An Evaluation of the Proposed Equivalents for the Western Origin Words Entering Turkish During the Tanzimat Period

Abstract

Throughout history and in the present, the Turkish language has interacted with numerous languages across its vast geographical spread; consequently, many foreign words have entered its vocabulary. Notably, the Tanzimat Period and the subsequent modernization process initiated a period of intense contact with Western languages, leading to the adoption of numerous Western-origin words into Turkish. This study aims to examine the current status of suggested equivalents for Western-origin words that entered Turkish during this period and to determine their societal adoption using corpus linguistics methods. To this end, words borrowed from Western languages during the Tanzimat Period and the equivalents proposed for them in the Guide to Equivalents for Foreign Words published by the Turkish Language Institution (TDK) were identified (176 equivalents for 88 words). Subsequently, the frequency counts of these words across four different corpora were aggregated. Thus, based on corpus data, the actual usage rates of the words were determined, and the comparative frequency ratios were calculated. The results indicated that 24% (43 words) of the suggested equivalents were never adopted, 34% (60 words) were virtually non-existent save for a few isolated instances, 16.5% (29 words) possessed a very limited range of usage, and 25% (44 words) were relatively successful. Based on these findings, it was determined that proposing Turkish equivalents for words already prevalent in the language did not gain a foothold in the language. Furthermore, factors such as inconsistencies in proposed equivalents, suggestions contrary to the goal of purification, standardization issues in term orthography, and ambiguities in semantic/conceptual fields were identified as significant reasons for the failure of these words to be adopted. Considering the obtained findings, it is concluded that timing is crucial when proposing equivalents for foreign-origin words, and that for a suggested word to be adopted and become widespread, it must be supported by a multifaceted language policy encompassing press, media tools, and educational activities.