The language revolution in Turkey: transformations of language in Mustafa Kemal Atat?rk’s 'Nutuk'

the article presents the results of a comparative analysis of three versions of "Nutuk" ("Speech"). The aim of the study is to document and systematize the changes that occurred in the language under the influence of the Turkish language revolution. The object of the study comprises materials from the pre-revolutionary period, the early post-revolutionary edition (1934), and a later edition (1970). These materials illustrate the formation and transformation of the language driven by the language revolution. The subject of the study is the key points of linguistic transformation. Using the method of comparative analysis, the following tasks were addressed: 1) the primary transitions across all levels of the language were identified, and 2) the observed linguistic transformations were classified and systematically described. The findings revealed a potentially new phenomenon, leading to the expansion of neologism classifications with a new subtype: "prescriptive neologisms." This newly introduced term is defined as "a new prescribed word that replaces an existing equivalent in the language for national reasons and in the interests of the state." At the syntactic level, a shift from Arabic-Persian word order to modern Turkish syntax was documented. The study also established the periods of introduction and standardization of the apostrophe in post-revolutionary Turkish orthography, as well as the methods of adapting Arabic loanwords to the Turkish phonetic system in accordance with vowel harmony principles. The materials analyzed have not been previously examined by domestic scholars from a comparative perspective. Thus, the results obtained are unique and contribute to addressing gaps in domestic linguistics.

language revolution in Turkey, prescriptive neologisms, comparative analysis of political discourse