Dialect features of Balkan immigrants in Manisa

The PhD thesis, "Dialect Features of Balkan Immigrants in Manisa", is studied to reveal the language features of Balkan immigrants (Greece, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia) whose native language is Turkish and settled in Manisa during the Republican era (during the population exchange and after). For this purpose, interviews were held with 212 source people. 208 of the interviewees (Kosovo 4, Macedonia 118, Bulgaria 59, Greece 27) were chosen among those migrated from 128 settlements of the Balkans and reside in 28 settlements of Manisa. For comparison, 4 of the interviewees (1 from Kosovo, 2 from Macedonia, 1 from Greece) were chosen among those who continue to live in the Balkans. The language features of the texts obtained from the compilations were examined, and as a result of the examinations, 114 dialect characteristics which were used in different densities in terms of phonetics, morphology, vocabulary and syntax were identified. Subsequently, the different possible classification methods provided by 114 dialect characteristic were taken into consideration and it was understood that the most appropriate classification method could be reached through vowel harmony. According to the classification we made based on vowel harmony, it was observed that dialects of Balkan immigrants in Manisa were divided into three dialect regions. In the first region, the vowel harmony is commonly disrupted. In the second region, the vowel harmony is commonly preserved. The last and third region has a 'transition region' characteristic in terms of the appearance of the examples where the vowel harmonies are disturbed and preserved. These three dialect regions and the sub-dialect groups (dialect islands) identified in the first and second regions were studied. The thesis consists of five main sections: introduction, language review, texts, dictionary and tables / graphics / maps / photos.