Gelisim News

The issue on changing terms into Turkish was discussed by specialists in five different tables with the topics ‘Digital Reputation, Industry 4.0 and Artificial Intelligence, Digital Media, Cyber Security and Society 5.0’ in Turkish in New Communication Environments: “Current Problems and Term Suggestions Workshop” at Istanbul Gelisim University. Gürer Gülsevin, Head of the Turkish Language Association (TDK), also took part in the workshop organized to produce Turkish terms in order to avoid the confusion of Western terms in communication technologies and to eliminate the difficulty of expression.

Prof. Dr. Filiz Balta, a faculty member of Faculty of Communication at Marmara University pointed out the importance of getting together with different groups in the workshop, and said: “I care about the introduction of new words from different groups. We're at the digital reputation table. We will be searching for Turkish words and concepts related to digital reputation.”

Honorary Chairman of Turkey Informatics Association İlker Tabak reminded that he is a member of ‘elaborate Turkish group in IT’ and said: “We should use Turkish terms in terms of new communication technologies. Otherwise, if we continue to speak them in English, we hear hollow sounds. We are trying to put a meaning on this and this prevents the development. The importance of the workshop is that we do this to take an important step in finding Turkish of such concepts. It is also important to ensure this spread.”

Underlining that widespread use of digital terms in Turkish terms will have positive effects on development, İlber Tabak said: “Otherwise, technology develops and improves, and we become consumers of it. We don't know what we're consuming. Since we do not know what we are consuming, we ignore thinking about this production, which is the biggest danger.”

Referring to the importance of Turkey not consumes Technology but produces, İlber Tabak said: “We have produced nearly 6 thousand new Turkish terms. If we look at the old studies, we would’ve found more Turkish equivalents. There are close to 20,000 terms, and it is also very important that these things give the exact meaning and popularize if they are relevant to what we have found. For example, there is a term called ‘Cyber Bot’ in games, which means to kill. We named it ‘Sibercan’. No matter how much it reminds a singer’s name, it smiled all of us. When the word ‘bilgisayar’ (computer) was created, people opposed at first, but when the expression was explained as a way of respect for information, then everyone accepted it and have began to use it.”

Head of the Turkish Language Association (TDK) Gürer Gülsevin pointed out language is an identity not only in terms but in all aspects, said: “Our language is our identity. In order to protect this identity, we should use especially our own words. These words sometimes begin to be used as terms as a result of technology, or because of cultural interactions. Terms are one of them. To give an example, ‘televizyon’ (television) is now settled in our language. At the time, the offered equivalent couldn’t popularized. Now if you try to recreate an equivalent for this, it's impossible to be popularized, because it is now in our language. So we use that word now. But that doesn't mean ‘We are defeated by technology’. It does not mean that ‘we cannot find its Turkish equivalent’. For instance, ‘uçak (airplane)’ and ‘bilgisayar (computer)’ are in Turkish as well as ‘buzdolabı (fridge)’. These are significant things. If you use it and accept it, they become popularized.”

The new Turkish terms will begin to be created in the workshop organized in order to increase the Turkish vocabulary in the digital world in Turkey.