Language planning and national identity during the Ottoman Empire

Abstract

Language, by its nature, is an important tool for a society to car-ry itself to the future. Language, which is an indicator both in the estab-lishment of national identity and in proving independence on the stage of history, becomes permanent with the alphabet used to put it into written language. One of the most distinctive examples of the alphabet and natio- nal identity is the Turkish Alphabet Revolution, which was conducted un-der the leadership of ATATÜRK and which made a deep alphabet enginee- ring on the inheritance from the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish Alphabet Revolution, with its systematic implementation and success at every stage from the Turkish social structure to the State level, also sets an example for today's language policies and alphabet studies. In this study, language, alphabet and identity policies from the Ottoman Empire to the first years of the Turkish Republic are discussed and the role of language and alpha-bet, which is one of the most important requirements of being a nation, is emphasized.