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    Turkish text on binocular text


    Theodor

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    Hi guys, got this binocular case, I believe it is WW1, isn't it? Can someone read the Turkish letter inside, by chance do they say "Zeiss"? ;)

    /I know, I know... not exactly an award :cheeky: But hoping to find here someone reading Turkish... And the last word in the title must be Case, not Text :o /

    Edited by Theodor
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    But hoping to find here someone reading Turkish...

    Just a clarification - modern Turkish uses a Roman alphabet and has a bunch of 'reforms' added on, so you would have to find someone who speaks Ottoman Turkish which on the face would seem to be much more difficult than just finding someone who can read Turkish.

    Ottoman Turkish is held by many to be a completely different language than the Turkish of today. Though this is to a great extent a politically motivated claim that does not hold up linguistically, it remains true that few people in modern-day Turkey are able to understand spoken Ottoman Turkish, let alone written.

    Unfortunately I don't know anybody who speaks either, so I can't help you.

    Sorry.

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    I have two pair of WW1 glasses in cases indentical to that. Same design on the brown painted rivets. Same brown paint on the brass trim and same swivel fittings on the side for the shoulderstrap. So I say the maker is C.P. Goerz, because that is the maker of both of mine. Because of the star and crescent on the lid these were probably issued glasses.

    Dan

    Edited by Daniel Murphy
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    • 1 month later...

    Dear Haynau ,

    Keith is right , We can Not read this alphabet , it is not Turkish , it is Ottoman Language ( Mix of Persian , Arabic and Turkish) In 1932 we had a alphabet reform , we are nor using any more any Persian or Arabic words, and only using Turkish Latin alphabet. Even in the heart of Istanbul's Antique Bazaar , it is extreme hard to find someone who can read this language...

    Btw, nice to see you here , I am a new member of GMIC , but your old friend from Ebay. (Ebay name : okazyon)

    All the Best

    Avsar Ibar

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    I can tell you that it does not say Carl Zeiss, nor Goerz.

    The top line of text, equivalent to Carl Zeiss on the Zeiss label, says something like "Bun Marşa". The lower line, assuming it follows the Zeiss pattern the place of manufacture, I can't make out. Stylized Ottoman script tends to move the diacritical marks so that they aren't always over or under the letter they modify.

    Modern Turkish still uses plenty of Persian and Arabic loan words, but not as many as Ottoman Turkish did. And Modern Turkish avoids using some features of Persian grammar common in Ottoman Turkish.

    Similarly, English still has lots of French loan words but very few examples of French grammar left. Examples are court martial, attorney general, sergeant major, where the noun comes first. Thus the plural forms are courts martial, attorneys general, sergeants major, etc. One exception is treasure trove, which comes from French for "found treasure". It would sound odd to say treasures trove.

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    Keith is right , We can Not read this alphabet , it is not Turkish , it is Ottoman Language ( Mix of Persian , Arabic and Turkish) In 1932 we had a alphabet reform , we are nor using any more any Persian or Arabic words, and only using Turkish Latin alphabet. Even in the heart of Istanbul's Antique Bazaar , it is extreme hard to find someone who can read this language...

    I have just one Ottoman document, of which I sent a scan to a doktor of orientalistik in Northern Germany (which I got to know by coincidence), but unfortunally he wasn't able to read it as well as I wasn't ;) . He sent a copy of the document to a professor in Instanbul who transcribed and translated it in modern Turkish, then the Doktor translated it in German.

    Has been much work (for others :P ), hasn't it? :speechless:

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