Turkish Language
Transport
5 November, 2009Crossing the Border
5 November, 2009
Turkish Language
Turkish is spoken by over 63 million people worldwide, and originates from Ottoman Turkish, which dates back nearly 1,200 years. The Ottoman Turkish language was based mainly on Arabic and Persian, but was replaced under one of Ataturk’s reforms in 1928, with the more modern language which is spoken today.
Turkish is the official language of Northern Cyprus, however Cypriots speak a different dialect of the official Turkish language and may use some words that have different meaning to those from the mainland Turkey. The secondary language of Northern Cyprus is English, which is widely spoken and used.
Lavinia Neville Smith
Lavinia Neville Smith first came to North Cyprus in 1995, and fell in love with the country and the Turkish Cypriot people. A self confessed dilettante, with a varied working career, it was not until she returned in 1997 and went into tourism that she was able to put to good use her knowledge of history, ancient and modern, acquired long ago at school. She is a co-author of the Landmark Visitors Guide to North Cyprus, and continues to promote this beautiful country as far afield as possible.
