Languages of the Ottoman Empire
The language of the court and government of the Ottoman Empire was Ottoman Turkish, but many other languages were in contemporary use in parts of the empire. Although the minorities of the Ottoman Empire were free to use their language amongst themselves, if they needed to communicate with the government they had to use Ottoman Turkish.
Replacement of loanwords in Turkish
The replacing of loanwords in Turkish is part of a policy of Turkification dating back to the Ottoman Empire. Contemporary Turkish includes Ottoman Turkish loanwords—mostly of Persian and French, but also Arabic, Greek, and Italian origin—which were officially replaced with their Turkish counterparts suggested by the Turkish Language Association (, TDK) as a part of the cultural reforms—in the broader framework of Atatürk's Reforms—following the foundation of Republic of Turkey.