions are indicated by adding various suffixes to stems. Turkish has 8 vowels and 20 consonants. Modern standard Turkish is based on the Istanbul dialect of Anatolian (Comrie 1990).
Turkish uses a Roman-based writing system that was adopted in the course of the so-called writing reform of 1928. Prior to this reform, Turkish was written in the Arabic script. Until the fifteenth century, the Anatolian Turks used the Uighur script to write Turkish (Comrie 1990).

Turkish has been spoken in the area constituting Turkey since the thirteenth century. It formed the basis for Ottoman Turkish, the written language of the Ottoman Empire.
The establishment of the modern Turkish state in the 1920s involved considerable language reform. Spoken Turkish was declared the language of the country, and measures were taken to expunge Persian and Arabic borrowings, replacing them with native Turkish or at least Turkic words. These and other vocabulary reforms and standardizations since the 1920s have been quite successful: Current standard Turkish is indeed standardarized, consisting mostly of Turkic vocabulary; the written language is clearly an extension of the spoken language; and the literacy rates in Turkey are at about 90 percent.

Visit the program website here.

Faculty:
Current Course Offerings:

Term A = Spring

Term B = Summer

Term C = Fall


Course Title Term Time
TURK 121-680 TURK121 - ADV TURKISH CULT&MEDIA I 2021C T 0515PM-0715PM
TURK 521-680 TURK521 - ADV TURKISH CULT&MEDIA I 2021C T 0515PM-0715PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2021A CANCELED
TURK 528-680 TURK528 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2021A CANCELED
TURK 121-680 TURK121 - ADV TURKISH CULT&MEDIA I 2020C T 0430PM-0700PM
TURK 521-680 TURK521 - ADV TURKISH CULT&MEDIA I 2020C T 0430PM-0700PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2020A CANCELED
TURK 528-680 TURK528 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2020A CANCELED
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2019A W 0100PM-0300PM
TURK 528-680 TURK528 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2019A W 0100PM-0300PM
TURK 121-680 TURK121 - ADV TURKISH CULT&MEDIA I 2018C W 0430PM-0730PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2018C M 0200PM-0400PM
TURK 521-680 TURK521 - ADV TURKISH CULT&MEDIA I 2018C W 0430PM-0730PM
TURK 022-680 TURK022 - ELEM TURKISH II 2018A MW 1200PM-0200PM
TURK 024-680 TURK024 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2018A TR 1200PM-0130PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2018A W 0100PM-0300PM
TURK 528-680 TURK528 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2018A W 0100PM-0300PM
TURK 622-680 TURK622 - ELEM TURKISH II 2018A MW 1200PM-0200PM
TURK 624-680 TURK624 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2018A TR 1200PM-0130PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2017C CANCELED
TURK 022-680 TURK022 - ELEM TURKISH II 2017A TR 0130PM-0330PM
TURK 024-680 TURK024 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2017A TR 0230PM-0400PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2017A CANCELED
TURK 622-680 TURK622 - ELEM TURKISH II 2017A TR 0130PM-0330PM
TURK 624-680 TURK624 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2017A TR 0230PM-0400PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2016C CANCELED
TURK 229-680 TURK229 - OTTOMAN TURKISH I 2016C F 0200PM-0500PM
TURK 629-680 TURK629 - OTTOMAN TURKISH I 2016C F 0200PM-0500PM
TURK 022-680 TURK022 - ELEM TURKISH II 2016A TR 0130PM-0330PM
TURK 024-680 TURK024 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2016A TR 0330PM-0500PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2016A W 0100PM-0300PM
TURK 622-680 TURK622 - ELEM TURKISH II 2016A TR 0130PM-0330PM
TURK 624-680 TURK624 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2016A TR 0330PM-0500PM
TURK 025-680 TURK025 - ADV MODERN TURKISH I 2015C CANCELED
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2015C CANCELED
TURK 229-680 TURK229 - OTTOMAN TURKISH I 2015C CANCELED
TURK 625-680 TURK625 - ADV MODERN TURKISH I 2015C CANCELED
TURK 629-680 TURK629 - OTTOMAN TURKISH I 2015C CANCELED
TURK 022-680 TURK022 - ELEM TURKISH II 2015A TR 0130PM-0330PM
TURK 024-680 TURK024 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2015A TR 0330PM-0500PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2015A R 0300PM-0500PM
TURK 622-680 TURK622 - ELEM TURKISH II 2015A TR 0130PM-0330PM
TURK 624-680 TURK624 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2015A TR 0330PM-0500PM
TURK 025-680 TURK025 - ADV MODERN TURKISH I 2014C CANCELED
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2014C CANCELED
TURK 229-680 TURK229 - OTTOMAN TURKISH I 2014C CANCELED
TURK 625-680 TURK625 - ADV MODERN TURKISH I 2014C CANCELED
TURK 629-680 TURK629 - OTTOMAN TURKISH I 2014C CANCELED
TURK 022-680 TURK022 - ELEM TURKISH II 2014A TR 0130PM-0300PM
TURK 024-680 TURK024 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2014A TR 0330PM-0500PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2014A CANCELED
TURK 622-680 TURK622 - ELEM TURKISH II 2014A TR 0130PM-0300PM
TURK 624-680 TURK624 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2014A TR 0330PM-0500PM
TURK 021-680 TURK021 - ELEM TURKISH I 2013C TR 0130PM-0330PM
TURK 023-680 TURK023 - INTERMED TURKISH I 2013C TR 0330PM-0530PM
TURK 025-680 TURK025 - ADV MODERN TURKISH I 2013C CANCELED
TURK 121-680 TURK121 - ADV TURKISH CULT&MEDIA I 2013C CANCELED
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2013C CANCELED
TURK 229-680 TURK229 - OTTOMAN TURKISH I 2013C CANCELED
TURK 521-680 TURK521 - ADV TURKISH CULT&MEDIA I 2013C CANCELED
TURK 621-680 TURK621 - ELEM TURKISH I 2013C TR 0130PM-0330PM
TURK 623-680 TURK623 - INTERMED TURKISH I 2013C TR 0330PM-0530PM
TURK 625-680 TURK625 - ADV MODERN TURKISH I 2013C CANCELED
TURK 629-680 TURK629 - OTTOMAN TURKISH I 2013C CANCELED
TURK 024-680 TURK024 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2013A
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2013A TBA TBA-
TURK 021-680 TURK021 - ELEM TURKISH I 2012C TR 0130PM-0330PM
TURK 023-680 TURK023 - INTERMED TURKISH I 2012C TR 0400PM-0530PM
TURK 025-680 TURK025 - ADV MODERN TURKISH I 2012C CANCELED
TURK 121-680 TURK121 - ADV TURKISH CULT&MEDIA I 2012C MW 0530PM-0700PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2012C W 0300PM-0500PM
TURK 229-680 TURK229 - OTTOMAN TURKISH I 2012C F 0200PM-0500PM
TURK 521-680 TURK521 - ADV TURKISH CULT&MEDIA I 2012C MW 0530PM-0700PM
TURK 621-680 TURK621 - ELEMEN TURKISH I 2012C TR 0130PM-0330PM
TURK 623-680 TURK623 - INTERMED TURKISH I 2012C TR 0400PM-0530PM
TURK 625-680 TURK625 - ADV MODERN TURKISH I 2012C CANCELED
TURK 629-680 TURK629 - OTTOMAN TURKISH I 2012C F 0200PM-0500PM
TURK 022-680 TURK022 - ELEM TURKISH II 2012A MW 0200PM-0400PM
TURK 024-680 TURK024 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2012A M 0400PM-0530PM
W 0400PM-0530PM
TURK 228-680 TURK228 - STRUCTURE OF TURKISH 2012A CANCELED
TURK 622-680 TURK622 - ELEM TURKISH II 2012A MW 0200PM-0400PM
TURK 624-680 TURK624 - INTERMED TURKISH II 2012A M 0400PM-0530PM
W 0400PM-0530PM