Tevfik Esenç
Tevfik Esenç (; 1904 – 7 October 1992) was a Turkish citizen of Ubykh origin, known for being the last speaker of the Ubykh language. He was fluent in Ubykh, Adyghe and Turkish. After his death in 1992, the Ubykh language went extinct despite the efforts and work of numerous linguists to revive it. Nevertheless, Esenç is single-handedly responsible for the world's current knowledge of Ubykh language and culture being as extensive and detailed as it is. Biography Esenç was raised by his Ubykh-speaking grandparents for a time in the village of Hacıosman ( Ubykh: ''Lek'uaşüa /lɜkʷʼɐ́ɕʷɜ/''; Adyghe: ''Hundjahabl'') in Turkey, and he served a term as the ''muhtar'' (mayor) of that village, before receiving a post in the civil service of Istanbul. There, he was able to do a great deal of work with the French linguist Georges Dumézil and his associate Georges Charachidzé to help record his language, although not all the writings of Charachidzé (1930–2010) hav ...
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Hacıosman, Manyas
Hacıosman ( ; ) is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Manyas, Balıkesir Province in Turkey. Its population is 81 (2022). Until 1992, it was one of the few villages in the world where the inhabitants spoke the Ubykh language in their daily lives. The last speaker of Ubykh, Tevfik Esenç, was born, and died, in this village. Other villages where Ubykh was spoken included Sapanca, Kırkpınar and Hacıyakup, Manyas, Hacıyakup. References

Neighbourhoods in Manyas District {{Balıkesir-geo-stub Circassian communities ...
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