Sun Language Theory
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The Sun Language Theory (Turkish: Güneş Dil Kuramı) was a linguistic theory proposing that all human languages are descendants of one Central Asian primal language. The theory further proposed that the only language remaining more or less the same as this primal language is Turkish. According to the theory, the Central Asian worshippers, who wanted to salute the omnipotence of the sun and its life-giving qualities, had done so by transforming their meaningless blabbering into a coherent set of ritual utterings, and languages were born, hence the name.[1]
The hypothesis was started with the works by the French scientist Hilaire de Baranton entitled "L'Origine des Langues, des Religions et des Peuples", that all languages originated from hieroglyphs and cuneiform used by Sumerians [2] and the paper of Austrian linguist Dr. Hermann F. Kvergić of Vienna entitled "La psychologie dequelques elements des langues Turques" (the psychology of some elements of the Turkic Languages).[3]
Once these works came to the attention of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, he introduced the Sun Language Theory into Turkish political and educational circles in 1935, at the high point of attempts to 'cleanse' the Turkish language of foreign influences. It fell into final oblivion in the 1950s.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Dilaçar, Agop (1936) Les bases Bio-Psychologiques de la Theorie Güneş Dil
- Lewis, Geoffrey (1999) The Turkish Language Reform: a catastrophic success. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Sun Language Commission's Report (in Turkish and French)
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