Abstract:

The existence of the Turks in the Balkan geography is based on centuries before the Ottoman conquest. The main influence of Turkish language and culture in the region began with the conquest movements of the Ottoman Empire. With the Ottoman conquest of the region, major changes have occurred in the structure of the Balkans. As a result of this comprehensive and large influence, thousands of Turkish words entered the Balkans. The quantity of Turkish words, their influence on the Balkan cultures and languages have led the researchers to study these words. Researchers who studied the Turkish words in the Balkan languages have encountered a fundamental problem. The main problem that the researchers encountered was the problem of naming those words. As the Arabic-Farsic words are seen in these languages along with the Turkish, some researchers have used the concept of "Orientalism" for these words. The researchers consider that the majority of the words in the Balkans are Turkish, and that Arabic-Persian words enter the Balkans through the Turkish language, preferred the term "Turkish" for these words. The researchers have indicated their preferences in general without making a detailed assessment of either "Orientalism" or "Turkism". However, detailed analyses are needed to get to a point in the problem of naming the Turkish words, which are approximately ten thousand in some languages that have so much impact on the Balkans. The aim of this study is to evaluate the words in terms of grammar, ethno-linguistic, cultural and historical processes, and to contribute to the problem of naming the words that enter the Balkan languages through the Ottoman institutions and the social life. The scope of the study, though all of the Balkans are languages, has been emphasized on the Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian and Albanian languages where the Turkish words are widely viewed.

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