Turkish Self-Taught: By Natural Method with English Phonetic Pronunciation

For many years European and Ottoman Turkish linguists, as well as many Ottoman Turkish grammarians, who had applied themselves to the close study of the Turkish language, were firmly under the impression that its harmony and fluidity was in a large measure due to the presence of Persian and Arabic words, and to the introduction of grammatical forms identified with these languages, and it was generally feared that if these were eliminated a purely Turkish language would severely suffer by the loss of these peculiar characteristics. The controversy arising out of this belief resulted in a general lethargy and the postponement of serious attempts to reconstitute the language on a purely Turkish basis, the language meanwhile becoming more and more assailed by foreign elements. During this period a most eminent and learned scholar produced the first Turkish grammar, which has contributed largely to the creation of the present melodious and expressive language with its extensive vocabulary and rich variety of inflections so euphonically constituted as to produce the rhythm and cadence which has been the admiration of all linguists.