Philological information on "Ottoman" was prepared by the Translation Studies division of Dijital Tercüme.

It was the official state and written language of the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman was a language that had widespread use between the 13th-20th centuries, especially in regions where the Ottoman Empire reigned. Other names for Ottoman are the Ottoman Language, or Ottoman Turkish. Ottoman is actually a synthesis of the languages spoken by the subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman is a written language with a very rich vocabulary, which was formed by adding sounds to the Arabic alphabet from Persian and Turkish languages, developing unique features over many years, and turning into an art form with different calligraphy styles. Although it was under the heavy influence of Arabic and Persian after the 15th century and French influence after the 18th century, it is actually a mixture of Turkish, Arabic and Persian and is written using the Arabic alphabet. It is analyzed under three main categories, based on the different periods between 13th and 20th centuries.
The first period is studied under the name Old Ottoman (Old Anatolian Turkish); this period covers the 13th-15th centuries, during which Ottoman and Azerbaijani Turkish merged. It is a period of understandable and clear Turkish with only af ew foreign words. In this period, there is not enough difference between basic Ottoman Turkish and old Turkish to constitute two different written languages. Since they are both based on the same accent, Oghuz, both Azerbaijani and Ottoman Turkish languages can be considered as relative families of the same written language. Actually, differences mostly remained in the spoken language and these generated different accents. Since it was under the influence of Ottoman culture and literature for many years, Azerbaijani has very little differentiation from Ottoman Turkish, not comparable to the levels in the spoken language. The reasons for the differences that are mostly only in accents are explained as follows: The effects of Turkic dialects other than Oghuz on the Eastern Oghuz languages, especially Kipchak influences from the north and some Mongolian traces from the Ilkhanate. As a result, Eastern Oghuz is a bit different than Western Oghuz, moreover Azerbaijani Turkish has some words of Mongolian origin. The differences between Azerbaijani and Ottoman Turkish, which are different from each other as spoken languages, center around the"b" - "m" sounds at the beginning of the words, "q" - "h" sounds in the middle of the words, "e" - "i" sounds in the first syllables, "t" - "d" sounds at the beginning of the words, the accusative and some verb conjugations. These two languages are complementary under the title of Western Turkish as two written Oghuz languages, because the differences mostly lie in the spoken language, with very little effect on the written language (It is only relevant in the last period of Azerbaijani Turkish), as well as very little difference between the Eastern and Western Oghuz languages in the Azeri region before the 17th century. Azeri Turkish usually borrowed words from Russian, Mongolian, and neighboring natives, and from branches of Indian, whereas Ottoman Turkish mostly borrowed from neighboring European states. Looking at history, the case usually is that as an empire expands, its language also becomes a multinational one due to the languages of the conquered nations. This is also the case for Ottoman. Ottoman Turkish also 'conquered' new words along with new lands and nationalized them. These words mostly came from Italian, Greek, Albanian, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, etc. However, some words borrowed from the languages of these nations became entwined in Turkish over time. Therefore, mainly Turkish, but also Arabic and Persian grammar rules also entered Ottoman Turkish.
The second period is classified as Classical Ottoman, covering the time period from the 16th century to the second half of the 19th century. During this time, Arabic and Persian words entered the language rapidly. The royal family of the Ottoman Empire settled in İstanbul, and as the cultural and literary life that developed around palace-life came under the influence of Arabic and Persian culture and literature, the direction of the Turkish written language shifted completely. In this Classical Ottoman Period, instead of the clear words of Anatolian Turkish, Arabic and Persian words started to become widely used. However, compared to later centuries, the language was much simpler at the beginning of this period. Foreign words and phrases were increasing in number and variety but they were not at their ultimate level yet. However, this influence grew at such a rapid rate that by the end of the 16th century, a new version of Ottoman began. At this point, the language reached its peak of complexity. In written Ottoman, which faintly appeared to have Turkish structure, Turkish elements almost became invisible among Arabic and Persian elements. In this period, Ottoman completely absorbed Arabic and Persian grammar and vocabulary. This condition varied depending on the subject matter and its application. For example, understanding Baki's Diwan (16th century) or completely comprehending Fuzuli's works (15th century) might be difficult. On the other hand, a prophetic biography, Meâlimü'l-Yakîn, is very clear and not at all difficult to understand. This resulted in a large gap between the language spoken by the public and Ottoman royals. This effect grew bigger in the 17th and 18th centuries, as the language became incomprehensible and the only Turkish element used in sentences were verbs. This incomprehensibility is especially apparent in prose. Poetic works still remain somewhat grounded due to the use of meter. In poetry, Aruz prosody is used. The words in the language reach their highest point in terms of rich, diverse meaning.
The last period, which is the New Ottoman period, covers the time period from the 19th-20th centuries until the Republic era. At this point, a journalism language began to emerge with Arabic and Persian words slowly being cleared out of the language, and Turkish started to look out for its own principles. In this era, Ottoman moved away from Arabic and Persian influences to turn to the West, and fell under the influence of French. Borrowing verb and noun roots from western languages continued after the Republic era and still continue today. It is possible to regard Ottoman as a cultural language or as a high society language. Written Ottoman attained a clear and understandable form only in the beginning of the 20th century. Therefore, after this period the written language and the language used by the public moved closer to each other,  eventually closing the gap between them. This period's works are understandable even today.