On the Usage of "Lebbeyk" Word in Ottoman Turkish

Lebbeyk means "to answer, to reside" in Arabic. It supposed that it comes form the roots of لبى or لبأ . This word was used in Ottoman Turkish as "telbiye of prayer" and is is also used in spoken Ottoman Turkish as a response postposition with the meaning of "here you are". This meaning is also registered in the travel book of Evliya Çelebi and in the texts written by Western grammarians. It got the forms of lebbeyk / leppeyk / lebeyk / lepeyk / lebbey / leppey / leppe / lepe in spoken Ottoman Turkish. Some of these changes caused the orgin of the word to be forgotten. In the article, the usage of lebbeyk word, which is tought to come into Turkish through Telbiye prayer, was examined with reference to text which reflect the properties of spoken language.

Keywords

Ottoman Turkish, lebbeyk / leppeyk / lebeyk / lepeyk / lebbey / leppey / leppe / lepe, Spoken Ottom