Phonetic and orthographic features of the Armeno-Turkish translation of the Gospels

Abstract

In the 19th century, Armenians living within the borders of the Ottoman Empire who spoke Turkish produced numerous works on religion, language, history, literature, and other subjects using their own alphabet.One notable aspect of missionary activity aimed at spreading Christianity among the Turks was the translation of the Bible into Turkish. The work examined in this study is a translation of the Bible into late Ottoman Turkish, narrating the life, teachings, and miracles of Jesus Christ –from his birth to his final days. The full title of the work is Yeni Ahit - İncil-i Şerif Arakâlların Amelleri, Boğosun ve Sayip Arakâlların Mektüpleri. It was originally translated from Greek into Turkish, and published in Istanbul in 1858. The text includes selected sections and epistles from the New Testament, one of the foundational scriptures of Christianity. The publication and dissemination of such works in the Ottoman Empire were intended to increase the accessibility of religious texts to local communities in various languages and scripts. During this period, Ottoman Turkish was frequently used for translating religious texts. These texts were often written not only in Arabic script, but also in Latin, Greek, and Armenian scripts. The use of Ottoman Turkish in this particular work is significant, as it reflects the linguistic characteristics of the era. From a cultural and linguistic perspective, Armenians established close relations with both Kipchaks and Anatolian Turks throughout history. As a result of these interactions, distinct written traditions emerged, such as “Kipchak written in Armenian script” and “Turkish written in Armenian script”, accompanied by a rich corpus of literary works. In recent years, scholarly interest in these two linguistic traditions has grown significantly in Turkey.This study analyzes the phonological and orthographic features of a Bible translation written in late Ottoman Turkish using the Armenian script. By presenting detailed phonetic and orthographic observations, this research aims to contribute to broader research on the phonological characteristics of the Turkish language during the late Ottoman period.