Where does the word Ottoman come from?
Do you remember this commercial with a German coast guard on his first day who receives an SOS message by radio saying: “Help us we are sinking”. The German coast guard answers back: “Vat are you tinking about?”
Osman is a Turkish name and Osmanlı was the name of the empire ruled by Osman’s family.
Ottoman script was etymological just like English, unlike the Modern Turkish script which is phonological, that is written just as pronounced. Osman is actually spelled in Ottoman Turkish as Othman. It’s read as Osman while written as Othman. Just like reading “asthma” as “asma”.
“th” is pronounced like an “s” in Persian and Ottoman Turkish, while it is pronounced as a “t” like people in the Italic Peninsula opted for in the Middle Ages for the name Othman.
Voiceless “th” is a dental fricative and the closest to that is either the voiceless coronal sibilant “s” or the voiceless dental plosive sound “t”.
Where does the word Ottoman come from?
Ottoman script was etymological just like English and Osman was actually written as Othman in Ottoman Turkish.
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