Anatolia, with its thousands of years of history, is one of the regions that shed light on the history of humanity. So, which languages were spoken in Anatolia, which has hosted many societies for thousands of years? Which languages are in danger of dying?
Anatolian lands, the cradle of civilizations, one of the most critical regions of human history… Countless different societies lived. Traces of the culture and language of each of them have been unearthed, and continue to be uncovered, through archaeological studies carried out all over the Anatolian geography.
It is exciting to think about how the lives of all the different cultures that lived on this land for thousands of years were like. So is thinking of different languages that we wouldn’t understand a single word of if we heard it now. However, some of them are still spoken in our lands, but now there are languages that are about to die… In this content, we will take a look at all the languages spoken in Anatolia and how some of them sounded.
Let’s take a look at the ancient languages that were spoken in Anatolia and have already been mixed with the dusty pages of history;
These languages from the 3rd millennium BC Languages spoken in Anatolian lands until the 4th and 5th centuries BC and disappeared thousands of years ago. Tablets composed of cuneiform writings belonging to some are encountered in museums, and new tablets can be found in some excavations.
These languages are Hittite, Luwian, Urartian, Phoenician, Semitic, Phrygian, Lydian, Lycian, Karca, Side, Persian, Greek and Latin. on how some sound There are also voiceovers.
Hittite
Urartian
Akkadian (from Semitic languages)
Greek
Latin
There are also languages that are still spoken in Turkey but are in danger of extinction;
According to the UNESCO World Atlas of Endangered Languages 15 languages in danger of extinction in Turkey there is. Language diversity, which is one of the most impressive indicators of the multicultural structure of Turkey’s lands, is gradually decreasing due to the gradual decrease in the number of people speaking these languages.
UNESCO in its study evaluating all the endangered languages in the world ‘Very Endangered’ ‘Very Endangered’ ‘Absolutely Endangered’ and ‘Fragile’ grouped as. Among the languages spoken in our country, there are languages that are included in all groups.
Languages in ‘serious danger’
- Ladino (A language known as ‘Judeo-Spanish’, mostly used in Izmir and Istanbul, but very few people speak)
- Syriac (A language also known as Turoyo, spoken by the Assyrians in the Midyat-Idil-Dargeçit-Nusaybin region. Syriac is a language that has existed for almost 2500 years with its history dating back to BC…)
- Gagauz language (A language similar to Turkey Turkish, spoken by about 300 thousand people today, spoken by Gagauz people living in Edirne in the past in our country. Although it continues to be spoken in other countries where Gagauz people live, it is in danger.)
Languages ’absolutely endangered’
- Copy (A language similar to Syriac, which is known to have no speakers left in Turkey today, and it is stated that people who speak the language migrate to different countries)
- Western Armenian (A language spoken by Armenians in Turkey, spoken in different lands where Armenians live today, but endangered)
- Pontic Greek (A language spoken in our lands between İnebolu and Batumi before the 1923 population exchange, but used only in some villages in Trabzon today)
- Romany (It is a language that is spoken in all countries where Gypsies live, including our country, but is in danger of extinction due to the fact that the Gypsies, a nomadic people, started to speak the languages of the countries they went to over time.
- Abkhazian (A language used by the Abaza living in the North Caucasus today, spoken by the Abaza living in our country, but is in danger.)
- Hemşince (Hamşin, which is thought to be spoken by about 40 thousand people in Turkey, is spoken in some Laz villages of Artvin.)
- lass (It is thought to be spoken by about 300,000 Laz, including those who migrated to different parts of the world, mostly in Turkey.)
Languages that are ‘gravely endangered’
- Hertevince (A language also known as Chaldean, spoken by only a handful of people in our country today, and at risk in the regions where the Chaldeans migrated)
‘Fragile’ languages
- Abkhazian (A language that is also used by Abkhazians living in our country, mainly spoken as a mother tongue in the Abkhazia region.)
- Adyghe and Circassian (These languages, which are used by the majority of Circassians, are members of the Circassian language family. The Circassian languages, which have two main forms as Western and Eastern Circassian, are spoken by approximately 750 thousand people in total.)
- Zazaki (A language spoken by Zazas in Tunceli, Elazığ, Bingöl, Erzincan, Bitlis regions in eastern Turkey. It is estimated that around 4-6 million people speak this language, although the number is uncertain. Some of the Zazas who speak the language live in European countries.)
In our country today, besides Turkish and these languages at risk, Different languages such as Arabic, Kurdish is also spoken. In addition to the languages in our country, there are languages that are at risk in many different societies around the world and that are at risk of being involved in the dusty pages of history at any moment due to the number of their speaking members.
A lot of work is being done both in our country and in the world for the protection and transfer of these languages.
RELATED NEWS