ENGLISH
REFERENCE

turkish

n. uncountable
A1 Beginner US //ˈtɝkɪʃ// turk·ish

n. the language spoken by people in Turkey and some other nearby areas. It is also used to describe people who come from Turkey.

n. the official language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus, belonging to the Oghuz branch of the Turkic family. When used to refer to the people of Turkey, it functions as a collective plural noun.


SIMPLE

I am learning how to speak Turkish.

CONTEXTUAL

The local community center offers free classes for anyone interested in learning Turkish or exploring the country's history.

COMPLEX

Modern Turkish was significantly reshaped during the early twentieth century through a series of linguistic reforms that replaced the Arabic script with a Latin-based alphabet.

Origin

From Turk + -ish. Doublet of turquoise.

Usage

Uncountable when referring to the language; as a collective noun for the people, it is preceded by 'the' and takes a plural verb.

Pitfall

He speaks the TurkishHe speaks TurkishNames of languages do not take the definite article 'the' unless followed by the word 'language'.

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