The Committee for Scientific Terminology (Istılahat-ı İlmiye Encümeni, 1913-1919) and the Introduction of Modern Terms in Philosophy, Science, and Technology to Turkey

Ebubekir Keklik

Makale detayları

The Committee for Scientific Terminology (Istılahat-ı İlmiye Encümeni, 1913-1919) and the Introduction of Modern Terms in Philosophy, Science, and Technology to Turkey

Yazarlar:

Ebubekir Keklik

Yayıncı:

Istanbul University

Dergi:

Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları Vol.24 Issue 1, pp.139-164

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2023

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001282777

pISSN:

1303-3123

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 The modern philosophical, scientific, and technological terms used in Western languages began to enter Turkish at the end of the 18th century. The introduction of modern medicine into Turkey, the emergence of new issues in the fields of law and politics, and the translations of Western astronomical, geographical, geological, and economic works into Turkish accelerated the introduction of terms related to these sciences into Turkish. Some of these terms entered daily language through the press and textbooks. However, these terms either passed into Ottoman Turkish as they were or saw everyone coin different terms for each foreign one. These made the books translated from Western languages very difficult to read and caused various semantic problems. For this reason, the need for a common terminology in philosophy and science became one of the issues on which Ottoman intellectuals focused. This issue was formally discussed for the first time during the Second Constitutional Era. In 1913, the Istılahat-ı İlmiye Encümeni Committee for Scientific Terminology was established in order to find the Turkish equivalents for many scientific terms and concepts in modern philosophy, science, and technology terms. The members of the committee included eminent scientists, philosophers, and thinkers of the period such as Emrullah Efendi, Rıza Tevfik, Salih Zeki, and Ziya Gökalp. At the same time, the Committee aimed to prepare a full-fledged Turkish dictionary of scientific terms for scientific words of Western origin. The committee was active until the beginning of 1919 and published three terminology dictionaries: one on philosophy, one on the arts, and one on the general sciences, the latter included only the terms that start with the letter A.

 The modern philosophical, scientific, and technological terms used in Western languages began to enter Turkish at the end of the 18th century. The introduction of modern medicine into Turkey, the emergence of new issues in the fields of law and politics, and the translations of Western astronomical, geographical, geological, and economic works into Turkish accelerated the introduction of terms related to these sciences into Turkish. Some of these terms entered daily language through the press and textbooks. However, these terms either passed into Ottoman Turkish as they were or saw everyone coin different terms for each foreign one. These made the books translated from Western languages very difficult to read and caused various semantic problems. For this reason, the need for a common terminology in philosophy and science became one of the issues on which Ottoman intellectuals focused. This issue was formally discussed for the first time during the Second Constitutional Era. In 1913, the Istılahat-ı İlmiye Encümeni Committee for Scientific Terminology was established in order to find the Turkish equivalents for many scientific terms and concepts in modern philosophy, science, and technology terms. The members of the committee included eminent scientists, philosophers, and thinkers of the period such as Emrullah Efendi, Rıza Tevfik, Salih Zeki, and Ziya Gökalp. At the same time, the Committee aimed to prepare a full-fledged Turkish dictionary of scientific terms for scientific words of Western origin. The committee was active until the beginning of 1919 and published three terminology dictionaries: one on philosophy, one on the arts, and one on the general sciences, the latter included only the terms that start with the letter A.

 The modern philosophical, scientific, and technological terms used in Western languages began to enter Turkish at the end of the 18th century. The introduction of modern medicine into Turkey, the emergence of new issues in the fields of law and politics, and the translations of Western astronomical, geographical, geological, and economic works into Turkish accelerated the introduction of terms related to these sciences into Turkish. Some of these terms entered daily language through the press and textbooks. However, these terms either passed into Ottoman Turkish as they were or saw everyone coin different terms for each foreign one. These made the books translated from Western languages very difficult to read and caused various semantic problems. For this reason, the need for a common terminology in philosophy and science became one of the issues on which Ottoman intellectuals focused. This issue was formally discussed for the first time during the Second Constitutional Era. In 1913, the Istılahat-ı İlmiye Encümeni Committee for Scientific Terminology was established in order to find the Turkish equivalents for many scientific terms and concepts in modern philosophy, science, and technology terms. The members of the committee included eminent scientists, philosophers, and thinkers of the period such as Emrullah Efendi, Rıza Tevfik, Salih Zeki, and Ziya Gökalp. At the same time, the Committee aimed to prepare a full-fledged Turkish dictionary of scientific terms for scientific words of Western origin. The committee was active until the beginning of 1919 and published three terminology dictionaries: one on philosophy, one on the arts, and one on the general sciences, the latter included only the terms that start with the letter A.

 Başta Fransızca olmak üzere, Batı dillerinde kullanılan modern felsefe, bilim ve teknoloji terimleri on sekizinci yüzyılın sonlarından itibaren Türkçeye girmeye başladı. Modern tıbbın Osmanlı ülkesine girmeye başlaması, hukuk ve siyaset alanında yeni terimlerin ortaya çıkışı, Batı dillerinde yazılan astronomi, coğrafya, jeoloji ve iktisatla ilgili eserlerin Türkçeye çevrilmesi, bu bilimlere ait terimlerin Türkçeye girişini hızlandırdı. Bu terimlerin bir kısmı basın-yayın ve ders kitapları yoluyla günlük konuşma diline de girdi. Ne var ki bu terimler Türkçeye ya aynen aktarılıyor ya da herkes yeni terimlere kendine göre bir karşılık buluyordu. Bu durum, hem Batı dillerinden tercüme edilen kitapların okunmasını çok zorlaştırıyor hem de çeşitli anlam karışıklıklarına sebep oluyordu. Bu sebeple ortak bir felsefe ve bilim diline duyulan ihtiyaç son dönem Osmanlı aydınlarının üzerinde önemle durdukları bir konu oldu. Bu konu ilk defa resmen II. Meşrutiyet döneminde ele alındı; bu dönemde doğrudan Maarif Nezareti tarafından, modern felsefe, bilim ve teknoloji terimlerine Türkçe karşılıklar bulmak ve tanımlar yapmak amacıyla 1913te Istılahat-ı İlmiye Encümeni kuruldu. Üyeleri arasında Emrullah Efendi, Rıza Tevfik, Salih Zeki ve Ziya Gökalp gibi dönemin önde gelen bilim adamı, felsefeci ve düşünürlerinin bulunduğu Istılahat-ı İlmiye Encümeninin amacı Batı dillerinde kullanılan birçok bilimsel kavram ve terime Türkçe karşılıklar bulmak ve dört başı mamur bir Kamus-ı Istılahat hazırlamaktı. Encümen 1919 yılı başlarına kadar çalışmalarına aralıksız devam etti ve biri felsefeye, biri güzel sanatlara biri de genel bilimlere ait terimlerin bulunduğu üç farklı terimler sözlüğü yayımlandı. Sonuncusunda yalnızca A harfi ile başlayan terimler yer almaktaydı.

Makale detayları

The Committee for Scientific Terminology (Istılahat-ı İlmiye Encümeni, 1913-1919) and the Introduction of Modern Terms in Philosophy, Science, and Technology to Turkey

Yazarlar:

Ebubekir Keklik

Yayıncı:

Istanbul University

Dergi:

Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları Vol.24 Issue 1, pp.139-164

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2023

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001282777

pISSN:

1303-3123

Ottoman modernization

Turkish dictionary of scientific terms

philosophical terms

Turkish

Osmanlı modernleşmesi

Istılahat-ı İlmiye Encümeni

Kamus-ı Istılahat-ı İlmiye

felsefe terimleri

bilim terimleri

Türkçe

Ottoman modernization

Turkish dictionary of scientific terms

philosophical terms

Turkish

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Ebubekir Keklik

Yayıncı: Istanbul University

Dergi: Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları Vol.24 Issue 1, pp.139-164

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 6/2023

Belge Dili: Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.): 2001282777

pISSN: 1303-3123

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Ebubekir Keklik

Yayıncı:

Istanbul University

Dergi:

Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları Vol.24 Issue 1, pp.139-164

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2023

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001282777

pISSN:

1303-3123