Kemal Tahir, Türk edebiyatında dili bir mesele edinen, bu meseleyi birçok yönleriyle ele alan, tartışan, konu etrafında kendine mahsus fikir ve teoriler geliştiren, bunu da eserlerinde uygulayarak teori-pratik birliğine ulaşabilen nadir yazarlardan biridir. "Kendi dilini doğru olarak kullanmak vatanseverliklerin en yücelerindendir." sözüyle ana dili konusundaki hassasiyetini ifade eden Kemal Tahir, roman ve hikâyelerinde Türkçeyi en güzel şekilde kullanarak kendine has bir üslûp geliştirmiştir. Romanları içinde bir zirve teşkil eden Devlet Ana'da kullandığı Türkçe, kendisine Türk Dil Kurumu roman ödülünü kazandırmıştır. Kemal Tahir dil meselesine önce bir romancı olarak eğilmiş, Türk diline kendi çalışma aracı olarak sahip çıkmış, eserleriyle Türkçenin engin gücünü herkese kanıtlarken, bir yandan da Türk dilinin karşılaştığı zorluk ve açmazlarla hesaplaşma yoluna gitmiştir. Kemal Tahir bu anlamda adeta bir 'Yorgun Savaşçı'dır. Kemal Tahir dil meselesinin hemen her yönüyle ilgilenmiş, bu hususlarda bir dil uzmanı hassasiyetiyle araştırmalar yapmış ve ulaştığı sonuçları her fırsatta ifade etmiştir. Onun ilgilendiği alanlar harf inkılâbından uydurma kelime ve devrik cümle meselesine, sadeleştirmeden dil-kültür meselesine, argodan Türk lehçe ve ağızlarına kadar geniştir. Türk dili hakkında böylesine gayretler sarf eden, Türkçemizi böylesine başarılı kullanan bir sanatçının dil üzerindeki görüşleri elbette ilgi çekicidir, önemlidir ve bu fikirlerin üzerinde durulması gereklidir. Bu makalede dil meselesinde çok duyarlı bir sanatçı ve aydın olarak Kemal Tahir'in dil, Türk dili ve Türk dilinin meseleleri karşısındaki tavır, fikir ve tahlilleri tespit ve takdim edilecektir

Language is the most important aspect of the literature. That is why every poet, story teller or a novelist has to take the linguistic style of his/her writing seriously in order to produce a unique work. Kemal Tahir is one of the authors in Turkish Literature who meets this aspect of literature properly. He does this not just in theory but also in practice. The famous statement from him, “Using your own language properly is the best manifestation of one’s patriotism” embodies his concern about language. Kemal Tahir uses a unique style of the language in his novels and stories. Among his novels, Devlet Ana (Mother State) is the pinnacle in language and won the Turkish Language Association award. Kemal Tahir initially dealt with the Turkish Language’s questions as a novelist. On the one hand, he took the responsibility of demonstrating the beauty and enrichment of the Turkish language; on the other hand he attempted to resolve the problems of the language. In this regard, it is fair to call him, ‘Yorgun Savaşçı’ or ‘the Exhausted Warrior.’ Kemal Tahir was concerned about all aspects of the language and dealt with the linguistic problems diligently. He then noted the results of his research. His writings covered the questions such as fabricated words and inverted sentences that emerged after the alphabet reform, discussions around purifying the Turkish language from foreign words, the relationship between language and culture, slang, and Turkish dialects and accents. There is no doubt that the writings and endeavors of such an intellectual do matter to us and need special attention. Kemal Tahir’s views on the various questions of the language can be found in the issue of Esi Dergisi published in 1956. It is important to note that the contributions of Kemail Tahir with regard to linguistic matters are not limited to Turkish. One can see a global concern in his writings. All of his writings about language, literature, the art of writing a novel, and culture were published by Cengiz Yazoğlu in a volume called “Notlar (Notes)” From his notes on art and literature, we know that Kemal Tahir wrote a dictionary of Turkish Slang language during his years in prison. He based his notes on Koçubey Risalesi, Azeri dialect, The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, different accents in Anatolia, proverbs, expressions, and street language of Turkish. Kemal Tahir did not accept any foreign intervention in language. He believes that the alphabet reform was a mistake, because many people lost the access to thousands of manuscripts. Also, he critiqued the theory known as the Sun and Language Theory. This theory argued that all human languages are descendants of one proto-Turkic primal language. One of the issues that Kemal Tahir critiqued severely was the alphabet reform. He believed that the treasure of a language such as power from top to down cannot reform a language’s established structure. Any change in language should be an organic change in its cultural and historical context. A power from outside should not intervene. Kemal Tahir believed that language is shaped by the life a nation and its social reality. This is also the case with the words. It is because of this reason, producing new words is not about the desires of some individuals or groups. According to Kemal Tahir, the exchange of words among the languages is usual as long as this exchange does not threat the structure of the language. This is also the case with the Ottoman Turkish. There are so many words from Arabic and Persian in the Ottoman Language. This exchange did not change the structure of the language, but rather it enriched the Ottoman Language. For Kemal Tahir, keeping a language as a national one is not related to having pure Turkish words. Kemal Tahir acknowledges progress and change in a language as an unavoidable reality. However, he opposed to any attempt to purify and reform the language by force. For him, this is related to the cultural standard of a society and should be an organic process. He also critiqued any intervention in the structure of Turkish sentence. For him, what holds a language together is not the words but rather its form of sentence. Kemal Tahir had a clear position about the purification and fabrication movement in 1970s. For him, the movement was out of touch with reality and was attempting to do something that could not be realized. When it comes to linguistic issues, Kemal Tahir concentrates on the Ottoman language and refers to it as “a very rich language of the empire.” There is a great exchange of words among the Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Persian. It would be difficult to have a genuine discussion of our language, if we do not understand the Ottomans’ strategy concerning the language. The Ottoman Turkish was able to express new perspectives and discussions during the Tanzimat and the transitional time to the Republic periods. According to Kemal Tahir, inorganic interventions in the language of the empire will turn it into a tribal language. Kemal Tahir’s writings on Turkish Language and its issues continue to motivate and inspire Turkish intellectuals in taking his research a step further. For him, every Turkish intellectual even Turkish reader should have linguistic concerns. This article examines the Turkish intellectual and author Kemal Tahir’s perspective on language in general, his stand and analyses of Turkish language and its various issues.