Torsten wrote
> Out of curiosity: Has anything of the previous languages (except
> for Byzantine Greek, of course) survived in present-day Anatolian
> Turkish (possibly in dialects)? Has anyone investigated that? Is it
> worth pursuing?
Until the rise of the Young Turks under Enver Pasha and
their "Turkish only" linguistic policies there was a huge Greek
speaking population in Anatolia. After World War I, with the rise of
Ataturk, these Greeks emigrated to Greece in a huge movement of
refugees.
Regarding Greek influences on Turkish, I understand that the major
difference between the Turkish of Turkey and the Turkish of
Turkmenistan lies not in linguistic interference, not from Greek but
rather by Persian. It ironic that the Ottoman Empire was one of a
Greek speaking substrate, Turkish speaking soldiers, Arabic speaking
religious culture and a Persian literature! The final language could
have almost gone in any direction.
Hope this helps
Regards
John