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Linguistic diversity and everyday life in the Ottoman cities of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans (late 19th–early 20th century)

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 16; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.hisfam.2011.04.002

1873-5398

Johann Strauß,

Linguistics and Cultural Studies

Abstract The paper intends to describe the language situation in major Ottoman urban centres in Europe, Asia and Africa during the last decades of Ottoman rule at the scale of family and everyday life. This limitation is necessary since important developments had taken place during the Tanzimat period leading to significant alterations in the population structure, in particular to an increase of the non-Muslim population. Major languages of urban communication used by the locals as well as by foreign residents, were in the late 19th Century Turkish, Greek, French and – in the Arabic provinces – Arabic. Among the languages of minor importance were Judaeo-Spanish, Armenian, and others. Apart from the role played by language in Ottoman urban culture in general, more specific aspects such as the effects of spatial segregation, multilingualism, and the diversity of accents and dialects, or registers are also be dealt with. As a matter of fact, the linguistic situation in most Ottoman cities was complex and variegated. The same applies to the sources used for this paper: they include travel accounts, tourist guides, conversation manuals, satirical papers, popular drama, fiction (novels), personal narratives, studies on slang and also the pictorial record. ☆ An earlier version of this paper was presented in the Ottoman Urban Studies Seminar organized by Ulrike Freitag and Nora Lafi at ZMO Berlin (EUME programme, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) April 20, 2009. Keywords: LanguageOttoman citiesThe BalkansMultilingualismMilletEastern Mediterranean Notes ☆ An earlier version of this paper was presented in the Ottoman Urban Studies Seminar organized by Ulrike Freitag and Nora Lafi at ZMO Berlin (EUME programme, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) April 20, 2009. 1 That is, Turkish in Armenian script. 2 Piastre is the French equivalent of Turkish gurush. 3 This expression was coined by the Turkish historian İlber Ortaylı (Citation1983). See his Imparatorluğun en uzun yüzyılı (“The Empire´s longest century”; first published in 1983). 4 Serious restrictions concerning language use occurred however, in the wake of the Balkan Wars (1912–13) and especially during World War I when inscriptions, e.g. shop signs, in minority languages were officially prohibited. A similar policy was later adopted in Republican Turkey. 5 Biographical references on the principal cities dealt with in this paper will be given in the respective sections. 6 According to the Censuses, the following languages were spoken in the city of Istanbul as mother tongues: Turkish, Abkhazian, Persian, German, Arabic, Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Czekoslovakian (!), Circassian, Armenian, Flemish (Dutch), French, Georgian, Croatian, English, Spanish (most of the speakers being Jews probably Judaeo-Spanish), Swedish, Italian, ‘Coptic’ (= Gypsy), Kurdish, Laz (a Caucasian language spoken on the North Eastern part of the Black Sea coast), Polish, Hungarian, Pomak (a variety of Bulgarian spoken by Muslims), Romanian, Greek, Russian, Serbian, Tatar, and ‘Jewish’ (may refer to Judaeo-Spanish or Yiddish, or both). 7 It should be remembered that the first Bulgarian journal appeared in the city of Smyrna in 1844. 8 The first four mayors of Amman (1905–1920) were Circassians. 9 Egypt, nominally a province of the Ottoman Empire, had virtually become separated from it after the British occupation of 1882. It even became a centre for political refugees from the Ottoman Empire. 10 It was usually referred to as Istanbul (from Greek εις την πόλη) by Turks, but many other names were in written usage (Kostantınyye, Dersaadet, Darülhilafet, etc.). The most popular term used by Arabs in the 19th century was al-Āsitāna (Persian ‘threshold’; in Ottoman Turkish it often occurs as Asitane-i saadet ‘Threshold of Felicity’); Greeks were accustomed to speak of Konstantinoupolis or simply I Polis (‘The City’), likewise the Armenians referred to Gosdandnubolis or Bolis. For French-speaking Levantines the Ottoman capital was, of course Constantinople. Sephardic Jews called the city Konstantinopla or Kushta, Bulgars and Serbs Tsarigrad. In Republican Turkey only the Turkish term “Istanbul” was permitted in written usage from the 1930s onwards, the same applied to the minority languages. 11 This pocket diary bears the titles: Citation Agenda International (1910) – Muhtıra defteri – Simiomatarion – Hušadedr. 12 This may have been a legal obligation. 13 A handbook for travelers (Citation Meyers Reisebücher Griechenland und Kleinasien, 1906, p. 272) describes this as follows:.“An der Küste entlang zieht sich ein hier und da unterbrochener Saum griechischer Besiedelung. Die Griechen haben an der Küste Handel und Schiffahrt fast allein in der Hand, und sie dringen auch mehr und mehr als Kaufleute, Handwerker, Ärzte etc., ins Innere vor, so dass die vorherrschende Sprache des Verkehrs in den hier zur Darstellung kommenden Landesteilen die griechische ist. Meist, mit Ausnahme von Smyrna, verstehen allerdings die Griechen auch Türkisch’. 14 An author familiar with the Levant, CitationCarl Wied, author of both Turkish and Greek language manuals, wrote: ‘In der Levante ist sie [i.e. die Volkssprache] die verbreitetste Sprache des Verkehrs und des Handels. Außer im freien Griechenland wird sie in Macedonien, Rumelien, in Konstantinopel, Smyrna, Trapezunt und im Allgemeinen an den Küsten Kleinasiens bis weit in´s Innere hinein, auf den Inseln des Archipels, ja auch in Alexandrien und Kairo gehört und gesprochen. An vielen der genannten Orte ist sie die alleinherrschende oder doch die vorherrschende. Für den Reisenden sowohl als auch für den Geschäftsmann ist es von größtem Werthe, ‘Romäisch’ zu verstehen.’ (see his Die Kunst, die Neugriechische Volkssprache durch Selbstunterricht schnell und leicht zu erlernen. Vienna: Hartleben, n.d., p. v. This work was also translated into English.) 15 Greek khokhládi, pebble. 16 Greek disko, tray. 17 Greek pezouli, stone sill, parapet. 18 ‘…le Levantin est plus porté à employer de mots d´origine turque; car le Grec, à raison de sa langue liturgique et politique, est tout naturellement en possession d´un vocabulaire hellénique plus étendu. Autre circonstance aggravante pour le parler des Levantins: c´est leur grande propension à gréciser des mots d´ origine italienne, française, etc.’ (Ronzevalle, Citation1911, p. 71). 19 See Adjarian (Citation1909), p. 12f. and, in particular, the «Carte des langues et des dialectes parlés par les Arméniens» at the end of the book. Also see Nichanian (Citation1989), p. 243f. 20 Cf. Jireček on Armenians in Bulgaria (Jireček, Citation1891, p. 126): ‘Die armenische Sprache hält sich bei ihnen, wie bei einer grossen Anzahl ihrer Landsleute in der Türkei, nur in der Kirche, Schule und Literatur; die tägliche Umgangssprache ist das Türkische…’ 21 Jewish sect founded in the 8th century which denies the talmudic-rabbinical tradition. 22 During the demonstrations which took place in this city after the Young Turkish Revolution in 1908, all of these communities branded banners with slogans in their own language. See Margulies (Citation1997). 23 In his letters sent to the Tatar paper Vakyt. See Adam (Citation2002) p. 358. 24 A suburb of Damascus is still called al-Shirkasiyya. 25 Many of them are described in the Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, (2006–2009), 5 vols. Leiden 2006–2009. 26 Ronzevalle (Citation1911 p. 287) explains this term (variant çátara pátara) as follows: ‘mal parler une langue. Cette onomatopée a été forgée par les Ottomans pour tourner en ridicule la manière dont les populations slaves des Balkans prononcent le turc. Il y a là une imitation de certains sons qui reviennent fréquemment sur les lèvres slaves, p. ex. çitir quatre.’ 27 Naci (Citation1898). Apart from a glossary, this work also contains dialogues. Since it was published in Arabic script, its usefulness must have been rather limited. Moreover, numerous printing errors and an apparently limited competence of the compiler in some Western languages would have produced a comic effect. 28 Similar – and thanks to the Latin script more reliable – guide books were still published in the 1950s. The Citation 15 Dille Konuşma Kitabı (1954) even contains Albanian (whereas Hindustani was dropped). 29 On other hand, there are postcards of the Holy Cities of Islam, Mecca, and Medina, which have only captions in Turkish, a language little known to the local population. 30 ‘Das Italienische, das eine Zeitlang stark zurückgetreten war, gewinnt wieder an Einfluß, auf den Schiffen des Österreichischen Lloyds wird fast nur Italienisch gesprochen’. Citation Meyers Reisebücher Türkei, Rumänien, Serbien and Bulgarien (1908), p. 3. 31 Citation Meyers Reisebücher Palästina und Syrien (1913), p. 110. As can be concluded from their names, they were Europeans (German, English), Levantines, Christian and Muslim (?) Arabs, and presumably Armenians and Jews. 32 ‘Diejenigen Sprachen, die in der Levante am ersten verstanden werden, die wenigstens jeder Dragoman spricht, sind in erster Linie Französisch, dann Deutsch, seltener Englisch’. (Citation Meyers Reisebücher Türkei and Serbien (1908), p.3. 33 `Die Kenntnis des Französischen muß deshalb von jedem verlangt werden, der selbständig die Orientreise unternimmt’ (ibid.). 34 ‘Dans quel pays du monde voit-on autant d´organes se publier dans un dialecte qui n´est pas celui de l´endroit, dans la langue d´une contrée aussi éloignée et d´une nation qui ne compte pas deux mille représentants en cette ville?’ (La Patrie [Constantinople], no. 23, 7 April 1909, pp. 161–62). 35 Sometimes with different nomenclatures. 36 Cf. ‘Anders ist es in den Großstädten und an der Küste des Ägäischen Meeres. Da machten Griechisch und Französisch dem Türkischen den Platz als Umgangssprache streitig. Jetzt verlieren diese beiden Sprachen immer mehr die alte Bedeutung’ (Yalman (Citation1918) p. 12). 37 On the gradual Gallicization of the Sephardic culture of Istanbul see Şaul (Citation2001) (A first version of his article was published in Anthropological Linguistics 25/3 [1983] pp. 326–58); cf. also Jireček on Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria (Jireček, Citation1891, p. 132); ‘Das Spanische ist aber bei ihnen jetzt in Gefahr vom Französischen verdrängt zu werden. Die ‘Alliance israélite’ in Paris gründete sofort nach der Befreiung Bulgariens in allen grösseren Spaniolengemeinden des Orients, auch in Sofia, Philippopel und Varna, modern eingerichtete Schulen mit französischer Unterrichtssprache’. 38 Ibid., p. 259. 39 See above, p. 4. 40 It would be interesting to have specimens of local traditions such as those of Salonika and Smyrna mentioned by Menzel (Citation1941), p. 59. 41 Isaah Peres, Mea shana bi-Yerushalayim, Jerusalem 1964, p. 29 (quoted in Fellman (Citation1973), p. 28). 42 The Ashkenazim had only begun to settle in the Holy City in appreciable numbers after 1820. 43 Significantly enough, the printed text does not contain any explanations of any of these Turkish terms, apparently supposed to be familiar to the public. 44 ‘Möchte die auch von Herrn Dr. Spitta-Bey [author of a standard work on the Egyptian Arabic dialect] herbeigesehnte Zeit bald kommen, in welcher in Ägypten, und fügen wir hinzu, in Syrien, eine Sprache sich herausbildet, die, von den Gebildeten gesprochen und geschrieben, auch von dem gemeinen Mann verstanden wird: ein Hocharabisch, entsprechend unserm Hochdeutsch.’ (Hartmann, Arabischer Sprachführer…, n.d., p. x). 45 ‘…die Dialekte in beiden Ländern [i.e. Egypt and Syria] sind durchaus lokal, ja, differieren oft nach den Stadtvierteln in größeren Städten’ (ibid.). 46 CitationWied (see above, n. 14) had already made the pertinent observation: ‘Doch muß man nicht glauben, dass im mündlichen Verkehr die Schriftsprache gar nicht zur Anwendung komme: Je gebildeter der Sprechende ist und (hauptsächlich) je mehr der Gegenstand des Gespräches der Gedankensphäre des täglichen Lebens fern liegt, desto mehr wird das Schriftidiom auch in der Rede zur Geltung kommen’. 47 Graves (Citation1933), p. 17. On Maliakas as a teacher for British diplomats also see Wratislaw (Citation1924), p. 3f. 48 See above, p. 12.