Agop Dilâçar ( hy, Յակոբ Մարթայեան Hagop Martayan,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, 22 May 1895 – Istanbul, 12 September 1979) was a Turkish-Armenian

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

who specialized in

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic languag ...

and the first Secretary General and head specialist of the

Turkish Language Association The Turkish Language Association ( tr, Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK) is the regulatory body for the Turkish language, founded on 12 July 1932 by the initiative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. The Institution acts as the off ...

. He created the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet and was proficient in 12 languages, and in addition to

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

and Turkish, Dilâçar knew

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, French,

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, Azerbaijani,

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and

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Biography

descent, Agop Dilâçar was born Hagop Martayan in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

in 1895. His father was Vahan Martayan and his mother Eugenie Martayan (née Sarafian). He studied English in the local American School editing the school's publication "School News" (1907). In 1910, Dilâçar studied at the

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary ...

where he also learned German, Latin and Classical Greek, graduating from Robert College in 1915. After completing his studies, he served as an officer in the

Ottoman Army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

's Second Division in

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...

. Dilâçar was awarded for his bravery and continued serving in the Ottoman Army reserves. Because of his knowledge of English, he worked as a Turkish Army interpreter for the British prisoners of war held after the

Siege of Kut The siege of Kut Al Amara (7 December 1915 – 29 April 1916), also known as the first battle of Kut, was the besieging of an 8,000 strong British Army garrison in the town of Kut, south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army. In 1915, its population ...

south of Baghdad. Dilâçar was arrested and escorted to Damascus for alleged secret extrajudicial contacts with the British prisoners. In Damascus, he was introduced for the first time to

Mustafa Kemal Pasha Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mou ...

(later known as Atatürk). Mustafa Kemal Pasha was then the Commander of the Ottoman Army's Seventh Division. Mustafa Kemal was impressed by Dilâçar's intelligence and secured a pardon for him and took him into his headquarters. In 1918, Dilâçar moved to Lebanon, where he became the headmaster of Beirut's Sourp Nshan Armenian National School. In Lebanon, he established ''Louys'', an Armenian periodical (in

''Լոյս'', meaning The Light). In 1919, he returned to Istanbul where he worked as a lecturer of English at the Robert College. In 1922, he married Méliné Martayan and the couple moved to Bulgaria where he taught

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...

and ancient East languages at

Sofia University Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education i ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. In Sofia he also published the Armenian weekly ''Mshagouyt'' (in Armenian Մշակոյթ, meaning Culture) and the monthly Armenian periodical ''Rahvira'' (in Armenian Ռահվիրայ). Dilâçar published a study of Turkish language in Istanbul's ''Arevelk'' (in

Արեւելք, meaning The East). A translated copy of the article gained the attention of

who invited him to return to Turkey where he lectured in Faculty of Languages, History and Geography. On 22 September 1932, Dilâçar was invited as a linguist to the First Turkish Language Congress held in

Dolmabahçe Palace Dolmabahçe Palace ( tr, Dolmabahçe Sarayı, ) located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coast of the Bosporus strait, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 t ...

supervised by Atatürk, the founder and first president of the

Republic of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, together with two other linguists of Armenian ethnicity, İstepan Gurdikyan and Kevork Simkeşyan. He continued his work and research on the

Turkish language Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...

as the head specialist and Secretary General of the newly founded

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. Following the issue of the Law on Family Names in 1934, Mustafa Kemal Pasha suggested him the surname ''Dilaçar'' (literally meaning ''language opener''), which he gladly accepted. Nevertheless, he continued to use the surname Martayan to sign his articles in the Armenian language. In return, Agop Martayan openly proposed the name ''Atatürk'' to Mustafa Kemal Pasha in the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

. Dilâçar taught history and language at

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

between 1936 and 1951. He also was the head adviser of the ''Türk Ansiklopedisi'' (''Turkish Encyclopedia''), between 1942 and 1960. He held his position and continued his research in linguistics at the Turkish Language Association until his death on 12 September 1979, in Istanbul.

Armenian publications

In addition to his work in Turkish language, Dilâçar also published in Istanbul's Armenian media, in particular with the Armenian daily '' Marmara'' (in Armenian Մարմարա). In 1922, Dilâçar published his literary work ''Aratchin Portsutyun'' (in Armenian «Առաջին Փորձութիւն» meaning First Try). Also in 1922, he translated Armenian playwright Levon Shant's play ''Hin Asdvadzner'' (in Armenian «Հին աստվածներ» meaning Old Gods) to English. In 1929 he published his Armenological study "Kri Dzakoume yev Daradzoume" (in Armenian «Գրի ծագումը և տարածումը» meaning the origin and spread of language) and in 1929 "Hapetapanoutyun" (in Armenian «Հաբեթաբանութիւն») in addition to an Armenian translation of a collection of English poetry under the title ''Albyoni Bardezen'' (in Armenian «Ալբիոնի պարտէզէն» meaning from the garden of Albion) also in 1929. In 1951, Dilâçar published his book ''Hazar Hink Harur Amyagi Khoher'' («1500ամեակի խոհեր» - meaning Thoughts on the 1500th Anniversary). In 1956 he published his book ''Asdvadzashountche yev Ashkharhapare'' (in Armenian «Աստուածաշունչը եւ Աշխարհաբարը» meaning The Holy Bible and Modern Armenian language). Dilâçar had numerous written works in linguistics, literature, studies and translations in Armenian. For example his literary work ''Salin Vra (Kragan Portser)'' (in Armenian Սալին Վրայ (գրական փորձեր), a collection of poems ''Khonchadz Yerazner'' (in Armenian «Խոնջած Երազներ»), a theatrical piece ''Tsaykatiter'' (in Armenian «Ցայգաթիթեռ») and studies like "Levon Shant, Ir Pilisopayoutyune yev Kegharvesde" (in Armenian Լեւոն Շանթ՝ Իր Փիլիսոփայութիւնը եւ Գեղարուեստը, meaning Levon Shant, his philosophy and artistry) and "Hay Tyutsaznavebe, Pakhtadadagan Himi Vera" (in Armenian Հայ Դիւցազնավէպը Բաղդատատական Հիմի Վրայ meaning The Armenian heroic epic novel on a comparative basis).

Armenian descent

After his death in 1979, in a news coverage, the then only Turkish TV channel TRT concealed the first name "Agop", which would suggest an Armenian descent, and instead mentioned "A. Dilaçar", using only the initial of his forename together with his surname. However, in a TV program in TRT, which Dilaçar joined, his first name was pronounced and spelled as well, crediting him "Agop Dilaçar".

Controversy

It is an issue of controversy whether Dilâçar was the person who officially proposed the surname ''Atatürk'' to the founder of Turkey,

,İrfan Özfatura
"Dilimizi dilim dilim... Agop Dilâçar"
(Turkish), Türkiye Gazetesi, April 3, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2012 or Saffet Arıkan's "''Ulu Önderimiz Ata Türk Mustafa Kemal''" (''Our Great Leader Ata Türk Mustafa Kemal'') sentence in the opening speech of the 2nd Language Day on 26 September 1934 became an inspiration for surname ''Atatürk''. Contemporary newspapers and other articles favor the latter claim.

Publications

;in Turkish * Azeri Türkçesi (Azerbaijani Turkish), 1950 * Batı Türkçesi (Western Turkish), 1953 * Lehçelerin Yazılma Tarzı (Writing Style of Dialects) * Türk Dil ve Lehçelerinin Tasnifi Meselesi (Classification Issue of the Turkish Languages and Dialects), 1954 * Devlet Dili Olarak Türkçe (Turkish as a State Language), 1962 * Wilhelm Thomsen ve Orhon Yazıtlarının Çözülüşü (Wilhelm Thomson and Encoding of the

Orkhon Inscriptions The Orkhon inscriptions (also known as the Orhon inscriptions, Orhun inscriptions, Khöshöö Tsaidam monuments (also spelled ''Khoshoo Tsaidam'', ''Koshu-Tsaidam'' or ''Höshöö Caidam''), or Kul Tigin steles ( zh, t=闕特勤碑, s=阙特勤� ...

), 1963 * Türk Diline Genel Bir Bakış (A General Look at the Turkish Language), 1964 * Türkiye'de Dil Özleşmesi (Language Purification in Turkey), 1965 * Dil, Diller ve Dilcilik (Language, Languages and Linguistics), 1968 * Kutadgu Bilig İncelemesi (Research of the

Kutadgu Bilig The ''Kutadgu Bilig'' or ''Qutadğu Bilig'' (; Middle Turkic: ), is an 11th century work written by Yūsuf Balasaguni for the prince of Kashgar. The text reflects the author's and his society's beliefs, feelings and practices with regard to quit ...

), 1972 * Anadili İlkeleri ve Türkiye Dışındaki Uygulamalar (Native Language Principles and Applications Outside Turkey), 1978 ;in French * Les bases bio-psychologiques de la Theorie Güneş Dil (1936) ;in Armenian * 1500ամեակի խոհեր (''Hazar Hink Harur Amyagi Khoher'', Thoughts on the 1500th Anniversary), 1951 * Աստուածաշունչը եւ աշխարհաբարը (''Asdvadzashountche yev Ashkharhapare'', The Bible and the Armenian Modern Language), 1956 * Յօդուածներ (''Hotvadzner'', Articles), 2000 * Համայնապատկեր հայ մշակոյթի (''Hamaynabadger Hay Meshagouyti'' Panorama of the Armenian Culture), vol. I, 2004 * Համայնապատկեր հայ մշակոյթի (''Hamaynabadger Hay Meshagouyti'' Panorama of the Armenian Culture), vol. II, 2005

References

External links

Dilaçar's biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dilacar, Agop Martayan 1895 births 1979 deaths Writers from Istanbul Robert College alumni Linguists from Turkey Ankara University faculty Turkish people of Armenian descent Linguists of Turkic languages Schoolteachers from Istanbul Burials at Şişli Armenian Cemetery 20th-century linguists