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The Turkish language was deeply influenced by both Arabic and Persian during the centuries of existence of the Ottoman Empire, and was then called Osmanl ca, Ottoman Turkish, thus becoming a truly hybrid language. After its fall, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first president of the Turkish Republic, decided that this influence should cease. Also, he wanted a pure language for the new nation, an "Öz Türk‡e", or Pure Turkish, free from all foreign, that is, from Arabic and Persian mainly, influences. This is the topic of this book, that is, to give an overall idea of who the Turks are, the characteristics of the Turkish language, why all this Arabic influence on Turkish started and how and when it ended - with the very controversial "language revolution", or "Dil Devrimi", as the Turks call it. From the mention of the Turks by the Chinese in their annals in the 6th century, the important period of conversion to Islam, to the renewed language in the 20th century, the reader will have the opportunity to follow the unique history of this language, that few others can equal.

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Marco S. de Pinto graduated from Arabic Language and Literature at the Univ. of SÆo Paulo, Brazil. In 2010 he translated the Turkish Epic Dede Korkut O uznameleri into Portuguese first direct translation to be published in Brazil. He is now involved in a project of translating contemporary works of Turkish literature into Portuguese.

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