13.03.2020, 12:11 - Views: 1120

AZERBAIJANI TURKIC LANGUAGE AS A STATE LANGUAGE: IN THE CONTEXT OF POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY


RUSHANZADE Rushan
Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. Senior researcher,
the “Sociology” Department, the Institute of Philosophy of
National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Member of the
Union of Writers of Azerbaijan, rushanzade37@mail.ru


Keywords: “Communication and values”, “Pronunciation and thinking”, “Language policy and statehood”.
Introduction. The fact that man is a master of rhetoric and political presence is governed in all spheres of socio-humane science. In that regard, we can say that in addition to the material and physical presence of the nation, there is also its moral and spiritual presence. Language and religion are also the realization and manifestation of the moral and spiritual presence of the nation.
The basics of philosophy prove that time and space are important events throughout language development. Currently, the Azerbaijani language is one of the prestigious state languages, with the ability to express contemporary literary and scientific ideas as well as express them at a high level. The logical rationale is the need to go through a centuries-old development path to form opportunities in the ideal expression of deeply meaningful linguistic thinking. If we take into account that the language creates and develops a culture of social life and coexistence, we can conclude that Nasimi's masterful works required the development of that language and the people who formed it thousands of years ago. This argument testifies to the antiquity of the Azerbaijani Turkic, its culture, and language.


1. Language and values system.

Analysis of language as a system of values can be explained, first of all, by two important phenomena, hereinafter contained
I. Spirituality and holiness.
II. Nationality and independence.
In the case of holiness, we certainly must refer to the holy books, especially the Qur'an, because it retains its authenticity. One of the universal phenomena covering personal, social and political life in the Qur'an is the phenomenon of language. “The creation of the sky and the earth, the variety of your languages and colors are also its signs of power. Undoubtedly, there are signs in this for those who know (the possessors of reason and science)” (Sura 1, 30, verse 22). Of course, the goal here is not to comment on the verse. Therefore, I would like to give a brief explanation of the content and significance of the above verse for clarity of spirituality and holiness. Here, along with such important concepts as” language“,” sky“,” place“,” creation", others were presented. In this context, language is first of all presented as the natural human right to creation and life as a system of values corresponding to divine appreciation and appointment. This is the reason for spirituality and innocence.
Nationalism and independence are political events and can be explained as national existence. When approaching the problem in the context of fundamental epistemology, we recall the founder of political science, Aristotle. When he described a person as a political being, he linked his politics with speech power, speaking skills, and language capabilities. So language and politics are complimentary events. The state and the language have always been in harmony, and the silent state has no experience. This is also true for the essence of the state. One of the definitions given by Aristotle to the state (in various aspects) refers to a specific language problem. He noted that “... the state is a complete and perfected society” (2,263). Of course, the communication system provided here is not possible without language. Each language also has its specific character, which creates a kind of political culture as a form of political morality.
This specificity is national, and the set of values that affect the political system of the state is characterized as independence
Besides, the state language, as one of the attributes of the state, determines the phenomenon of nationalism and independence. At this point, it is worth noting a special issue. If we consider that the highest representative of the political system is considered a political leader and one of the most important qualities of the political leader is political speech, then it is the most important tool for language, thinking, and speech. Imam Ali, having created a great meaning in a few words, notes this question on a completely rational level. "A man is hidden under his tongue; he is recognized when he speaks." (3839).
In parallel with theoretical skills, empirical approaches demonstrate that political leaders who left a personal stamp on human memory, have remained in history with a culture of regular political speech that mobilized and united the people's forces.
The way of thinking, expression culture, communication ethics and literary language of the Azerbaijani people is an example of its political culture and potential for being a political nation. It’s no coincidence that this essence is highlighted.
The reason is that the concept of a political nation is largely due to the existence of the national language use and the fact that language as a state language covers the entire political system. "The most humanistic or cultural form of language policy is language construction, where scientific and cultural organization plays a greater role than political will” (4.98). The language policy of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan is based entirely on humanistic ideas. This is because it is an integral part of the ideology of Azerbaijanism, which guarantees national unity, sovereignty and political integrity of the people. A language is an important event for the survival of the nation's values formed for thousands of years and the transfer of these values to the younger generations. This means that language is not only a means of communication but also a system of values. From this point of view, according to S. Khalilov, “linguists spend a lot of time studying the meaning of words and trying to learn only the form and structure. It is not what is being said, but how it is said and what rules are being followed. Indeed, their main work is the study of forms and patterns” (5). Nevertheless, philosophers are fundamentally different from linguists, creating a wealth of language, ideas, and content. In other words, while linguists deal with the pronunciation of the language, philosophers are engaged in linguistic thinking.
Participation in the language's thinking, along with the richness of the nation's culture and people's thinking, also contributes to its speech culture. According to Hegel, “people who cannot express all the treasures of science in their language cannot be considered literate. ... The knowledge conveyed in another language is beyond the reach of our language. They can't sever us from our spirits by separating from us!” (5).
Based on the analysis, it is clear that Hegel's main point and meaning is the phenomenon of the SPIRIT. The spirit of the people, the nation ... It follows that a language is an event whose form is conditioned by literacy, content, unity, and consistency. It goes without saying: the conclusion is that language justifies the existence of a nation with its philosophical essence and meaning. At this moment, one can't help but recall M. Heidegger.
“The successor of the School of Human Philosophy, a prominent German philosopher M.Heidegger, holds a special place in the history of philosophy in the 20th century as a philosopher who created the philosophical ideas of language. His theory of language (if it can be generalized, of course) can be demonstrated in two ways:
I. Language as a special being and a world of sacred meaning.
II. Language as a manifestation of cognition and a criterion of existence.
M.Heidegger, on the one hand, while continuing Aristotle's idea of “human being as a speaker”, linked “language distinguishes man from animal.".."(6,266) provision with the ability to listen and understand human speech; on the other hand, as a whole the language was considered a process of objective existence.
In his view, "... all beings are speaking in their language. Language is the only way to think about and discover things” (6,321). It should also be emphasized that Heidegger's idea "Language is the realm of all beings" is quite close to the above idea of Imam Ali "A man is hidden under his tongue; he is recognized when he speaks.".

2. History of language: Overview.

The Azerbaijani language of ancient Turkic origin belongs to the Oguz group of rich Turkic families. The Azeri-Turkic language, which has been an active public speaking language since the 4th-5th centuries, is based on the mentality and thinking culture of ancient Turkic tribes living on the Azerbaijani lands. The epos "Kitabi Dede Korgud" is a vivid confirmation of this. From a socio-political point of view, the Azerbaijani language, like all languages of the world, has undergone historical evolution. The works of Izzaddin Hasanoghlu, Gazi Burhanaddin and Seyed Hussein Imaddin Nasimi played an important role in this direction. This literature in the native language received a clearer and more complete direction in the work of Muhammad Fizuli, who became the crown of world poetry.
From a political and literary point of view, the 16th century is the most significant and ascendant period in the history of the Azerbaijani language. Thus, starting from 1501, along with the creation of Shah Ismail Khatai-led the Safavid State, the capital in Tabriz, the declaration of the Turkic language as the state language was reflected in all official decisions, orders and orders of the state authorities, in each of the foreign letters. The rich language of Muhammad Fizuli represented and demonstrated the scientific and literary intelligence of the Turkic nation, as well as opened new horizons for the language itself.
Muhammad Amin Rasulzadeh notes that «Fizuli’s contemporary, Shah Ismail Khatai, slightly imitated Fizuli, who inspired the Shah to write poems in the Turkic language. After the poems of Fizuli, this great poet and genius who successfully wrote them in the Turkic language were revealed, the number of his admirers and imitators of his work increased. Azerbaijani Turkic literature has become an independent trend» (7,15).

3. Literary environment and socio-political conditions of the language.

The development of the language by Mirza Fatali Akhundov, who realistically established the literary language norms towards theoretical linguistics, had a positive impact on the development of the language. Towards this way, thanks to the activities of Hassan bey Zardabi, who started forming the language of the press in this direction, the PLOUGHMAN (“ƏKİNÇİ”) newspaper was published; it was the cornerstone of the National Press, especially written public opinion. Currently, according to Article 21 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the name of the state language is Azerbaijani. At this point, I would like to talk about the development and official decision as it pertains to the national language in the context of the Republic of Azerbaijan as the state language. The 20th century is a period of development of the Azerbaijani language at the highest level. Over this period, our language flourished and progressed in the truest sense of the word. The problem of literary language faced the principle of the national socio-political struggle against tsarism at the beginning of the century. HAYAT, IRSHAD, ACHIG SOZ newspapers, and FUYUZAT magazine, founded by Ahmed bei Aghaoghlu and Ali bei Huseynzadeh since 1905, were a practical, continuous process necessary for the national language and national press. Besides, with the commencing issue of the “Molla Nasreddin” which’s the public folk language source, a stage cultural speech and a national cultural self-expression thinking style were formed. It is worth mentioning that the high level of development of literary language has shaped political journalism and, in its turn, has contributed to the scientific and political institutionalization of the language as well as has confirmed itself in the founding of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

4. The Republic and the “state language” policy.

The establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918 restored the political influence of the national language. It is important to note that on June 27, 1918, the political authority of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, headed by Muhammad Amin Rasulzadeh, adopted a decision on the State Language and the Turkic language was declared as the state language. The declaration of the national language as the state language of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was the guarantor of national independence and laid the foundations of state-building based on the individual-society-state sovereignty.
Since then, the formation of the education system in the national language has been the main task. In this regard, “The Ministerial Council decision of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on the nationalization of primary and secondary schools, as well as secondary education institutions” (8, 225-226), consisting of 5 articles, was adopted on August 28, 1918.
Certainly, some researchers and scholars have investigated this topic, and adequate conclusions have been made. “The Republic has foreseen that education to be a very important area for the implementation of its language policy, as on August 28, 1918, the Government decided to teach primary and secondary education in the native language.
The resolution states that 1) all primary education should be taught in the native language; 2) the state language is compulsory. On December 27, 1918, Samad bey Mehmandarov, the Military Minister of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, issued an order that the military language was Turkic.
The minister appointed officers who served in the army but did not know the state language for a month to learn the language. It was decided that during this period the officers who could not at least initiate a command in the national language would be dismissed from service” (4,32-33). However, the issue of the temporary use of the Russian language during the time necessary for teaching the Turkiс language in all state bodies was also considered. This event is documented as follows:
“The Government of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic decided on June 27, 1918: The Ministerial Council decision of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic to adopt the Turkic language as the state language and to allow the use of Russian language on a provisional basis in government facilities (June 27, 1918). "
By accepting the Turkic language as the state language, the government must also respect the use of the Russian language in state institutions until all those responsible for judicial administration and other functions are proficient in this language. Collection of laws and orders of the Government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, No. 1, 15 November 1919, p. 18; State Archive of the Republic of Azerbaijan, folio 100, series 2, folder 7, list 9;” (9, 201).
It is with a heavy heart we share that the name, language, and alphabet of Nation have been changed five times in a century as an act of mental terror and spiritual occupation on the consciousness of the Azerbaijani Türks. This has left a very lasting mark on our national and spiritual destiny.
As I mentioned (taking into account the future socio-political risks as a citizen), we must know this fact that in the twentieth century, the national and language names of Azerbaijani Turks have been changed five times:
1. Tatar language - Tatar (1828-1900);
2. Turkic language - Turk (1918-1938);
3. Azerbaijani language - Azerbaijanian (1938-1992);
4. Türk dili - Turk (1992-1995);
5. Azerbaijani language- Azerbaijanian (1995-ci ildən).
At the same time, according to Article 21 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the name of the state language is the Azerbaijani language (10, 11).
A selfless attitude to the National Language should be the main motto of every Azerbaijani youth. Understanding the National Language as one of the symbols of the Independent State places the holiest obligations and honour commitments on the part of every citizen of Azerbaijan and state officials, especially scientists. First of all, a сritical mission is to increase attention to the state language and preserve the richness of the Azerbaijani language in the public consciousness. Of course, this topic is not limited to any article, and research in this direction will continue in the future.
Summary
This article discusses the development of the Azerbaijani language in a scientific, historical and political context and emphasizes the idea of the state language as a system-forming factor. Declaration the Azerbaijani as the state official language by the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic is evaluated by the author as a very significant historical and political event, which indicates the sovereign national existence, and expresses the moral integrity of the Azerbaijani people choice. Apart from being the communication means, language also represents a system of values. The language policy of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was based entirely on humanistic ideas, because it consists of part of the "Azerbaijanism" ideology to guarantee national unity, sovereignty and political integrity of Azerbaijani people.

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