Sun Language Theory

The Sun Language Theory (Turkish: Güneş Dil Teorisi) was a Turkish pseudolinguistic,^[1] pseudoscientific^[2] hypothesis developed in Turkey in the 1930s that proposed that all human languages are descendants of one proto-Turkic primal language. The theory's promotion of Turks as a progenitor race led to it finding favour among Turkish ultranationalists, who used it to justify their nationalist ideology.^[3]^[4]^[5]

The theory proposes that primal language had close phonemic resemblances to Turkish and, because of this, all other languages can be traced back to Turkic roots. According to the theory, this primal language originated among Central Asian worshippers who created it as a means to salute the omnipotence of the sun and its life-giving qualities, hence the name.^[6]

^ Asher, R. E.; Simpson, J. M. Y. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Vol. 6. Pergamon Press. p. 3391. ISBN 978-0-08-035943-4.
^ Hintz, Lisel (2018). Identity Politics Inside Out: National Identity Contestation and Foreign Policy in Turkey. Oxford University Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-0-19-065599-0.
^ "Sun Language Theory". Encyclopedia.com.
^ Hermann, Rainer (2014). Where is Turkey Headed?: Culture Battles in Turkey. Blue Dome Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-935295-72-3. the sun language theory, which was abandoned in 1938, claimed that all languages had developed from Turkish. This kind of ultra nationalism had two different cloaks...
^ Somay, B. (2014). The Psychopolitics of the Oriental Father: Between Omnipotence and Emasculation. Springer. p. 215. ISBN 978-1-137-46266-4.
^ Aytürk, İlker (November 2004). "Turkish Linguists against the West: The Origins of Linguistic Nationalism in Atatürk's Turkey". Middle Eastern Studies. 40 (6): 1–25. doi:10.1080/0026320042000282856. hdl:11693/49528. ISSN 0026-3206. OCLC 86539631. S2CID 144968896.

[1] Asher, R. E.; Simpson, J. M. Y. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Vol. 6. Pergamon Press. p. 3391. ISBN 978-0-08-035943-4.

[2] Hintz, Lisel (2018). Identity Politics Inside Out: National Identity Contestation and Foreign Policy in Turkey. Oxford University Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-0-19-065599-0.

[3] "Sun Language Theory". Encyclopedia.com.

[4] Hermann, Rainer (2014). Where is Turkey Headed?: Culture Battles in Turkey. Blue Dome Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-935295-72-3. the sun language theory, which was abandoned in 1938, claimed that all languages had developed from Turkish. This kind of ultra nationalism had two different cloaks...

[5] Somay, B. (2014). The Psychopolitics of the Oriental Father: Between Omnipotence and Emasculation. Springer. p. 215. ISBN 978-1-137-46266-4.

[6] Aytürk, İlker (November 2004). "Turkish Linguists against the West: The Origins of Linguistic Nationalism in Atatürk's Turkey". Middle Eastern Studies. 40 (6): 1–25. doi:10.1080/0026320042000282856. hdl:11693/49528. ISSN 0026-3206. OCLC 86539631. S2CID 144968896.

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