Languages Of Turkey
The official language of Turkey is Turkish though ethnologue lists many minority languages some of which are spoken by large numbers of people.
According to Article 42 of the Constitution of Turkey:
No language other than Turkish shall be taught as a mother tongue to Turkish citizens at any institutions of training or education. Foreign languages to be taught in institutions of training and education and the rules to be followed by schools conducting training and education in a foreign language shall be determined by law. The provisions of international treaties are reserved.This provision has been criticized by Human Rights Watch who claim that ethnic minorities face restrictions in the use of their languages. They further observe that "the Turkish government accepts the language rights of the Jewish, Greek and Armenian minorities as being guaranteed by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. But the government claims that these are Turkey's only minorities, and that any talk of minority rights beyond this is just separatism".
| Mother Tongue | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Turkish | 84.54 |
| Kurdish | 11.97 |
| Arabic | 1.38 |
| Zaza | 1.01 |
| Other Turkic | 0.28 |
| Balkan languages | 0.23 |
| Laz | 0.12 |
| Circassian | 0.11 |
| Armenian | 0.07 |
| Caucasian languages | 0.07 |
| Greek | 0.06 |
| West European languages | 0.03 |
| Jewish languages | 0.01 |
| Romani | 0.01 |
| Other | 0.12 |
| Language | Numbers | Classification | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkish | 700746300000000000046,300,000 | Turkic (Oghuz) | Numbers are certainly higher now |
| Northern Kurdish | 70063950000000000003,950,000 | Indo-European (Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western) | also known as Kurmanji |
| Dimli | 70061000000000000001,000,000 | Indo-European (Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western) | one of the Zaza languages |
| Kabardian | 70061000000000000001,000,000 | North Caucasian languages (aka Caucasic) | |
| South Azerbaijani | 7005530000000000000530,000 | Turkic (Oghuz) | |
| North Mesopotamian Arabic | 7005400000000000000400,000 | Semitic languages (Arabic) | |
| Balkan Gagauz Turkish | 7005327000000000000327,000 | Turkic (Oghuz) | |
| Bulgarian | 7005300000000000000300,000 | Indo-European (Slavic) | |
| Adyghe | 7005278000000000000278,000 | North Caucasian languages | |
| Kirmanjki | 7005140000000000000140,000 | Indo-European (Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western) | one of the Zaza languages |
| Armenian | 700440000000000000040,000 | Indo-European (Armenian languages) | |
| Georgian | 700440000000000000040,000 | South Caucasian languages | |
| Laz | 700430000000000000030,000 | South Caucasian languages | |
| Domari | 700428500000000000028,500 | Indo-European (Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan) | |
| Balkan Romani | 700425000000000000025,000 | Indo-European (Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan) | |
| Serbian | 700420000000000000020,000 | Indo-European (Slavic) | |
| Tosk Albanian | 700415000000000000015,000 | Indo-European (Albanian) | |
| Abaza | 700410000000000000010,000 | North Caucasian languages | |
| Ladino | 70038000000000000008,000 | Indo-European (Romance) | spoken by the descendants of Jewish refugees from Spain |
| Pontic | 70034540000000000004,540 | Indo-European (Greek) | spoken on the shores of the Black Sea, most speakers were moved to Greece in the 1920s |
| Greek | 70034000000000000004,000 | Indo-European (Greek) | most speakers were moved to Greece in the 1920s |
| Abkhaz | 70034000000000000004,000 | North Caucasian languages | |
| Turoyo | 70033000000000000003,000 | Semitic languages (Aramaic) | |
| Crimean Turkish | 70032000000000000002,000 | Turkic (Oghuz) | actual number is unknown |
| Southern Uzbek | 70031980000000000001,980 | Turkic (Uyghuric) | |
| Kyrgyz | 70031140000000000001,140 | Turkic (Western) | (aka Kirghiz) |
| Hértevin | 7003100000000000000less than 1,000 | Semitic languages (Aramaic) | |
| Turkmen | 7002920000000000000920 | Turkic (Oghuz) | |
| Kazakh | 7002600000000000000600 | Turkic (Western) | |
| Uyghur | 7002500000000000000500 | Turkic (Eastern) | |
| Kumyk | 7000100000000000000few villages | Turkic (Western) | |
| Tatar | 7000100000000000000handful | Turkic (Western) | |
| Osetin | 7000100000000000000?? | Indo-European (Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Eastern) | |
| Turkish Sign Language | 7000100000000000000? | Sign languages | Numbers are unknown though likely to number in the thousands |
| Syriac | 5000000000000000000extinct | Aramaic | liturgical language |
| Ubykh | 5000000000000000000extinct | North Caucasian | became extinct in the 1990s |
Read more about Languages Of Turkey: History
Famous quotes containing the words languages and/or turkey:
“The very natural tendency to use terms derived from traditional grammar like verb, noun, adjective, passive voice, in describing languages outside of Indo-European is fraught with grave possibilities of misunderstanding.”
—Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1934)
“In the land of turkeys in turkey weather
At the base of the statue, we go round and round.
What a beautiful history, beautiful surprise!
Monsieur is on horseback. The horse is covered with mice.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)