Baltic, Celtic, Basque, Uralic & Turkic Languages Textbook PDF

The Baltic languages The Baltic languages are a branch within the Indo-European language family. They are typically divided into two main groups: 1. The Eastern Baltic languages, which include Lithuanian, Latvian, Nehrungskurish, Selonian, and Semgallic. 2. The West Baltic languages, which include O...

The Baltic languages The Baltic languages are a branch within the Indo-European language family. They are typically divided into two main groups: 1. The Eastern Baltic languages, which include Lithuanian, Latvian, Nehrungskurish, Selonian, and Semgallic. 2. The West Baltic languages, which include Old Prussian, Jatvian (Yatwigian, Yotvian, Sudovian, Sudovian), Galindian, and Old Kurish. With the exception of Lithuanian and Latvian, all these languages became extinct in the 16th and 17th centuries. It's important to note that Kursenieki, which is de facto a Latvian dialect and should not be confused with Old Curonian, is currently in decline, with only 2 full, 3 partial, a few passive speakers as of 2016. Additionally, there are other languages in the Baltic region, such as Estonian; however, Estonian does not belong to the Indo-European language family. The oldest scientifically usable written records of Baltic languages date back to the 14th century, Figure 1 Distribution of the Baltic languages specifically from the Elbingen Old Prussian Dictionary. Kayle rekyse. Thoneaw labonache thewelyse. Eg koyte poyte nykoyte penega doyte. Cheers, sir. You are not a good uncle. If you want to drink, you don't want to spend money. Balto-Slavic The classification of Baltic and Slavic groups into the Balto-Slavic languages has been a topic of debate among linguists. Presently, it is generally assumed that there was a proto-Baltic community, and from a small part of this community, it is believed that the early Slavs emerged. While some linguists still group Baltic and Slavic together as Balto-Slavic, this view is heavily contested (for an overview of the debate and common features see the extensive Wikipedia site of baldo-slavic here. 1 Lietuvių kalba (Lithuanian) Lithuanian is the official language of Lithuania, spoken by approximately 3 million people within the country. However, due to emigration and forced deportations, there is a significant Lithuanian diaspora in various countries, including the USA, Canada, Brazil, and Russia. It is estimated that there are around half a million Lithuanian speakers outside of Lithuania. For instance, in Ireland, there is a sizable Lithuanian community of approximately 200,000 individuals, primarily resulting from emigration in the 1990s. During the Soviet rule, attempts to russify the Lithuanian population were met with resistance and were not widely accepted. However, under perestroika, the policy shifted, and on January 25, 1989, the „Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR” decided to establish Lithuanian as the state language. In 1990, Lithuania regained its independence and autonomy. The earliest known handwritten gloss in Lithuanian, which is a translation of the Our Father prayer, dates back to 1503. The development of the modern standard Lithuanian language, particularly in its written form, however only began in the 1960s. The first dictionary of the Lithuanian written language, which was initiated in 1932, was completed in 1968. Consequently, the standardization process of the written language is relatively recent, resulting in ongoing variations within the modern standard language. A distinctive feature of the standardized Lithuanian written language is the transliteration of foreign loan words and proper names according to Lithuanian pronunciation. For example, Gerhard Schröder is transliterated as Gerhardas Šrėderis, George Bush as Džordžas Bušas, and Harry Potter as Haris Poteris. Lithuanian is archaic in many respects such as shown by its complex declension of nouns, pronouns and adjectives. It is closely related to Latvian (the other living Baltic member), and has been greatly influenced by the Slavic languages since the Middle Ages when Lithuania was in the orbit of Poland. Phonetics / Phonology The phonetic system of standard Lithuanian consists of 10 monophthongs, both long and short vowels, as well as 6 vocalic diphthongs. One notable feature is the presence of semi- or mixed diphthongs, which are combinations of the vowels i, ae, u, and a with the sonorants l, r, m, n. In terms of consonants, Lithuanian has 45 phonemes. The abundance of consonants is attributed to the contrast between palatalized and non-palatalized sounds, with palatalization influencing the „soft“ pronunciation. Consequently, the pronunciation of Lithuanian sounds can be quite intricate. Lithuanian is also considered to be a tonal language, featuring two tones: a short tone, known as the push tone, and the drag tone. However, distinguishing these tones in practice can be challenging. Lithuanian exhibits a robust dialectal structure, although its prominence has diminished in recent decades due to the increasing influence of the standard language and modern media society. Morphology Lithuanian is a highly inflected language, sharing similarities in this aspect with Latin, Ancient Greek, and Sanskrit. One prominent feature is the extensive use of case endings, with a total of seven cases and numerous endings across five classes. Nouns exhibit two grammatical genders (masculine and feminine), while adjectives, pronouns, numerals, and participles have three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter). It is necessary for every attribute to agree with the gender and number of the noun. Neuter forms of other parts of speech are employed when referring to a subject of undefined gender, such as a pronoun or an infinitive. Example of 1st inflection class (masculine) below - there are 4 more classes for the noun, 3 for the adjective. 2 Figure 2 1st inflection class (mask.) Lithuanian Patronymic surname system From the surname in Lithuanian, one can determine the gender of the person, as well as the marital status in the case of women. For example, the surname Kazlauskas indicates a man, while Kazlauskienė signifies his wife, and Kazlauskaitė represents their daughter. However, it is worth noting that recent trends have introduced more flexibility in surname usage. Individuals now have the option to retain their birth name after marriage, select a double name combining both their own and their spouse's surnames, or choose a surname that is neutral with regards to marital status. These alternatives provide individuals with more choices and allow for greater self-expression in naming practices. Latvieš u valoda (Latvian) Latvian and Lithuanian belong to the East Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, which makes them closely related. However, over time, the two languages have diverged significantly, making mutual understanding difficult despite some shared words and forms. Latvian is spoken by around 1.5 million people in Latvia, with Latvian-speaking minorities also found in the northwest of Belarus and the northeast of Poland. The proximity to Finno-Ugric languages in the north distinguishes Latvian from Lithuanian. Latvian has diverse dialects, and many Latvians have emigrated to countries like the USA, Germany, Australia, and Sweden. During Latvia's annexation by the USSR, numerous Latvians were deported to Siberia. Before 1989, Latvian did not hold official language status but became an official language in 1990. Russification efforts marginalized Latvian in administration, official communications, and education, though resistance was comparatively weaker than in Lithuania. Currently, minorities in Latvia have the right to use their preferred language to preserve their own linguistic heritage. However, there is opposition to measures aimed at addressing disadvantages faced by the Latvian language itself, particularly from the Russian-speaking population. Consequently, Latvia faces a complex linguistic-political situation. Standard language The written and standard form of Latvian today has a history spanning four and a half centuries, with the first Latvian books appearing in the late 16th century. Similar to Lithuanian, the development of a more unified written language occurred relatively late, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a result, Latvian does not have the same level of standardization as some other 3 languages. There are variations in spelling, and the relationship between the written language, colloquial language, and dialects differs from languages like German, for example. Phonetics & Phonology The Latvian phonetic system consists of 12 monophthongs, which means 6 pairs of long and short vowels (compared to Lithuanian's 10). This difference in vowel length is meaningful and distinctive in Latvian. One particular challenge in Latvian is distinguishing between the broad, open e-sound [æ] and the narrow, closed e-sound [ɛ], which are often written the same way. Although they are written similarly, they carry phonological significance as they convey different meanings. In the consonant system, Latvian has 26 phonemes, which is fewer than Lithuanian's 45. This difference arises from the absence of palatalized consonants functioning as independent phonemes in Latvian. Morphology Like Lithuanian, Latvian is also highly inflectional. It has two genders, masculine and feminine. Masculine endings are: -s (galds „table“), - š (celš „way“), -is (cirvis „axe“) , -us (medus „honey“) Feminine endings are: (diena 'day), -e (bite 'bee), There are some feminine words that end in -s, e.g. govs 'cow' or pils 'castle' Standard Latvian has 5 cases (compared to Lithuanian's 7) and 6 declension classes (compared to Lithuanian's 5). An interesting peculiarity in Latvian is the inclusion of gender and number in numerals, with even the word for „one“ having a plural form. MASK. viens (1), FEM. viena; MASK.PL. vieni, Fem.PL. vienas Syntax Another peculiarity of Latvian is its syntax. Latvian exhibits a larger number of diverse minimal sentence patterns consisting of only one component, resulting in one-word sentences; Krēslo (it dawns) Veicas (went well) he is well The unmarked sentence structure in Latvian is subject verb object; however, the arrangement is relatively free. Vocabulary Latvian has many old loanwords from Livonian: Ex. Sēne from Livonian sēn „mushroom“; likewise from Estonian - thus a loanword that does not exist in Lithuanian; Numerous borrowings also exist from German (poltergeists, vunderkinds) and Russian. Shqip (Albanian) 4 The Albanian people refer to themselves as „Shqiptarë“ or „Skipetars,“ derived from the word „shqipoj,“ meaning „to speak clearly or intelligibly.“ Albanian is an independent branch within the Indo-European language family. The standard Albanian language has two main dialects: Gegic in the North, including Kosovo, and Tosk in the South, which serves as the standardized dialect. Standard Albanian is predominantly used in Albania, Kosovo, and the northwest region of the Republic of Macedonia. There are also Albanian-speaking communities in smaller areas of southern Serbia. In addition, approximately 50 settlements in Italy are home to Albanian speakers known as Italo-Albanians or Arberese. Albanian is also spoken by Albanian emigrants, particularly in Turkey, Australia, and the USA. The Graecoalbanians, known as Arvanitika speakers, primarily use dialects rather than the standard variant. The estimated number of native Albanian speakers is around 6 million. Albanian is also spoken in southern Italy among the Arbëresh community and in southern Greece, where it is referred to as Arvanitika. The modern written form of Albanian is based on the Tuscan dialect. The official status of Albanian is recognized in Albania, Kosovo, and parts of Macedonia and Montenegro. The Balkan sprachbund is a linguistic phenomenon in Southeastern Europe where genetically unrelated languages share certain structural similarities. Albanian is grouped within this linguistic area along with languages like Macedonian, Bulgarian, and the Torlak dialect of Serbian. Modern Greek and Balkan Romance languages, such as Romanian, also have some connections to the Balkan Sprachbund. Some notable features within the Balkan sprachbund include the use of postposed articles, the absence of the infinitive, and the paraphrasing of the future tense using the respective verb for to want.“ These features are not equally pronounced in all languages of the Sprachbund. Albanian has a phonological system with seven vowel phonemes and a relatively complex consonant system with approximately 29 phonemes. Short and long vowels are distinguished. 5 In terms of grammar, Albanian shares certain similarities with Greek, Romanian, and Bulgarian, which contribute to its inclusion in the Balkan linguistic confederation. Albanian exhibits two genders, masculine and feminine, and has a diverse range of nouns that may require masculine attributes in the singular and feminine attributes in the plural. The language features five cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative, although the genitive and dative often have the same endings. Unlike German, comparison in Albanian is always formed analytically, rather than through endings. The language lacks an infinitive form for verbs. The Albanian vocabulary includes loanwords from Latin, Balkan languages, and Turkish. Turkish loanwords, known as turzisms, are archaic but still used in colloquial speech. Albanian word formation commonly involves suffixation, prefiguring, and composition. Text sample Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1: Të gjithë njerëzit lindin të lirë dhe të barabartë në dinjitet dhe në të drejta. Ata kanë arsye dhe ndërgjegje dhe duhet të sillen ndaj njëri tjetrit me frymë vëllazërimi. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should meet one another in the spirit of brotherhood. The Celtic Languages The Celtic languages can be divided into two groups: mainland Celtic and insular Celtic. Mainland Celtic: - Mainland Celtic languages are all extinct, and their names have been passed down through fragments and modern reconstructions. - Examples of mainland Celtic languages include Gallic (in France, northern Italy, Switzerland, and possibly southwestern Germany), Galatian (in western Turkey), Lepontic (in Upper Italy), Celtiberian (in the Iberian Peninsula), and Noric (in Austria). Insular Celtic: - Insular Celtic languages are further divided into the Goidelic branch (or q-Celtic) and the Britannic branch (or p-Celtic). - Goidelic branch includes Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. The name „Goidelic“ is derived from Goídil, an ancient tribal name from Ireland. - Britannic branch includes Cymric, Breton, and Cornish. 6 The genealogical relationship between the different Celtic languages and their common ancestor, Proto-celtic, is highly debated due to limited comparison outside of the insular Celtic languages. Historically, the origins of the Celts are not well known, but it is believed they originated from Eastern Europe. The Celtic settlement area was vast, covering southern and western Central Europe, including parts of Germany, France, Belgium, and the Alps. Population growth during this period led to migration, including the settlement of Britain and Ireland. The Celts also had interactions with Greece and Italy, often through warfare. The term „Celts“ was used by Greek scholars, and the name „Keltoí“ or „Kéltai“ was used to refer to them. Later writers referred to them as „Galátai“ or „Galatians,“ equivalent to the Latin term „Galli.“ The name is derived from the root *gal, meaning 'to be strong,' and „Gal“ means 'power, strength, bravery' in Celtic languages. Over time, „Celts“ and „Gauls“ became synonymous. The Celtic languages are currently endangered, and mutual intelligibility among them is limited. Manx and Cornish were once extinct but have been revived in recent years. Manx, for example, had a last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, who died in 1974. Efforts are being made to teach and revitalize these languages, with a few hundred adult L2 speakers.Cornish: In 2010, UNESCO declared that Cornish could no longer be classified as extinct. This was seen by speakers as a milestone in the revival of the language. In 2011, about 500 people reported using Cornish as their main language. Unusual but typical characteristics of the Celtic languages are: - Anlaut mutation (initial consonant mutation - inflecting prepositions - unmarked word order VSO 7 With Welsh, the situation is relatively better as there are approximately 500,000 native speakers. Breton is natively spoken by around 200,000 people, although the sources for this information may be outdated. The estimate is based on a survey of about 1,000 people, and the actual number of speakers may be smaller. Additionally, language proficiency varies, and most speakers belong to older generations. Scottish Gaelic has about 58,000 speakers, but not all of them use the language on a daily basis. Canadian Gaelic, a dialect of Scottish Gaelic, is sporadically spoken in Nova Scotia, Canada, but specific information is limited. Gaeilge (Irish) In Ireland, efforts are being made to preserve the Irish language. In the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking regions), there are approximately 40,000-80,000 native speakers, although the numbers can fluctuate. Outside of the Gaeltacht, several hundred thousand people likely have a good or active knowledge of Irish. Overall, more than 1,500,000+ people in Ireland are likely to have some knowledge of Irish, out of a total population of over four million. Officially, Irish has been recognized as an official language of the European Union since 2005. It is also a compulsory subject in Irish schools. In the Gaeltacht areas (where Irish is still spoken), place-name signs are partly written exclusively in Irish, while in the rest of the country, they are bilingual. According to the 2006 Irish census, 1.66 million people (40.8% of the population) claim to know Irish. However, only a maximum of 80,000 of these individuals are native speakers, and not all of them use Irish on a daily basis or in most situations. Out of the total population, only a small percentage of the Irish people claim to speak Irish daily outside of educational institutions, according to the same census. In legal contexts, it is required to publish Irish-language versions of legal texts, and the wording in Irish is binding in cases of doubt. Historically, Irish is the origin language of the other Goidelic languages, namely Scottish Gaelic and Manx, which developed separately and relatively late. The earliest form of written Irish was not the Latin alphabet but the Ogham script, which has been found in various parts of Ireland and the British Isles. Later, the Irish Uncial script, a variation of the Latin script, was used. Nowadays, the Latin script is used for writing Irish, although some letters, such as 'j,' which were imported through English loanwords, do not appear in the original Irish. Grammar in Irish exhibits typical Celtic language features, such as mutations, which involve 8 changes in the initial sounds of words in certain phonetic environments. Irish is primarily influenced by lenition and eclipsis. Lenition (Latin lenere = 'to weaken') means that a consonant is spoken without stopping the flow of air, i.e. spoken breathy (aspirated). Example: Shoe is bróg, [brok] but 'my shoe' is: mo bhróg [mɔ vrok]. Eclipsis (Greek 'omission, disappearance') is the replacement of an unvoiced consonant with the corresponding voiced consonant, as well as the replacement of voiced consonants with nasals (Hence, eclipsis is sometimes called nasalization). In written Irish, when a consonant is substituted by another consonant, both the substituted consonant and the substituting consonant appear, but in pronunciation, the substituted consonant disappears. For example, 'ng' represents only the velar nasal [ŋ], as in the word „lang“. In titles and similar contexts where capitalization is used, the eclipsis letter appears in lowercase, while the eclipsed letter appears in uppercase. For example, mB, gC, nD, bhF, nG, etc. For instance, „i gConnachta“ means „in Connacht,“ „i nGaeilge“ means „in Irish,“ and „i mBéarla“ means „in English.“ An 'n-' is inserted before vowels in certain cases. In Irish there are inflectional prepositions, e.g. New Irish agam „with me“ = „I have“, agat „with you“ = „you have“. Syntax The base word order is VSO. Gà idhlig (Scottish Gaelic) Scottish Gaelic, which also belongs to the Goidelic languages, has a close relationship with the Irish language due to the immigration of Scots from Ireland to Scotland since the 4th century. In the past, Scottish Gaelic was also referred to as Ersish, which was a corruption of the word „Irish.“ There are approximately 60,000 native speakers of Scottish Gaelic, with a larger percentage found primarily in the Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Skye. Scottish Gaelic has newspapers, radio and television stations that use the language, and it is taught in schools. Similar to other Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic has linguistic peculiarities such as lenition and nasalization, as well as an unusual sentence order of verb-subject-object. Cymraeg (Welsh, Cymric) Cymric, spoken in Wales, belongs to the Britannic subgroup of the Celtic languages. The linguistic distance between Cymric and the Goidelic languages is significant, making mutual understanding between speakers difficult. It is estimated that Cymric is spoken by about 600,000 people, making it the Celtic language with the highest number of speakers. After a period of decline in the 20th century, language policies were implemented to stabilize Welsh (Cymric). In 9 1993, Welsh was granted equal status with English as an official language in Wales. It is also a compulsory subject for schoolchildren up to the age of 16, and the younger generation continues to use Welsh. Historically, Welsh literature has a rich tradition spanning thousands of years, with the oldest surviving poem in Old Welsh dating back to the beginning of the 7th century. One notable feature of Welsh is its strict pronunciation rules, with each letter being pronounced. This makes the language highly phonetic but can also present difficulties due to the length of words. Welsh, like other Celtic languages, also exhibits anlaut mutations. Cymru = Wales Dw i'n dod o Gymru = I am from Wales (weak mutation) Dw i'n byw yng Nghymru = I live in Wales (nasal mutation) Lloegr a Chymru = England and Wales (aspirated mutation) Modern Greek Greek is the current language of the Greeks and is the official language of Greece, with approximately 13,4 million native speakers, and Cyprus, with about 0.7 million speakers. It is also one of the 23 official languages of the EU. In addition, Greek is permitted as a local official or school language in certain municipalities in southern Albania and southern Italy where Greek minorities reside, as well as in Istanbul, Turkey. Modern Greek belongs to the Indo-European language family but is considered isolated within this family, not closely related to any other language. It shares the distinction of having one of the world's longest uninterrupted written traditions alongside Chinese. Ancient Greek is regarded as one of the most significant cultural languages in human history, with the foundations of European philosophy, science, and literature originating from ancient Greece, particularly Athens. Numerous ancient Greek words have made their way into classical Latin and, subsequently, into various European and non-European languages through the influence of classical Latin and colonialism. Examples of such „internationalisms“ include car, disco, cinema, democracy, parliament, and philosophy. In the course of linguistic history, Modern Greek developed two layers: Katharévusa and Dimotikí [Glóssa]. Modern Greek's phonetic status has remained largely unchanged since around the year 1000, although significant phonetic changes occurred prior to that time. Modern Greek retains some inflectional features but is less inflectional than Classical Greek. It is one of the few Indo- European languages that has distinct verb endings for active and passive voice. The loss of the infinitive in Greek is typical of Balkan sprachbund languages, where the construction „I want that I read the book“ replaces the infinitive form „I want to read the book.“ The verbal system in Greek includes an aspect distinction, distinguishing between one-time, completed actions and continuing, repeated actions. Additionally, Modern Greek exhibits a high degree of irregularity in its verb system compared to other Indo-European languages. The basic vocabulary of Modern Greek demonstrates an uninterrupted continuity from Ancient Greek, with a large portion of Modern Greek words etymologically derived directly from Ancient Greek. Many fundamental words have remained virtually unchanged in the Greek language for thousands of years. 10 Modern Greek uses the Greek alphabet, which has remained almost unchanged in its present form since 400 BC. The orthographic system of Modern Greek is a historical orthography that has preserved certain transcriptions of sounds and sound combinations over centuries and millennia, despite changes in the spoken language's sound values over time. Armenian Armenian is an ancient Indo-European language spoken primarily by the Armenian people. It has significant historical and cultural importance as the official language of Armenia, with approximately 6 million native speakers worldwide. The Armenian language has a rich literary tradition dating back over 1,500 years, with notable contributions in poetry, prose and religious texts. It is written using its own unique alphabet, invented by Saint Mesrop Mashtots in the 5th century AD. The Armenian alphabet consists of 38 letters and has played a crucial role in preserving Armenian identity and heritage. Linguistically, Armenian is classified as an independent branch within the Indo-European language family, with no direct close relatives. It has undergone various changes and developments throughout its history, including influences from neighbouring languages such as Persian, Turkish and Russian. Armenian has both eastern and western dialectal variations, with the eastern dialect being the more widely used and influential. These dialects differ in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, but remain mutually intelligible. Armenian grammar is characterised by a complex system of declensions and conjugations, with gender, case and tense distinctions. It has agglutinative elements, which allow complex word forms to be created by adding affixes. Armenian serves as a symbol of national identity and cultural pride for Armenians worldwide. It plays an important role in religious ceremonies, education, literature, media and everyday communication. Despite historical challenges and the Armenian diaspora, the language continues to thrive and evolve, serving as an important linguistic link to Armenia's rich historical and cultural heritage. 11 Further languages and language families spoken in Europe Sometimes the term „non-Indo-European languages“ is still used even though is somewhat problematic for a number of reasons. It can be misleading or oversimplified when used without proper context or clarification. 1. Grouping languages as „non-Indo-European“ implies an actual category of shared characteristics which in reality does not exist: it is too broad and too diverse. 2. Implied inferiority: The term „non-Indo-European“ can suggest that these languages are somehow lesser or inferior to Indo-European languages. This can perpetuate biases and reinforce hierarchical attitudes towards linguistic diversity. 3. Ignoring complexity: The term overlooks the complexity of language families and their interrelationships. The languages so termed have their own distinct families and branches, each with its own historical, cultural, and linguistic significance. 4. Eurocentrism: The term originates from a historically developed, Eurocentric perspective that places Indo-European languages at the center of linguistic study. This marginalizes and overshadows the rich linguistic traditions and contributions of the many languages of the world. 12 Euskara (Basque) Span. vasco, (ethnic name; vascuence); French basque. Basque is a unique language spoken in the Basque Country, which includes parts of Spain and France. The standardized literary form of Basque is called Euskara batua, developed by the Academy of the Basque Language. The region is known as Euskal Herria in the self- designation and Euskadi in the official designation. Basque is an official language in the Basque Country and in Basque-speaking areas of Navarre. In France, it has the status of a „regional language.“ The capital of the Basque Country is Vitoria/Gasteiz. Basque is primarily used in schools, administration, and media. The language has six main dialects, with Euskara batua based mainly on Gipuzkera and Lapurtera. The number of Basque speakers is approximately 700,000, with an increasing trend. The majority of Basques are bilingual, with Basque as their first language and French or Spanish as their second language. Bilbao is the largest city in the Basque Country. Basque is considered an isolated language without any known connections to other languages or language families. Several hypotheses have been proposed but could not be confirmed due to limited evidence and methodological challenges. Basque is the only surviving language of Western Europe pre-dating the Indo-European expansion. Phonetics/Phonology Basque is unusual among world languages in distinguishing between apical and laminar alveolar affricates and fricatives (s̺ is apical alveolar, s̻ is laminar alveolar), though many western dialects have lost these contrasts. Lamino-alveolar: atzo [atso] „yesterday“. Apiko-alveolar: atso [atśo] „old“ Postalveolar: etxe [ete] „house“ Socalled expressive palatalization: for diminutive formation and affective use: zahar [sa(h)ar] „old man“  xahar [a(h)ar] „little, lovely old man“ Morphology The agglutinative word structure is characterized by the extensive use of suffixes. The last word in a group is marked. There are no grammatical genders. The definite article is suffixed: for example, „mendi“ means „mountain“ and „mendia“ means „the mountain“. The marking by the 13 definite article and case are closely interconnected. There is also a separate inflection for indefinite forms. The case system includes a range of 9-17 cases for nouns and adjectives, as follows: Absolute: lana "the work" (who?/what?) Ergative: lanak "the work" (who?/what?) Dative: lanari "the work" (to whom?) Genitive1: lanaren "of the work" (whose? Possessive) Genitive 2: laneko "the work" (from where? Origin) Inessive: lanean "at work" (where?) Adlative: lanerat "to work" (where?) Ablative: lanetics "from work" (from where? Starting point) Instrumental: lanaz "with the work" (with what?) Figure 3 Case declension example Pronouns have both emphatic and non-emphatic forms. However, there is no reflexive pronoun in the language. Verbal morphology in this language is highly developed. Most verbs are conjugated analytically using a combination of lexical morphemes and auxiliaries. For example, the verb „izan“ means „to be“ and is combined with auxiliaries such as „da“ for intransitive verbs, „du“ for transitive verbs, and „dio“ for polypersonal conjugation. The language includes various tenses, aspects, and moods. Verbs can take complex forms with up to four personal markers. In total, there are approximately 1000 verbal forms. Basque Translation Subject Direct object Indirect object you he has it 3sg 3sg - gaitu he has us 3sg 1pl - zaitugu we have you 1pl 2sg - diot I have it for him 1sg 3sg 3sg dizut I have it for you 1sg 3sg 2sg dizkizut I have it for you 1sg 3pl 2sg dizkigute they have them for us 3pl 3pl 1pl Figure 4 Basque verbal morphology Syntax Basque is an ergative language. In this language, the subject of an intransitive verb is marked with the absolutive case, while the subject of a transitive verb is marked with the ergative case, which typically represents the agent. The direct object of a transitive verb, on the other hand, is marked with the absolutive case (for an overview see slides). 14 In Basque, the (auxiliary) verb agrees not only with the subject but also with the direct (and, if present, indirect) object, a phenomenon known as „polypersonal agreement.“ This is also found in Caucasian languages. Subjects and objects, along with their pronouns, can be absent in the sentence because they are explicitly expressed through affixes on the (auxiliary) verbs. Word order Basque exhibits a high degree of flexibility in its word order. However, it also displays many characteristics of a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) language. The word order in Basque often follows the pattern of SOV, with postpositions used (e.g., euskaldunen artean, meaning „among the Basques,“ literally „of the Basques among“), the genitive preceding the noun, and relative clauses appearing before the noun. However, it should be noted that adjectives typically come after the noun (e.g., gau ilun, meaning „dark night,“ literally „night dark“). Lexicon Influenced by Latin and neighboring Romance languages such as Spanish, Occitan (Gascon), and French, Basque has incorporated loanwords from these languages. However, it is not always possible to determine the precise timing and origin of these borrowings. Examples of borrowed words in Basque include berde (green), kantatu (to sing), pertsona (person), and taberna (inn). Language policy Regarding language policy in the Spanish Basque Country, the 1978 Constitution serves as the legal basis for language normalization and regulates the status of languages spoken within Spanish territory. Language Strengthening Programs: In 1989, programs were implemented to enhance Basque as an administrative language. The objective was to have a similar number of bilingual speakers in the administration as in Basque society. Language courses were integrated into workdays or employees were given time off for language training. The first planning period (1990-1995) focused on mandatory language learning for about 34% of Basque public employees. The subsequent planning period aimed for 70% proficiency in both Spanish and Basque among public employees. UZEI, the University Center for Basque Studies, supported programs for terminology and lexicography, as well as modernizing the Basque language. The Euskalterm database was created as a resource for public service employees. Basque in Education: Ikastolak, Basque language schools, played a significant role in education until 1937 and were reintroduced in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They initially focused on teaching Basque to adults 15 but later became an alternative to regular schools. Basque gained importance in regular schools after the Guernica Statute. Four school models were established in 1982, with Model D being the most prominent, where Basque is the language of instruction. Different models for university degrees were created, offering various levels of Basque language instruction. Basque in the Media: Under Franco, Basque-language media was banned until the early 1980s. Since then, efforts have been made to rebuild Basque media. Radio Televisión Vasca, the first Basque television station, was established in 1982. The Basque government subsidizes press products meeting certain criteria. However, the diversity of Basque-language print media has not fully recovered. Basque- language radio stations have gained popularity, and several local stations exist. Basque-language daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, and local newspapers contribute to the promotion of the Basque language. 16 The Uralic languages Uralic is an ancient language family that spans a vast region in northeastern Europe and northern Asia. Its ancestral language, Proto-Uralic, was spoken approximately 7,000 to 10,000 years ago around the Ural Mountains. From there, the precursors of the Samoyeds migrated into Siberia, while the Finno-Ugrians spread into northern Europe and Hungary. The Uralic languages exhibit significant typological diversity, stemming from their ancient origins, the relatively small and scattered populations of their speakers across extensive territories, and their long-standing interactions with Altaic-speaking communities to the east and Indo- European groups to the west. Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian are among the largest Uralic languages. Finno-Ugric Similar to the Indo-European languages, the Finno-Ugric languages of today have evolved through various language splits and can be traced back to a hypothetical ancestral language. The 17 initial split resulted in the formation of the Finnish and Ugric branches. Within the Ugric branch, Hungarian emerged first, followed by Eastern Yugur and Khanty. In the Finnish branch, the Permian group developed initially, followed by the Volga-Finnic, Baltic- Finnic, and Lappish groups. Throughout their history, Finno-Ugric peoples have had early contact with the Indo-European linguistic sphere, as evidenced by numerous loanwords. For example, the word for „100“ in Finnish is „sata,“ in Mordvin it is „sada,“ in Khanty it is „sad,“ and in Hungarian it is „száz“ (comparable to Old Indic „satam“ and Avestan „satem“). Finno-Ugric languages are agglutinative and lack grammatical gender. They are characterized by extensive use of suffixes and avoidance of consonant clusters. Additionally, most Finno-Ugric languages (excluding Permian languages, Saami languages, and East Yakish) exhibit vowel harmony. Samoyedic In northern Eastern Europe and northwestern Siberia, there are several Samoyedic languages. Some recent claims suggest a relationship between these languages and the Yukagirian languages in northeastern Siberia. The Samoyedic languages include: - Nenets (Tundra Nenets, Jurassic, Jurassic Samoyedic) - Forest Nenets - Enzish (Yenisei Samoyedic) - Nganasan (Tawgi Samoyedic) - Selkupian (East Yak Samoyedic) Among these, Nenets is the most widely spoken and is also used as a written and official language in several autonomous districts (Russian okrug) in Russia. The Forest Nenets, Enzen, and Nganasan languages are spoken by a small number of people and do not have a writing system. The Selkup language (Sölkup) is also unwritten and is the last surviving language of the South Samoyedic languages, which were once common in Southern Siberia. It is worth noting that parts of the ancestors of the Kamassins and other Siberian Turkic peoples spoke Southern Samoyedic until the 18th century. Sá mi Sámi languages are a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sámi people in Northern Europe. These languages are spoken in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and extreme northwestern Russia. The number of Sámi languages varies depending on the criteria used for classification, with estimates ranging from ten or more. Different spellings have been used for the Sámi languages, including Sámi, Sami, Saami, Saame, Sámic, Samic, and Saamic. It is important to note that the terms „Lappish“ and „Lappic,“ along with the term „Lapp,“ are now considered pejorative and are no longer preferred or used. The Sámi languages belong to the Uralic language family and are traditionally considered closely related to the Finnic languages. However, some scholars have raised doubts about this view, suggesting that the assumed common Finno-Sami protolanguage is not as strongly supported as previously believed. They argue that the similarities may instead be the result of areal influence on Samic from Finnic. 18 Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia have implemented language policies to recognize and support the Sami language. In Norway, Article 110a of the Constitution emphasizes the responsibility of the authorities to preserve and develop Sami language and culture. The Sami Language Act designates Sami as an official language in specific municipalities. Similarly, Sweden recognizes Sami as a minority language in certain municipalities, and universities offer Sami language courses. In Finland, the Sami Language Act grants the right to use Sami languages in government services and makes Sami an official language in selected municipalities. Language nest daycares and educational programs support Sami language learning. In Russia, Sami has no official status but is considered an indigenous minority language, and it is taught at universities. Overall, these countries have taken steps to protect and promote the Sami language, although the extent of official recognition varies. Magyar (Hungarian) Hungarian, the largest Uralic language with 17 million speakers, stands out within the family as it lacks close relatives. The other Ugric languages differ significantly from Hungarian in terms of phonology, syntax, and vocabulary. This divergence is a result of the extensive migrations of Hungarian ancestors into diverse cultural and linguistic regions. Initially, they migrated southward from their Uralic homeland to the South Russian steppe and later westward into Central Europe. Hungarian is an agglutinative language with a complex case system and a vocabulary influenced by the historical movements and migrations of the Hungarian people. Hungarian is the only Uralic language spoken in Central Europe, above all in Hungary but also in the Transylvanian region (that belongs to Romania from 1918), as well as in Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. It is the national and official language of Hungary and has been granted regional status in Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Austria. 19 Phonetics/Phonology Vowels (14): Hungarian has a vowel system with seven pairs of vowels, each including a short and a long vowel. In two pairs the short and long vowel differ also in quality: [ɛ] [e:]; [ɔ] [a:]. Vowel length is fully recognized in the Hungarian alphabet and it is phonemic. Vowel Harmony: Hungarian exhibits vowel harmony only in suffixal vowels. It affects the relation front vs. back, as well as the roundness of vowels in certain suffixes. Another prevalent vowel alternation is that of the short mid vowels with zero. Consonants (25): Hungarian has a rich inventory of voiced/voiceless oppositions between stops, affricates and fricatives. The vowel of the immediately preceding syllable is decisive in each case. If, for example, a stem with a rounded vowel is followed by a suffix that has no labial variant (as in the conditional suffix -ná-/-né-), any subsequent suffixes also occur in their unrounded form: kér-né-tek you would ask ad-ná-tok you would give szök-né-tek you would flee Stress. It falls invariably on the first syllable of the word. Morphology: Agglutinative languages exhibit numerous morphological processes that alter the phonetic form of nominal or verbal stems. They are generally characterized as highly synthetic, although there is a growing trend towards analytical paraphrases. Unlike inflectional languages, agglutinative languages have a more transparent morphological structure in which each grammatical or semantic function is typically expressed by its own morpheme. For example: Megbecsülhetetlenül = invaluable“ [adverb] Meg becsül het etlen ül Perfective prefix „estimate” possibility negation [Adj.] Adverb For each grammatical category, there is a unique suffix (or prefix) in agglutinative languages. For example, in Hungarian the suffix -t- always expresses the accusative case, -nek- represents the dative case, -k- indicates plural, and so on. The dative plural is formed by combining -k- (plural) with -nek- (dative), and so forth. In terms of a two-dimensional typology that considers the degree of fusion and the degree of synthesis, agglutinative languages exhibit a low degree of fusion, meaning that the morphemes can be easily segmented. However, it is important to note that deviations from the ideal agglutinative structure can occur due to phonotactic constraints, resulting in slight phonetic variations of almost all affixes. 20 Nouns are inflected for number, person and case by adding suffixes to the stem in this order: number + person + case. Any or all of these three slots may be occupied by a zero suffix. If there is no number suffix, the noun is in the singular; if there is no person suffix there is absence of possessor; if there is no case suffix, the noun is in the nominative. Attributive adjectives are invariable; however they can all be used as nouns and are, then, declined fully. Hungarian has between 17 to 25 cases. They are divided into two groups: - syntactical cases: nominative (unmarked), accusative, dative, instrumental, essive, causal- final, translative, terminative. They indicate the relationship of the noun to other words in the sentence. The nominative marks the subject and the accusative the direct object. The dative marks not only the indirect object but also possession or a predicate construed with an infinitive. The instrumental signals the instrument with which an action is carried out. The essive marks a temporary location or state of being equivalent to English 'as'. The causal-final indicates purpose. The translative indicates transformation into another state. The terminative is equivalent to English 'until'. - b) locative cases: denote various spatial and kinetic oppositions like stationary vs moving, motion toward vs motion away, interior vs exterior, near vs far. They are shown in the following table: The verbal system in the language features two tenses: present and preterite. Additionally, there is an analytic future tense, although it is rarely used and often expressed through the present tense. There are three persons and three modes: indicative, conditional optative, and imperative. The passive voice is rudimentary and mostly expressed through reflexive constructions. The language exhibits rich suffixal word formation, but it also utilizes verb prefixes that can occur independently from the verb, similar to German. Syntax The language follows a nominative-accusative pattern. It has a very free word order, with no difference in word order between main and subordinate clauses. The most common word orders are SOV and SVO. The overall sequence is determined by the current importance of each clause in communication, with the topic preceding the focus (rheme). The focus position is immediately before the finite verb. Lexicon Hungarian is characterized by a „motivated“ lexicon, where many words can be clearly segmented even synchronously. It has a Finno-Ugric core vocabulary, which shares similarities with Finnish, such as „él-“ (live), „tél-“ (winter), and „szem“ (eye). Throughout its linguistic history, Hungarian has had contact with Iranian languages, resulting in early borrowings like „tehén“ (cow) and „tíz“ (ten), while „vám“ (customs) was adopted from Persian at a later stage. The language also incorporates numerous borrowings from Turkic languages, including older ones from the time of migrations, such as „szél“ (wind), as well as borrowings from Kipchak Turkic due to invasions by the Pechenegs and Cumans in the 11th-14th centuries, for example, „csősz“ (field guardian). Turkish words of Ottoman origin entered Hungarian during the Ottoman rule over Hungary, such as „kefe“ (brush), many of which themselves are loanwords from Persian and Arabic. Hungarian has borrowed extensively from various Slavic languages, with loanwords like „pap“ (priest) from Russian and „vacsora“ (dinner) from Russian „véčer“ (evening). It is not always 21 possible to determine the specific Slavic language of origin for loanwords, as in the case of „kovács“ (blacksmith) and „medve“ (bear). German has been the most extensive source of loanwords in Hungarian due to historical feudal relations. It includes older borrowings like „herceg“ (duke), „copf“ (plait), and „colstok“ (folding rule), as well as borrowings from German dialects, especially Bavarian dialects of neighboring Austria, like „fasírt“ (minced meat), „karfiol“ (cauliflower), and „krumpli“ (potato). Hungarian also incorporates loan translations from German, where entire idioms are translated, such as „valakinek az idegeire megy“ (to get on someone's nerves). The Hungarians in Austria: The long-established Hungarian minority in Burgenland is not mentioned in the State Treaty of 1955, but it is recognized by the Ethnic Groups Act of 1976. Hungarians began settling in the area of present-day Burgenland in the 10th/11th century to secure Hungary's western border. While Burgenland was part of the Hungarian (Transleithanian) region within the Danube Monarchy, the population predominantly spoke German. As a result, Burgenland was annexed to the Republic of Austria as the ninth province in 1921. In 1910, there were still 26,225 individuals belonging to the Hungarian ethnic group in Burgenland. However, the numbers have declined over the years, with the 1991 census reporting 4,973 persons and the 2001 census recording 6,641 persons. Since 1992, the approximately 9,000 Viennese Hungarians have also been recognized as part of the Hungarian ethnic group under the Ethnic Groups Act. The Burgenland Hungarians reside in linguistic islands, with the most significant ones being Oberpullendorf/Felsőpulya and Oberwart/Felsőőr. The Burgenland Hungarian Cultural Association (Burgenlandi Magyar Kultúregyesület) officially represents the Hungarian community in the ethnic group council. There are bilingual kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools with bilingual classes, including the bilingual Bundesgymnasium Oberwart and the „Pannonian class“ of the BG/BRG Oberpullendorf. Hungarian can also be studied as a free subject or as a non-binding exercise in other schools. Altogether there are 40.000 people who speak Hungarian in Austria. 22 The Turkic languages Turkic languages, also known as Turkish languages, belong to a closely related language family consisting of approximately 40 languages. There are around 155 million native speakers and approximately 200 million speakers. Among the Turkic languages, the largest ones with the status of official languages in their respective states are Turkish, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Kazakh, Turkmen, and Kyrgyz. Several other languages have official regional language status, such as Bashkir, Tatar, and Uighur in China's Xinjiang province. Some Turkic languages, like Karaim, Crimean Chak, Shorish, and Tofalar, are considered extinct. The origin of Turkic languages can be traced back to Siberia and Central Asia, specifically the area between the Altai and Changai mountains. These languages gradually spread across large parts of Asia and parts of Europe. In the 8th century, many Turkic peoples resided in southern Siberia and northern Central Asia, while some migrated to Eastern Europe, including the Avars and Volga Bulgars. Old Turkic dialects had written monuments and used various alphabets. The Göktürkisch/Altoghusisch dialect had runic script inscriptions dating back to the 3rd century in regions like Talas, the Jenissej in the 6th century, and the Orkhon River (bordering the Republic of Buryatia and Mongolia) in the 8th century. Other dialects with written monuments include Kyptchak, Khazar, Old Uyghur, Karluk, Seljuk, and Khorezm. Classical literary languages such as Ottoman, Azerbaijani, Chagatai, Kyptchak Tatar, and Crimean Tatar were written exclusively in Arabic letters. However, in 1924-1930, other Turkic languages started adopting the Latin-based alphabet known as the „Unified Turkish Alphabet.“ Later, there was a transition to an adapted Cyrillic script in the Soviet area, but the goal of mutual intelligibility was neglected. In 1990, several Turkic states decided to reintroduce the Latin script by 2005, based on the „New Turkic Alphabet“ of Turkey, aiming to preserve their common cultural heritage. The early history of Turkic peoples includes the establishment of the first Turkic empire by the Hsiung-nu in the 3rd century BC, often referred to as the „Huns“ together with the peoples they 23 subjugated. The linguistic division of Turkic languages includes the Oghuz (east) and Ogur (west) dialect groups. Subsequently, there were various empires and migrations, such as the Göktürk Empire, Uyghur Empire, and the Karluks, Oghuz, and Basmils founding the Uyghur Empire. The Uyghur Empire saw the development of a uniform official language known as „Karluk Khorezmian“ or „Karluk Uyghur.“ The Turkic languages are diverse, and their classification is not uniform due to similarities, language contacts, and historical mobility. Common linguistic features: The Turkic languages have rather symmetrical vowel systems, where the vowel sounds are organized in a balanced and symmetrical manner. They tend to have vowel harmony, also known as sound harmony, a phonological process in which vowels within a word or a morphological unit tend to share certain phonetic features such as frontness, backness, or roundedness. Most of the Turkic languages are agglutinative (suffixing): words are formed by adding suffixes to a root or stem, resulting in a highly productive and flexible word formation system. In Turkic languages, nouns exhibit features such as number, possession, and case, but they do not have grammatical gender. Turkic languages typically follow a subject-object-verb (SOV) word order, meaning that the subject of a sentence comes before the object and the verb. Postpositions are used in Turkic languages as a type of grammatical particle that follows a noun phrase to indicate grammatical relationships such as location, direction, or possession. Turkic languages have a significant influence from Arabic and Persian, particularly in their lexicon. Many words in the Turkic languages are borrowed from these languages due to historical and cultural interactions. They have been written using a variety of scripts throughout history. These scripts include Arabic script, Cyrillic script, and Latin script, depending on the region and historical context. Tü rkçe (Tü rk dili, Turkish) Turkish is the most widely spoken member of the Turkic family. It encompasses various dialects such as the Black Sea dialect, Aegean dialect, Balkan Turkish dialects, and Eastern Turkey dialects. The Istanbul dialect serves as the foundation for Turkey's Standard Turkish. In terms of speakers and distribution, Turkey has 82 million speakers. Additionally, there are around 5.9 million second language speakers in Turkey, mainly Kurdish. Turkish-speaking minorities exist in countries like Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Romania, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Iran. Turkish emigrants have also contributed to its spread, with significant communities in Belgium, Austria, Germany, the United States, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, and other countries. Overall, there are over 88 million Turkish speakers worldwide. Turkish is the official language of Turkey and the mother tongue for about 120,000 people in Northern Cyprus. The history of the Turkish language traces back to the Oghuz language spoken by Eastern Turkic tribes, who migrated westward in the 8th to 10th century due to pressure from other Uyghur Turkic tribes. During the Ottoman period from the 15th to 19th century, Turkish developed from an Anatolian-Turkish dialect into a standard spoken and written variety. Persian and Arabic had a significant influence on Turkish vocabulary, accounting for approximately 20% 24 of its words at times. Language reforms began in the 1930s after the establishment of the Turkish Republic, aiming to purify the language by replacing foreign loan words and morphological/syntactic elements with Turkish equivalents. The process is ongoing, and some Persian-Arabic words still remain. European loanwords, particularly from French, also entered Turkish in the 20th century. The Turkish Language Society, founded in 1932, has played a role in returkization and modernization efforts. Regarding alphabets, Old Turkic script and Arabic script with Persian characters were historically used. However, in 1928, Kemal Atatürk introduced a variant of the Latin script called the „New Turkish Alphabet“ for written Turkish. This script, consisting of 29 letters, was based on the Istanbul dialect and aimed to represent each sound with a dedicated letter. The current Turkish alphabet includes letters such as a, b, c, ç, d, e, f, g, ğ, h, ı, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, ö, p, r, s, ş, t, u, ü, v, y. Linguistic characteristics: Vowels (8): Turkish vowel system is completely symmetrical regarding height (4 high and 4 low vowels), backness (4 front and 4 back), and roundness (4 unrounded and 4 rounded). There are also long vowels but they are not phonemic. Turkish has no diphthongs. Vowel harmony. It is the most remarkable feature of Turkish phonology. It governs the distribution of vowels within a word opposing front versus back vowels, and rounded versus unrounded ones. In the first syllable of a word all vowels can occur. If it is a front vowel all the subsequent vowels must be also of the front type. If it is a back vowel all the other vowels must be also of the back type. Thus, all the vowels of a word belong to the same class (back or front) and the vowels of suffixes vary according to the class of vowels in the primary stem. If the first vowel of a word is rounded then the following high vowels should be also rounded. But if the following vowel is low there is no harmony because of the phonological constraint that low non-initial vowels must be always unrounded. 2-fold vowel harmony: 4-fold vowel harmony: -i/-ı/-ü/-u kedi kedisiz without a cat et etsiz without meat tuz tuzsuz without salt telefon telefonsuz without a telephone söz sözsüz without a word acı acısız without spice Consonants (20): Consonant clusters are not allowed at the beginning of a word. Obstruent consonants (stops, affricates and fricatives), except [h] have contrasting voiceless and voiced varieties but stops and affricates in final position are devoiced e.g. absolute case kitap (‘book’), 25 accusative kitabı. [k], [g] and [l] have also a palatalized form whose distribution is determined by the frontness or backness of the accompanying vowels: the palatalized forms go with front vowels while the non-palatalized forms go with back vowels. [ʒ] occurs only in foreign words. Morphology Turkish is an agglutinative language adding different suffixes to a primary stem to mark a number of grammatical functions. Each morpheme expresses only one of them and is clearly identifiable. The only process that depends on prefixation is the formation of intensive adjectives and adverbs. The order of suffixes is rigidly established, derivational suffixes preceding inflectional ones. Nominal and verbal suffixes belong to different classes and they are not interchangeable. Nouns and adjectives are not distinguished morphologically. Adjectives may behave as nouns and nouns as adjectives. Besides, adjectives can be used adverbially without modifications or, sometimes, by doubling of the word. Intensive adjectives are made by reduplication of the first syllable. Nouns are marked for number, possession and case (in that order). Turkish, like all Turkic languages, has no grammatical gender. The singular is unmarked and the plural is marked with the suffix –lar/ler. Unmarked forms can have also a generic meaning, so to get rid of ambiguity the indefinite article bir (identical to the numeral one) can be used to indicate singularity. Nouns following a numeral are usually left in the singular. Cases (5) are marked by suffixes which are subject to vowel harmony. Thus, suffix markers of the accusative and genitive have 4 possible vowels (front i, ü, back ı, u) while those of dative, locative and ablative have two (front e, back a). In the locative and ablative the consonant can be d or t. Plurals are made by adding the suffixes -lar or -ler. The typical verb form consists of stem + aspect/tense marker(s) + personal ending. Many suffixes can also be included to express voice, modality, negation, interrogation, etc. Syntax Turkish has a basic Subject-Object-Verb word order like all Turkic languages which, nevertheless, can be altered by putting the topic in initial position. In imperative clauses the verb occurs in initial position. Questions may also begin with a verb. Vocabulary: During the Ottoman Empire, Turkish adopted many words of Arabic and Persian origin some of which were dropped due to the Atatürk reforms. Other loans come from Greek, Italian, French and English. (Arabic) fikir „idea“, hediye “gift“, resim “picture“, alkol „alcohol“, saat „clock, hour“. (Persian) pencere „window“, şehir „city“, hafta „week“. (Greek) liman (port), kutu (box) (French) lüks „luxury“, kuzen „cousin“, pantolon „pants“, kuaför „hairdresser“, hoparlör „loudspeaker“, kamyon „truck“. (English, German) pikap „record player“, şalter „[light] switch“, tişört „T-shirt“. 26