Multilingualism in the Ottoman Colonial Empire in relation to dialect formation, pidgin, creole, and lingua franca

Abstract

The Ottomans were, in fact, not an Atlantic/east Asian power even though they held lands in Middle East and Balkan Regions. The Ottoman navy conquered the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea so as to secure Ottoman lands in that region. There is a misconception that the Ottoman rule influenced the languages of the Balkans via serious impositions. Ottoman Empire (1299-1922 A.D.), unlike western empires, was not a colonialist empire; therefore, it did not impose any damaging Ottoman language and cultural aspects on the people of the Balkans. The use of Ottoman language in the territories of Ottoman Empire was something like a lingua franca. In this study, the multilingual background of Ottoman Empire will be discussed in relation to the languages spoken in the land of the Ottoman Empire. It will be stressed that Ottomans were imperial, but not colonial.