We probably all know a few words of Turkish. For example, when we order a kebab, börek or lahmacun. But did you know that yogurt, kiosk and tulip also ended up in our vocabulary via Turkish? There are quite a few things that not everyone knows about Turkish culture and that should be taken into account, especially when translating. That’s why we’ve compiled ten fascinating facts on the subject in this blog post. Let’s go! (İşte başlıyoruz!)
1. Turkish and German have many similarities
“You can’t be serious!” you might think. But there are indeed many similarities between these two languages. This is because Mustafa Kemal Atatürk based his 1928 language reform on the German language. The Arabic alphabet was replaced by Latin letters. And although there are ü sounds in other languages as well, he adopted the ü umlaut as a letter specifically from the German alphabet. Bastian Sick gives this beautiful example: “Gülüm, gül yüzünü güldürürüm senin.” In English: “My rose, I can make your rosy face smile.”
A quick quiz for you: what do you think these Turkish words mean? Müzik, kokteyl, mayonez and mikser? Of course, they mean: music, cocktail, mayonnaise and mixer. Turkish comes from the Turkic language family and not from the Indo-European languages, and therefore different rules apply than when learning languages like English or German. But despite the many differences, there are also many similarities. For instance, the populations of both countries: Turkey has about 84 million inhabitants, Germany 83 million.
2. More than just a popular vacation destination
Turkey has been one of the most popular vacation destinations for Germans for many years. At the same time, the country is also a very attractive proposition for many companies looking to expand internationally and enter a new market. It is true that the economy has been plagued by price fluctuations and uncertainties, some of which have been considerable, for a number of years. At the same time, however, there are also good conditions for foreign companies, low labor costs, an employer-friendly environment, modern facilities and an ever-improving infrastructure. However, it is always advisable to cooperate with partners who know their way around between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean – not only in terms of the country and its people, but also its politics, culture and language.
3. Fun facts: about tea, hazelnuts and bread
We already mentioned the kebab above. But did you know that it was not invented in Turkey, but in Berlin in 1972? Or did you know that the Turks are tea ‘world champions’? 96 percent of Turks drink at least one cup a day. In addition, coffee beans first came to Europe via Istanbul. And even Santa Claus is a Turk: he was born in Patara, in southwestern Turkey. More fun facts: Turkey is the largest producer of hazelnuts, with almost half the country consisting of agricultural land. Not only that: In Turkey, each person eats about three times their own body weight in bread every year.
4. Around 80 million people around the world speak Turkish
Turkish is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with about 70 to 80 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey, but is also spoken in Iraq, Syria, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, North Cyprus, Greece, the Caucasus, and other parts of Europe and Central Asia. Cyprus has requested that the European Union include Turkish as an official language, even though Turkey is not a member state.
5. In Turkish, the words ‘stick’ together
Turkish is an “agglutinative” language. This means that the words stick together. Grammatical functions such as person, time, or case are indicated by the addition of affixes, but the noun does not change. Example: Evdeyiz. This is not just a word, but effectively a whole sentence. Ev means “house,” and added to this comes the first suffix “de.” This ending represents the locative case and indicates where something is located. The final suffix “yiz” indicates the first person plural. So the phrase “Ev-de-yiz” means “We are at home.”
6. Turkish has no gender and no articles
Why does German have “der Mond” (the moon) but “die Sonne” (the sun)? You can happily forget about that problem in Turkish, because there is no “der, die, das,” no articles and no genus. The pronoun “o” is used for “he, she, it” – and it can even be left out. In Turkish, the person is indicated by the ending of the verb. Personal pronouns are only necessary when you want to emphasize them, for example: Top oynuyor (He plays ball) compared with O top oynuyor (He plays ball). Oh, and if you use numbers, the plural is also omitted, since it is clear from the number that several tomatoes or balls are meant.
7. The Turkish language contains many French terms
There are more than 5,000 French loanwords in Turkish and also many borrowings from Arabic and Persian. These are historically linked to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the Turkish Republic. Here are a few examples: Cousin is “kuzen,” wallet is “portmone” (from portemonnaie) and hairdresser is “kuaför” (from coiffeur).
8. There is a separate past tense in Turkish
Grammar can sometimes be quite tricky for people learning a new language. Now picture the scene: In Turkish, there is even another past tense for situations that are not based on your own experience: “It’s said that…”. Here’s an example: “My mother’s uncle apparently made a big mess of Christmas.”
9. Courtesy is important!
In Turkish, it is considered rude to address someone by their first name when you meet them – especially if he or she is older. Instead, you need to combine the name with a form of address. For example, teyze (aunt) or amca (uncle). If you don’t know the person’s name, it is best to address them as hanimefendi (Ms.) or beyefendi (Mr.).
10. The Turkish language is a lot of fun
Turkish is full of beautiful terms that are a joy to read and listen to for the first time. One nice example is “şaka maka” (pronounced “shackamacka”), which means “joking aside.” When it comes to the term “flört,” you can probably guess: this really does mean “flirt.” And “sürpriz” is the Turkish translation for – surprise, surprise: well, it’s “surprise,” actually! Of course, they also like their tongue twisters. Here’s an example: Bir berber bir berbere gel berber beraber Berberistan’da bir berber dükkanı açalım demiş. (One barber said to another barber: “Come, barber, let’s open a barbershop together in Barberistan.”)
Planen Sie Ihren Markteintritt in der Türkei? Möchten Sie Ihre Webseite oder einen Fachartikel ins Türkische übersetzen lassen? Dann vertrauen Sie einem erfahrenen Sprachexperten, der die Eigenschaften und Besonderheiten dieses Landes und seiner Sprache aus dem Effeff kennt. ACT Translations arbeitet mit türkischen Muttersprachler:innen und Übersetzer:innen zusammen, die Ihr Projekt gerne übernehmen.
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