Armeno-Turkish alphabet
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (May 2019) |
| Armeno-Turkish alphabet | |
|---|---|
 Front page of the Old Testament written in Armeno-Turkish alphabet | |
| Script type | |
| Creator | Mesrop Mashtots |
| Languages | Ottoman Turkish language |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | Armenian script
|
Sister systems | Latin Coptic Georgian Cyrillic |
The Armeno-Turkish alphabet is a version of the Armenian script sometimes used to write Ottoman Turkish until 1928, when the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet was introduced. The Armenian script was not just used by ethnic Armenians to write the Turkish language, but also by the non-Armenian Ottoman Turkish elite.[citation needed]
An American correspondent in Marash in 1864 called the alphabet "Armeno-Turkish", describing it as consisting of 31 Armenian letters and "infinitely superior" to the Arabic or Greek alphabets for rendering Turkish.[1]
This Armenian script was used alongside the Arabic script for official documents of the Ottoman Empire written in Ottoman Turkish.[citation needed] For instance, the first novel to be written in Turkish in the Ottoman Empire was Vartan Pasha's 1851 Akabi Hikâyesi, written in the Armenian script.[citation needed] In the early 19th century, American Evangelical missionaries began printing vernacular Turkish translations of the Bible written in the Armenian alphabet.[2]
Alphabet
[edit]| Letter[1] | Name[3] | Additional information[1] | Ottoman Turkish (Arabic) alphabet | Modern Latin alphabet | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ա ա | այբ ayb | — | ا | a | /a/ |
| (Բ բ) | բեն ben | not used in Turkish words | — | (b) | — |
| Գ գ | գիմ gim | used before hard vowels | ق | k (before a, ı, o, u) | /k/ |
| (Դ դ) | դա da | not used in Turkish words | — | (d) | — |
| Ե ե | եչ yeç | not used in diphthongs | ی | y | /j/ |
| Զ զ | զա za | — | ز, ذ,
ظ, ض |
z | /z/ |
| Է է | է e | — | ا | e | /e/ |
| Ը ը | ըթ ıt | — | ی | ı | /ɯ/ |
| Թ թ | թօ to | — | ط, ت | t | /t/ |
| Ժ ժ | ժէ je | — | ژ | j | /ʒ/ |
| Ի ի | ինի ini | — | ی | i | /i/ |
| Լ լ | լիւն lün | — | ل | l | /ɫ/, /l/ |
| Խ խ | խէ he | only used for Arabic kha | خ | h | /h/ |
| (Ծ ծ) | ծա dza | not used in Turkish words | — | (dz) | — |
| Կ կ | կեն gen | — | گ | g or ğ (before e, i, ö, ü) | /ɟ/, /ː/ |
| Հ հ | հօ ho | — | ه, ح | h | /h/ |
| (Ձ ձ) | ձա tsa | not used in Turkish words | — | (ts) | — |
| Ղ ղ | ղատ gat | — | غ | g or ğ (before a, ı, o, u) | /ɡ/, /ː/ |
| Ճ ճ | ճէ ce | — | ج | c | /d͡ʒ/ |
| Մ մ | մեն men | — | م | m | /m/ |
| Յ յ | յի hi | only used in diphthongs | ی | y | /j/ |
| Ն ն | նու nu | — | ن | n | /n/ |
| Շ շ | շա şa | — | ش | ş | /ʃ/ |
| Ո ո | ո vo | only used in digraphs | — | — | — |
| Չ չ | չա ça | — | چ | ç | /t͡ʃ/ |
| Պ պ | պէ be | — | ب | b | /b/ |
| (Ջ ջ) | ջէ çe | not used in Turkish words | — | (ç) | — |
| (Ռ ռ) | ռա ra | not used in Turkish words | — | (r) | — |
| Ս ս | սէ se | — | س, ث, ص | s | /s/ |
| Վ վ | վեւ vev | — | و | v | /v/ |
| Տ տ | տիւն dün | — | د, ط | d | /d/ |
| Ր ր | րէ re | — | ر | r | /ɾ/ |
| (Ց ց) | ցօ tso | not used in Turkish words | — | (ts) | — |
| Ւ ւ | հիւն hün | only used in digraphs | — | — | — |
| Փ փ | փիւր pür | — | پ | p | /p/ |
| Ք ք | քէ ke | — | ك | k (before e, i, ö, ü) | /c/ |
| Օ օ | օ o | — | و | o | /o/ |
| Ֆ ֆ | ֆէ fe | — | ف | f | /f/ |
Digraphs
[edit]Although the Armenian alphabet fits the Turkish phonology very well, a few digraphs are needed to write all Turkish sounds, especially vowels. Some of them are also present in Armenian orthography.
| Digraph | Additional information | Ottoman Turkish (Arabic) alphabet | Modern Latin alphabet | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ու ու | — | و | u | /u/ |
| Իւ իւ | — | و | ü | /y/ |
| Էօ էօ | — | و | ö | /ø/ |
| Նկ նկ | not present in modern Turkish | ڭ | (n) | /n/, (/ŋ/) |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Pratt, Andrew (1866). "On the Armeno-Turkish Alphabet". Miscellanies. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 8: 374–376. JSTOR 592244.
- ^ Bournoutian, George A. (2002). "Amiras and Sultans: Armenians in the Ottoman Empire". A Concise History of the Armenian People: From Ancient Times to the Present (2nd ed.). Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers. p. 199. ISBN 978-1-56859-141-4.
- ^ Hacıbeyzâde Ahmed Muhtar. Demir, Muhammet A. (ed.). "Osmanlıca Bilenlere Dört Günde Ermenice Okumanın Usulü" [How to Read Armenian in Four Days for Those Who Know Ottoman Language] (in Ottoman Turkish).
Further reading
[edit]- Aslanian, Sebouh D. (2016). "'Prepared in the Language of the Hagarites': Abbot Mkhitar's 1727 Armeno-Turkish Grammar of Modern Western Armenian" (PDF). Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies. 25: 54–86.
- Berbérian, Haig (1964). "La littérature arméno-turque". In Deny, Jean; et al. (eds.). Philologiae Turcicae Fundamenta (in French). Vol. 2. Wiesbaden: Steiner. pp. 809–819.
- Der Matossian, Bedross (20 January 2020). "The Development of Armeno-Turkish (Hayatar T'rk'erēn) in the 19th Century Ottoman Empire: Marking and Crossing Ethnoreligious Boundaries". Intellectual History of the Islamicate World. 8 (1): 67–100. doi:10.1163/2212943X-00702011. ISSN 2212-9421.
- Ghoogasian, Aram (2 January 2022). "The Problem with Hybridity: A Critique of Armeno-Turkish Studies". Middle Eastern Literatures. 25 (1): 39–56. doi:10.1080/1475262X.2023.2181572. ISSN 1475-262X. Discusses and cites many works on Armeno-Turkish literature.