Turkish Practice

Turkish Practice (L5)

Türkçe	İngilizce
Dünya kelimesini duyduğumda aklıma mavi ve yeşil gezegen geliyor. Ormanlar, hayvanlar ve insanlar geliyor.	When I hear the word ‘world’, the blue and green planet comes to my mind. Forests, animals, and people come to mind.
“Dünya kelimesini duyduğunda aklına ne geliyor?”	“What comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘world’?”

Tablo 2: Sorular ve Cevaplar

Question	Answer
1. Why are the suffixes ‘-si’ and ‘-ni’ used in the word ‘kelimesini’?	The suffix -si is a possessive suffix (3rd person: his/her/its). It links the noun ‘kelime’ (word) to ‘dünya’ (world), creating the meaning “the word of the world” or “the word ‘world'”. The suffix -ni is a combination of the accusative case suffix (-i/-ı/-u/-ü) and the personal pronoun suffix (2nd person: your). The accusative case (-i) marks the direct object of the verb (what is heard). The -n- is a buffer letter (kaynaştırma harfi) used between a vowel and another vowel. So, ‘kelime-si-n-i’ means “[I] hear the word ‘world'” as the definite object.
2. Why is the suffix ‘-duğunda’ used with the verb ‘duymak’ (to hear)?	The suffix -duğunda is used to create a temporal clause meaning “when you hear…”. It is formed by adding the suffix -dık (which makes the verb a noun) + the possessive suffix -(ğ)un (for ‘you’) + the locative case suffix -da (which gives the meaning of ‘at the time of’). So, ‘duy-duğ-un-da’ literally translates to “at the time of your hearing” or simply “when you hear”.
3. Why are the suffixes ‘-n’ and ‘-a’ used in the word ‘aklına’?	The suffix -n is a buffer letter (kaynaştırma harfi). It is placed between the two vowels at the end of ‘akıl’ (ı) and the beginning of the suffix (-a) to make the word easier to pronounce. The suffix -a is the dative case suffix, which indicates direction towards something. It translates to “to” or “into”. Therefore, ‘akıl-ı-n-a’ (his mind-to) means “to his/her mind”. The -ı before the buffer letter is the 3rd person possessive suffix (his/her/its).

Question

Answer

1. Why are the suffixes ‘-si’ and ‘-ni’ used in the word ‘kelimesini’?

The suffix -si is a possessive suffix (3rd person: his/her/its). It links the noun ‘kelime’ (word) to ‘dünya’ (world), creating the meaning “the word of the world” or “the word ‘world'”.

The suffix -ni is a combination of the accusative case suffix (-i/-ı/-u/-ü) and the personal pronoun suffix (2nd person: your). The accusative case (-i) marks the direct object of the verb (what is heard). The -n- is a buffer letter (kaynaştırma harfi) used between a vowel and another vowel. So, ‘kelime-si-n-i’ means “[I] hear the word ‘world'” as the definite object.

2. Why is the suffix ‘-duğunda’ used with the verb ‘duymak’ (to hear)?

The suffix -duğunda is used to create a temporal clause meaning “when you hear…”. It is formed by adding the suffix -dık (which makes the verb a noun) + the possessive suffix -(ğ)un (for ‘you’) + the locative case suffix -da (which gives the meaning of ‘at the time of’). So, ‘duy-duğ-un-da’ literally translates to “at the time of your hearing” or simply “when you hear”.

3. Why are the suffixes ‘-n’ and ‘-a’ used in the word ‘aklına’?

The suffix -n is a buffer letter (kaynaştırma harfi). It is placed between the two vowels at the end of ‘akıl’ (ı) and the beginning of the suffix (-a) to make the word easier to pronounce.

The suffix -a is the dative case suffix, which indicates direction towards something. It translates to “to” or “into”. Therefore, ‘akıl-ı-n-a’ (his mind-to) means “to his/her mind”. The -ı before the buffer letter is the 3rd person possessive suffix (his/her/its).

Turkish Words (Türkçe Kelimeler)	English Translations (İngilizce Çeviriler)
ormanlar	forests
hayvanlar	animals
insanlar	people
evler	houses
kediler	cats

Tablo 2: Soru ve Cevap

Question (Soru)	Answer (Cevap)
Why is the plural suffix ‘-ler’ used in some of these words (ormanlar, evler, kediler) and ‘-lar’ in others (hayvanlar, insanlar)?	The choice between the plural suffixes -lar and -ler is determined by vowel harmony, a fundamental rule in Turkish grammar. This rule states that a suffix must change its vowel to match the last vowel in the root word it attaches to. The suffix uses -lar after root words whose last vowel is one of the back vowels (a, ı, o, u). The suffix uses -ler after root words whose last vowel is one of the front vowels (e, i, ö, ü). Analysis of the words: • hayvanlar: Last vowel is a (a back vowel) → -lar • insanlar: Last vowel is a (a back vowel) → -lar • ormanlar: Last vowel is a (a back vowel) → -lar • evler: Last vowel is e (a front vowel) → -ler • kediler: Last vowel is i (a front vowel) → -ler

Question (Soru)

Answer (Cevap)

Why is the plural suffix ‘-ler’ used in some of these words (ormanlar, evler, kediler) and ‘-lar’ in others (hayvanlar, insanlar)?

The choice between the plural suffixes -lar and -ler is determined by vowel harmony, a fundamental rule in Turkish grammar. This rule states that a suffix must change its vowel to match the last vowel in the root word it attaches to.

The suffix uses -lar after root words whose last vowel is one of the back vowels (a, ı, o, u).
The suffix uses -ler after root words whose last vowel is one of the front vowels (e, i, ö, ü).

Analysis of the words:
• hayvanlar: Last vowel is a (a back vowel) → -lar
• insanlar: Last vowel is a (a back vowel) → -lar
• ormanlar: Last vowel is a (a back vowel) → -lar
• evler: Last vowel is e (a front vowel) → -ler
• kediler: Last vowel is i (a front vowel) → -ler

Tablo: “Duyduğunda” Kalıbının Kişilere Göre Çekimi

Kişi (Pronoun)	Türkçe Zaman Zarfı (Temporal Clause)	İngilizce Karşılığı (English Equivalent)	Kısa Açıklama (Short Explanation)
Ben (I)	duy-duğ-um-da	when I hear	`-duğum` = “my hearing”
Sen (You)	duy-duğ-un-da	when you hear	`-duğun` = “your hearing”
O (He/She/It)	duy-duğ-unda	when he/she/it hears	`-duğu` = “his/her hearing”
Biz (We)	duy-duğ-umuz-da	when we hear	`-duğumuz` = “our hearing”
Siz (You formal)	duy-duğ-unuz-da	when you hear	`-duğunuz` = “your (formal) hearing”
Onlar (They)	duy-duk-larında	when they hear	`-dukları` = “their hearing”

Simple Explanation

The suffix -duğunda means “when…”. It is built like this:

Verb Stem + -duk (This turns the verb into a noun, like the “-ing” in “hearing”).
+ Possessive Suffix (This part changes to show who is doing the action: -um=my, -un=your, -u=his/her, etc.).
+ -da (This means “at”, so the whole phrase means “at the time of my/your hearing” = “when I/you hear“).

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