Knowledge to go
Where Turkish is Spoken – and Where the Language Comes From
Turkish is the official language of Turkey and is spoken by approximately 85 million people as their native language. In countries like Cyprus, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania, it is an important minority language, and large Turkish-speaking communities can also be found in other parts of Europe and North America.
As part of the Turkic language family, Turkish shares many similarities in terms of structure and word formation with languages like Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Kazakh, and Turkmen. Additionally, several terms have been borrowed from Arabic, such as the greeting merhaba (from Arabic marhaba). In recent times, loanwords from French, English, and German have also entered the Turkish language. Words like sosyal media (social media), televizyon (television), and çikolata (chocolate) are easily understood in many countries or can be inferred, even without a professional translation.
Longer and Longer Words – and What They Mean for Translation
Turkish is an agglutinative language, which means words can be extended by adding suffixes to express grammatical functions. In simple terms, words get longer as they carry more information. Here’s an illustrative example:
ev (house) → evler (houses) → evlerim (my houses) → evlerimde (in my houses)
As a translator, you must adapt by creating multiple words from one or vice versa. Professional translators can easily handle this. As native speakers, they speak Turkish daily and understand the nuances of the language. The challenge arises when dealing with texts that are set in a layout that needs to function with the translated text as well. For example, in medical translations like those for package inserts, where there’s little space for a lot of information, longer words in the translation may alter text breaks and paragraph lengths. To ensure everything aligns both content-wise and visually, a layout adjustment is needed, where each word is carefully placed in the right position.
Contracts, Documents, and Paperwork – Where Turkish Translations Must Be Accurate
Some texts contain sensitive information and require particularly careful translation. This applies to contract translations and official document translations. Not just anyone can handle such translations. Legal translations are always carried out by expert translators with legal backgrounds. If the translation must be official and include certification, only sworn translators, who have taken an oath before a district court, regional court, or public authority, are allowed to translate such documents.
For specialized Turkish translations, precision is critical. Technical translations must not deviate from the original content. Mistranslated technical terms can have serious consequences. Similarly, in scientific translations, the translator must possess the necessary expertise to accurately convey complex concepts and translate specialized terminology correctly. The more specific a field is, the more expertise the translator should have – and they should always be a native speaker.
