Gíbrízlíĵa is a very real language, it is alive and kicking, it is not impure,
backward or incorrect, nor is it a mere accent (agiz) as some suggest. Gíbrízlíĵa is the language I have spoken all my
life without the need of any knowledge of Standard Turkish. I have often been told that we Cypriots make mistakes in when
speaking Turkish. But we are speaking Gíbrízlíĵa! I find it difficult to accept that an entire community be condemned
for not speaking "proper Turkish". The suggestion or advice given to us by Turks some of whom mean well is all too familiar
to us Turkish-Cypriots, "why don`t you learn proper Turkish? -not only is this an arrogant way of interpretting language differences
but it demonstrates a lack of interest and understanding of our common Turkish-Cypriot language. Sadly, this arrogant attitude
spills over into their perception of our cultural differences as well; our right to call ourselves Turkish-Cypriots as opposed
to Turks is perplexing to most Turks, some even regard it as treachery. Such arguments do not act as a panacea to valid problems
of inter-cultural communication between Turkish-Cypriots and Turks nor does it inhibit trust aming both our peoples.
After all, why should Turkish-Cypriots sacrifice their language to replace it by a
foreign language? Those Turkish-Cypriots who are told to "enunciate" are simply being themselves, speaking as they do at home,
among their community and as their forefathers have spoken for generations before Republican Turkey even emerged. There is
nothing wrong with learning Turkish, but what is fundamentally wrong and in itself not a solution is to relinquish all ties
to your language and to try to replace it with Turkish.
Gíbrízlíĵa is not the twisted tongue of country bumkins, but rather a rich language
that retains features of Old Anatolian Turkish (OAT) and Classical Ottoman, as well as utilizing a liberal dose of vocabulary
from the language of the old Yoruk (Turcoman nomads) which is still spoken in Cukurova and the Toros Mountains of Anatolia
and which is not too different from Iraqi Turkmen or Azeri. Certain features of Gíbrízlíĵa have either died out in Turkish
or initially never existed in that language, but it is not the case that our language simply retains archaic features of dead
languages, as any language our language has been developing too, it is not stuck in a time warp. The fact that our language
has been spoken by an island community separated by 40 miles of Sea from the Mainland has made Gíbrízlíĵa self-sufficient,
and able to develop and flourish without Turkish. In addition to this, through coexistence and language contact with Indo-European
language speakers (mostly Greek speakers) our language exhibits different rules of syntax and word order as well as some phonological
differences.
Sadly in our paranoid part of the World, genuine language problems that exist between
Turks and Turkish-Cypriots are too often brushed aside or not treated seriously enough. In fact many Turks find any expression
of a separate Turkish-Cypriot identity or language threatening, parellels can also be drawn to their attitude of paranoia
toward the Azeris (who have a separate language). Nobody should feel threatened by the cultural diversity, rather we should
cherish, nurture and celebrate each of our unique cultures and languages, in time this will help us to understand eachother.
