The minute that I signed into the free trial for the beginner Turkish language assigned by my Turkish Culture class, I was immediately met with words and phrases that I have encountered through listening to conversations between every member of my family except my brother and I. Since both of my parents are Turkish, and similarly their parents, siblings, and step-siblings, there is a concerted effort to stay true to their native language and continue speaking Turkish. However, after moving to the United States, my brother and I were thrown into a vigorous teaching regimen, almost indoctrination, of the English language, one that was enforced so strictly that our constantly required speaking and writing practice forged a path away from our initial language understandings. For my brother, who was 4 when we moved, did not have to undergo a revolutionary change, as his grasp of any language other than babbles was still rudimentary. On the other hand, I had already begun taking intermediate level grammar courses in Hungarian, as I was born in Hungary, and was speaking extremely basic Turkish with my grandparent, aunts, and uncle. Nevertheless, my family stays in close contact to this day, where we actually have scheduled Skype calls with almost every weekend to stay in touch and allow our grandparents to see their grandchildren’s’ faces. While I can’t understand most of the conversations that are had, there is an intrinsic value of interacting with the language that has a rich history in Turkey, and I am happy to notice that less than half of the content in the free trial of the Turkish course was absolutely new material that I had not heard in my family’s conversations in the past. Furthermore, the pronoun for “I” and “You” (“Ben” and “Sen”), as well as “nasılsın” (“how are you?”) are some of the basic words and phrases that my brother and I are able to speak and understand without translation from our parents.
My unique perspective on the Turkish language, as an individual with native speakers in my proximal and distant family, has allowed me to look at the language as more of an entity with a decorated history, rather than as an intrinsic part of my life. This has allowed me to realized, and affirm through the historical readings and lectures we have had in Turkish 2241, that there is a cultural impact that the Turkish language holds in the hearts of all Turkish citizens. Before continuing, it is important to distinctly recognize that many, if not all, languages have some level of cultural influence in the way people define themselves and their population, and at this point, I am communicating my perspective of just one of those many languages, Turkish. As for Turkey, the language has a deep-seeded role in both the characterization of a people, as well as a marker for a complex nationalist movement in the early 1900s. After WWI, in an effort to consolidate area in the face of the dominating Allies that wanted to claim land, Turkey signed the Treaty of Lausanne that, among other stipulations, required that Turkey and Greece uproot around two million people in a massive population exchanged. The signifiance of this event could be felt after the move was made, as the increasingly nationalist country of Turkey was beginning to realize that they needed certain criteria to determine what makes a Turkish person. It eventually came down to the religion you followed and the language you spoke, which became contested in cases where a Muslim individual only spoke Greek and vice versa. At this point, language became a crucial factor of deciding the nationality of an individual, and Turkish virtually served as a passport for people that wanted to identify themselves as a Turkish citizen. Not only did Turkish exist as this pseudo-credential for the nationality of an individual, but it marked one of the earlier changes implemented by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to modernize the country of Turkey. Instead of drowning in loathing and ideas of revenge towards those that won WWI, he realized that the Allied countries represented a standard of technological and societal superiority that had to be matched to be a strong nation. Consequently, Ataturk (“The Father of the Turks”) started a revolutionary program of reforms that changed or had an impact on every societal, cultural, governmental, educational, or globally polital aspect within the increasingly solidifying lines of Turkey. One of the major reforms, seemingly overnight, was the revolutionary rework of the Turkish language, both written and spoken, where Islamic and Persian influences were scrapped, and a Latin-based system of Turkish was established and pushed throughout the country. While the reforms were not the most popular at the time, the changes set a precedence for the future identity of Turkey, and allowed for the development of a unity and national pride among Turkish citizens that survives to this day. For example, the architectural idolization and ideals of Ataturk (titled “Kemalism”) have survived to this day, as people, almost obsessively in some cases, recall the history of Ataturk and are trying to keep his belief in the modernization and secularism of Turkey alive.
Finally, while there is no language that I can speak fluently beside English, I have had the opportunity to dive into many experiences and cultures throughout my life from which I have picked up some of their respective vernaculars. Specifically, my integration into the world of Tennis at the start of High School, which I play to this day, has accompanied with it some terms that would not make sense to someone outside the tennis culture. For instance, if I told a beginner to never stand in No Man’s Land, they would look at me like I was crazy and that I was talking about some deserted island. However, it is actually a specific area of the court near the baseline where a player would be found with essentially no options of attack or defense, and find themselves in a place no person should be, hence the name. Another example is that of “trying to be Hulk”, which may be specific to my school team as a result of our coach reprimanding us with the line countless times. When our coach says the line, he is telling us that we are trying too hard to be aggressive and are simply uncontrollably hitting the ball as hard as we can, which fits the vehement anger of the Marvel character Hulk. Small phrases and words such as these are common in many subsets of life, and serve to make those that know the secret behind the words feel a part of a community that others do not have access too without the necessary knowledge and experience. Similarly, the development of a unique national language facilitated the efforts of Nationalism by Ataturk, and forged the way for a modern Turkey.