Language Atlas

How Languages Connect
Languages

Turkish

tewrk-CHEH
Also Known As Türkçe

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Turkish is the most widely spoken Turkic language, the national language of Turkey and a recognized minority language in Cyprus, the Balkans and parts of the Caucasus.

Facts
ISO 639-3 Code
tur 1
Speaker Count
80,000,000 1
Approximate total speakers, mid-2020s estimate.
Status
Living 2
Region
Turkey (official), Northern Cyprus (official), Cyprus (official); communities in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Arabic Script, Scripts

This source names Turkish directly: "to write Persian, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, Pashto and many other languages across the Islamic world, generally by adding extra letters for sounds Arabic itself does not have."

Source The Cambridge Encyclopedia of LanguageDavid Crystal (editor)

In Family

Altaic, Language Families

Altaic is a widely rejected genetic grouping; Turkish own demonstrated family is Turkic, not Altaic. Recorded as associated rather than holds, reusing the existing Turkish entity per lane-brief-depth rather than minting a new language whose primary classification is elsewhere.

Sources
1. Ethnologue: Languages of the World
SIL International, 2024View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Turkish Language
Wikipedia
Quote
around 90 million speakers
View the Source
Wikipedia: Turkic Languages
Wikimedia FoundationIn Family: Altaic, Classification section, controversial Altaic language family, lacks support from a majority of linguists statementView the Source
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