The Legacy of the Surname Law and Defensive Nationalism in the Twenty-First Century

  • Meltem Türköz
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Abstract

Coinciding with the Language Reform’s search for a purified language, the Surname Law left behind it a plethora of words collected during a time of zealous language planning. A Turkish literary scholar argues that many current surnames are pure Turkish words that never made it into everyday spoken or written language but remained as relics of the Language Reform. Since the enforcement of the law in the 1930s, many families have taken their cases to court to reclaim old family names, or to claim a more flattering name.

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Copyright information

© The Author(s) 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  • Meltem Türköz
    • 1
  1. 1.Işık UniversityŞile/İstanbulTurkey

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