Modernization or Simplification: an Empirical Approach to the Turkish Language Reform
Abstract
In this paper, I proposed an empirical approach to evaluate the accuracy of modern – or so-called purified – versions of Ottoman texts. Empirical studies on purified texts are limited in terms of quantity despite the abundance of the literature on the purification program within the Turkish language reform. I attempted to analyze a modernized text to answer the following questions; in a modernized text whether (a) semantic accuracy is preserved, or (b) the content is simplified. The method I offer here is based on a comparison of the modernized version with the authentic text from the lexical semantics point of view. My research revealed that some words with more definite meaning were replaced with more imprecise words in the modernized text. Such replacements may lead to a reduction in the content. Nevertheless, future works are needed on large scale data with the help of AI-supported tools to explore whether blurriness occurs in meaning during a modernization process.
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