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Tevfik EsencTevfik Esenc (Esen in its proper Turkish spelling) (1904 - October 7, 1992) was a Turkish farmer and the last living speaker of the Ubykh language. Esen was raised by his Ubykh-speaking grandparents for a time in the village of Haci Osman ky in Turkey, and he served a term as the muhtar (mayor) of that village, before receiving a post in the civil service of Istanbul. There, he was able to do a great deal of work with the French linguist Georges Dumzil to help record his language. Blessed with an excellent memory, and understanding quickly the goals of Dumzil and the other linguists who came to visit him, he was the primary source of not only the Ubykh language, but also of the mythology, culture and customs of the Ubykh people. He spoke not only Ubykh but Turkish and the Hakuchi dialect of Adyghe, allowing some comparative work to be done between the two languages. He was a purist, and his idiolect of Ubykh is considered by some as the closest thing to a standard "literary" Ubykh language that existed. Esen died in 1992 at the age of 88. The inscription that he wanted on his gravestone read as follows: This is the grave of Tevfik Esen. He was the last person able to speak the language they called Ubykh. Esen, Tevfik Esen, Tevfik Esen, Tevfik Esen, Tevfik
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