Some students asked me the question below:

On livemocha, they use the word "oðlan" for "boy"

However, one of my Turkish friends told me not to use that word because it has a different meaning in Turkish slang. Is that true?

Answer: Yes, that´s true. In Turkish slang it has a different meaning. You can avoid using the word "oðlan". Instead, you can say "çocuk" or "erkek çocuk "

ETT

the reason why someone avoid the word "oglan"

many centuries ago, the word oglan used for both gender, both male and female. meaning is, child, teenager.

later it has been used for only males.

at the moment, it is still used but not very common.

some people start to use it about homosexuality. in their slang the meaning "gay" what a shame, please dont pollute the turkish.

there were songs about oglan, meaning child, my boy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGNnHUZmQpE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8b4T0qOpms

First time when i heard it was when i asked a friend who recently gave birth what she has "kız mı erkek mi" ? She answered "oğlan". I must say that the woman is teacher at Bilkent I.Ö.O. Ankara.

Origin of this word is not known very well but some Turkish etimologists agree what you say that it is used for both male and female. It is said that this word´s origin is from old Turkish word "ok-lan" which means "become grown-up" so its genderless. By time meaning is changed of course...

Ogul = means child in old Turkish (attested at least one thousand year ago) and means son today

oğlan < ogul-an (-an is diminitive suffix)

Here is some part of articles;

"Finike bulusu olarak bilinen alfabenin K harfi OK damgasindan turemistir. Ayni ters OK damgasina Etrusk alfabesinde rastlariz ve sesi de gene K (Ka) dir. Gelismis yetiskin insani belirten OK zamanla OG (yumusak G ile) telaffuz edilmis ve ´Oglan´ (yani OK-lan, yetiskin ol) ve ´Oksuz´ (yani annesiz, yetiskinden mahrum) sozcuklerinde yer bulmustur. Etrusk dilinde erkek cocuga Clan dendigini okumuslardir ki asli OKLAN´dir. Zira K olarak okuduklari ve C olarak yazdiklari ters ok sekli OK damgasidir ve OK hecesi olarak okunmalidir. Etrusk abecesi aslinda harflerden degil hecelerden olusmus bir yazi turu olup aynen Gokturk yazitlarindaki runik yazi tarzinda okunmalidir"

" The OK (respectful
warrior that stands tall and rises) can be found in the following
Turkish words:

OKLAN = OGLAN means `boy´ and can be split as OK-LAN (become an
OC), where the suffix –LAN stands for `become´.

OKSUZ = OEKSUEZ means `orphan´ (a child without a mother) and can
be split as OK-SUZ, where the –SUZ stands for `without´.
"

OGLAN means boy but OK-LAN split doesn´t seem right. Who is the writer of the article?

Tahsin Banguoğlu gives it as I have provided under -an suffix heading:

Oğl-an (<Ogul-an) = insan yavrusu

and in parallel

Oğl-ak (<Ogul-ak) = keçi yavrusu

He also gives another similar construction -an & -ak suffixes parallel

Köş-en = Tavşan yarusu

Köş-ek = Deve yavrusu

 üniversite in Turkish slang has a different meaning too. So avoid using it.

The writer of the article is Haluk Berkman. He says both "OGlak" and "OGlan" derived from the root word "OG or OK" where in "OGlak"  "lak" is the downsizing juncture. By the way William Durant says the word "OGLAK" also means "küçük-çocuk" and very similar to "OGLAN". Besides he adds word "GIDIK" or "GIDI" in Turkish means "küçük-çocuk" as well very similar to english word "KID" 

In other Turkish dialects "OGLAK" used as "ulak-lak-ılak-ovlak-olak" which means "kid" at the same time...

As you see all these researchers are searching the root of this word, and obviously each can have different opinions...

I don´t think he´s a linguist.

There is no diminitive suffix (what you call downsizing conjecture) like -lak/-lan. But we have -an and -ak as I have provided some examples of it. Besides in oğlan/oğlak case the word stem is oğul. That is very obvious.