Agop Dilâçar ( Hagop Martayan 22 May 1895 – 12 September 1979) was a Turkish-Armenian

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

who specialized in

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of more than 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 West Asia. The Turkic langua ...

and head western languages specialist of the

Turkish Language Association The Turkish Language Association (, TDK) is the List of language regulators, 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 ...

. He was proficient in 12 languages, including

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 around the ...

, Turkish, English, French,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, Azerbaijani,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

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and Bulgarian.

Biography

descent, Agop Dilâçar was born Hagop Martayan in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

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 ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational, Education in Turkey#Private schools, private Second ...

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

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

'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, it is ...

. 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 (1861–1922), Ottoman Ar ...

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 () is one of the names of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic language, Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in t ...

(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 (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

and ancient East languages at

Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. 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 ( ) is a 19th-century imperial palace located in Istanbul, Turkey, along the European shore of the Bosporus, which served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922. Histor ...

supervised by Atatürk, the founder and first president of the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, 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 known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languag ...

as the head western languages specialist of the newly founded

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. 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. Dilâçar taught history and language at

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

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 Levon Shant (; born Levon Nahashbedian, then changed to Levon Seghposian; 6 April 1869 – 29 November 1951) was an Armenian playwright, novelist, poet and founder of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society. Biography He was ...

'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, it was claimed that TRT, the only Turkish television channel at the time, 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, TDK Uzmanı".

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 father of Turk 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 are bilingual texts in Middle Chinese and Old Turkic, the latter written in the Old Turkic alphabet, carved into two memorial steles erected in the early 8th century by the Göktürks in the Orkhon Valley in what is modern- ...

), 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'' (; Khaqani 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 qu ...

), 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 Academic staff of Ankara University Turkish people of Armenian descent Linguists of Turkic languages Schoolteachers from Istanbul Burials at Şişli Armenian Cemetery 20th-century linguists