Millennium of Turkish Literature : a concise History

I
rather than 
İ
unless they are part of a title.
a (like 
gun
) var. 
â
(like 
are
)
b 
(as in English)
c (like 
jade
)
ç (
ch
of 
chin
)
d 
(as in English)
e (like 
pen
)
f 
(as in English)
g (
g
of 
good
)
ğ 
(makes preceding vowel longer)
h (
h
of 
half
)
ı 
(like second vowel of 
portable
)
i (like 
it
) var. 
î
(like 
eat
)
j (like 
measure
)
k (
k
of 
king
)
l 
(as in English)
m (as in English)
n (as in English)
o (like 
eau
in French)
ö (like 
bird
or French 
deux
)
p 
(as in English)
r (
r
of 
rust
)
s (
s
of 
sun
)
ş (
sh
of 
shine
)
t 
(as in English)
u (like 
pull
) var. û (like 
pool
)
ü (like 
tu
in French)
v 
(as in English)
y (
y
of 
you
)
z 
(as in English)

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xii
Note on Turkish Spelling and Names
Considerable confusion persists in the spelling and forms of translit-
eration of earlier words, terms, and names. For centuries before and dur-
ing the entirety of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish language, which had 
an extensive vocabulary borrowed from Arabic and Persian, employed the 
Arabic script.
Th
e Turkish Republic, established in 1923, changed the orthography 
to a Latin typescript in 1928. Because no coherent system of spelling was 
created at the time of the transition from the Arabic to the Latin alphabet, 
extensive and frequent adjustments were made and continue to be made. 
Th
e editor cautions that spelling variations persist. One example is the ter-
minal 
d
found in many prerepublican names. Some of the same or similar 
names appear with a terminal 
t
in recent decades.
To complicate matters, surnames were legally introduced with the 
passage of the Surname Law by the Turkish Republic in 1934. As a conse-
quence, scores of authors and scholars whose prior publications had come 
out without surnames began to appear in reference books, bibliographical 
entries, and on title pages with offi
cial surnames aft er 1934.
All these variations are refl ected in this book as well, although cer-
tain proper names have been standardized. Sait Faik took the last name 
Abasıyanık following the passage of the Surname Law, but he virtually 
never used it for his books; therefore, the name Sait Faik has been main-
tained here. Orhan Veli Kanık, however, frequently used his surname, 
and although he is oft en simply referred to as Orhan Veli, his full name is 
given. Nazım Hikmet used his offi
cial surname, Ran, so infrequently that 
it is not even given in this history. Ahmet Muhip Dranas inserted an 
ı
in 
his surname late in his life; it is that spelling (Dıranas) that appears here. 
Th
e modern Turkish spelling of the name Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi has 
been employed throughout.

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A Millennium of Turkish Literature

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