Ottoman Turkish

Ottoman Turkish (لسان عثمانی, Lisân-ı Osmânî, Turkish pronunciation: [liˈsaːnɯ osˈmaːniː]; Turkish: Osmanlıca; Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). Written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet, it borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Persian and Arabic (through Persian). Ottoman Turkish was largely unintelligible to rural Turks, who continued to use kaba Türkçe ("raw/vulgar Turkish"; compare Vulgar Latin and Demotic Greek), which used far fewer foreign loanwords and is the basis of the modern standard.

Terms for the language included lisân-ı Türkî or zebân-ı Türkî ("Turkish language"), or, alternatively during the Ottoman era, lisân-ı Rûm or zebân-ı Rûm ("the language of Rum"). The Tanzimât era (1839–1876) saw the application of the term "Ottoman" when referring to the language (لسان عثمانی lisân-ı Osmânî or عثمانلیجه Osmanlıca). Modern Turkish uses the same terms when referring to the language of that era (Osmanlıca and Osmanlı Türkçesi). More generically, the Turkish language was called تركجه Türkçe or تركی Türkî "Turkish".

History

Historically, Ottoman Turkish was transformed in three eras:

Eski Osmanlı Türkçesi اسكی عثمانلی توركچه‌سی (Old Ottoman Turkish): the version of Ottoman Turkish used until the 16th century. It was almost identical with the Turkish used by Seljuk empire and Anatolian beyliks and was often regarded as part of Eski Anadolu Türkçesi اسكی آناطولی توركچه‌سی (Old Anatolian Turkish).

Orta Osmanlı Türkçesi اورتا عثمانلی توركچه‌سی (Middle Ottoman Turkish) or Klasik Osmanlıca (Classical Ottoman Turkish): the language of poetry and administration from the 16th century until Tanzimat.