Learn how to refer to animate and inanimate objects
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella: Hello, and welcome back to TurkishClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner season 1, lesson 20, Talking about Animate and Inanimate Objects in Turkish. I’m Gabriella. |
| Feyza: Merhaba! And I’m Feyza! |
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about animate and inanimate objects. |
| Feyza: This dialogue takes place in Hakan’s car. Hakan is driving. Bora and Merve are on board as well. |
| Gabriella: They all know each other very well, so they’re using informal language. Ok, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Bora: (On a drive) (Stomach rumbling) Açım. |
| Hakan: Аa, burada bir seyyar satıcı var. Ona gidelim mi? Tavuklu pilav sever misin? |
| Bora: Şey... |
| Hakan: Sevmez misin? |
| Merve: Benim alerjim var da... |
| Hakan: Tavuk etine karşı alerjin mi var? |
| Merve: Evet, bir ona alerjim var, ne yazık ki. |
| Bora: Hakan! Önüne bak! Dikkat! Yolda köpek var! |
| Hakan: Ay evet. Bir an boş bulundum. Onu görmedim. Teşekkürler! |
| Gabriella: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Bora: (On a drive) (Stomach rumbling) Açım. |
| Hakan: Аa, burada bir seyyar satıcı var. Ona gidelim mi? Tavuklu pilav sever misin? |
| Bora: Şey... |
| Hakan: Sevmez misin? |
| Merve: Benim alerjim var da... |
| Hakan: Tavuk etine karşı alerjin mi var? |
| Merve: Evet, bir ona alerjim var, ne yazık ki. |
| Bora: Hakan! Önüne bak! Dikkat! Yolda köpek var! |
| Hakan: Ay evet. Bir an boş bulundum. Onu görmedim. Teşekkürler! |
| Gabriella: Now, let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Bora: (On a drive) (Stomach rumbling) Açım. |
| Bora: (On a drive) (Stomach rumbling) I'm hungry. |
| Hakan: Аa, burada bir seyyar satıcı var. Ona gidelim mi? Tavuklu pilav sever misin? |
| Hakan: Oh, there's a street vendor over there... How about going to him? Do you like chicken rice? |
| Bora: Şey... |
| Bora: Errr... |
| Hakan: Sevmez misin? |
| Hakan: You don’t like it? |
| Merve: Benim alerjim var da... |
| Merve: Well, I am allergic... |
| Hakan: Tavuk etine karşı alerjin mi var? |
| Hakan: Allergic to chicken? (surprised) |
| Merve: Evet, bir ona alerjim var, ne yazık ki. |
| Merve: Yes, I have allergy to just that, unfortunately. |
| Bora: Hakan! Önüne bak! Dikkat! Yolda köpek var! |
| Bora: Hakan! Look ahead! Be careful, there is a dog on the road! |
| Hakan: Ay evet. Bir an boş bulundum. Onu görmedim. Teşekkürler! |
| Hakan: Oh, yes! I was taken aback for a moment. I didn’t see it. Thanks! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gabriella: Delicious miracles happen when food meets the street! |
| Feyza: And any urban public space in Turkey is just the perfect stage for that gourmet experience. |
| Gabriella: You'll pass by a street vendor selling food whether you're running your errands, sightseeing, or simply discovering the city on foot as a pedestrian. |
| Feyza: These vendors basically sell everything in Turkey. |
| Gabriella: From key chains and computer goods, to ready-to-eat food. Feyza, let’s name some of the food you can get from a street vendor in Turkey to show our listeners the variety! |
| Feyza: Sure! Balık Ekmek |
| Gabriella: "Fish sandwich" |
| Feyza: Kokoreç |
| Gabriella: "A seasoned skewered lambs’ intestine sandwich" |
| Feyza: Yengen |
| Gabriella: A sandwich with string cheese, tomatoes, pickles and sujuk, which is a spicy sausage. |
| Feyza: Tavuk-pilav |
| Gabriella: "Chicken Pilaf" |
| Feyza: Midye dolma |
| Gabriella: "Stuffed mussels." |
| Feyza: Kumpir |
| Gabriella: "Jacket potato." |
| Feyza: Simit |
| Gabriella: A kind of Turkish bagel with sesame |
| Feyza: Kestane - in winter |
| Gabriella: "Grilled chestnuts" |
| Feyza: Mısır in summer |
| Gabriella: Boiled or grilled corn |
| Feyza: Maraş dondurması |
| Gabriella: A sticky vanilla ice-cream that contains more salep than usual. |
| Feyza: And many more! |
| Gabriella: Yummy! Who needs a restaurant when there’s such a variety on the streets! |
| Feyza: Be careful though… Some of them are quite famous and they really sell good quality food, but sanitary issues might be a problem for some of them. |
| Gabriella: Oh, I didn’t know that. So how can we find a good one? |
| Feyza: Basic rules—choose the one with the most customers, or ask the locals from that neighborhood to guide you to a quality one. |
| Gabriella: Advice taken! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Gabriella: The first word we shall see is... |
| Feyza: acıkmak [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to be hungry |
| Feyza: acıkmak [slowly - broken down by syllable] acıkmak [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Feyza: seyyar satıcı [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: street vendor |
| Feyza: seyyar satıcı [slowly - broken down by syllable] seyyar satıcı [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Feyza: alerji [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: allergy |
| Feyza: alerji [slowly - broken down by syllable] alerji [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Feyza: tavuk [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: chicken |
| Feyza: tavuk [slowly - broken down by syllable] tavuk [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Feyza: ön [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: front |
| Feyza: ön [slowly - broken down by syllable] ön [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Feyza: bakmak [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to look |
| Feyza: bakmak [slowly - broken down by syllable] bakmak [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Feyza: dikkat [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: attention |
| Feyza: dikkat [slowly - broken down by syllable] dikkat [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Feyza: yol [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: road, route |
| Feyza: yol [slowly - broken down by syllable] yol [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Feyza: boş bulunmak [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to be taken unawares, to be taken aback |
| Feyza: boş bulunmak [slowly - broken down by syllable] boş bulunmak [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: And last... |
| Feyza: an [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: moment |
| Feyza: an [slowly - broken down by syllable] an [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gabriella: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Feyza, I think our first word is related to food and being hungry as well. |
| Feyza: That’s right Gabriella. It’s acıkmak, a verb of Turkic origin. |
| Gabriella: It means "to get hungry" in Turkish. The root of this verb is... |
| Feyza: aç |
| Gabriella: meaning "hungry, peckish" |
| Feyza: Acıkmak signifies the condition of being hungry over a period of time. |
| Gabriella: Hmm, then how do you say that you're hungry as of now? |
| Feyza: Çok açım |
| Gabriella: "I am hungry." Our listeners should check the lesson notes for more examples related to this word. So what’s our second word? |
| Feyza: dikkat |
| Gabriella: It's an exclamation meaning "watch out" or "attention." |
| Feyza: It'll come in handy in your daily life in Turkey. |
| Gabriella: Yes, you might want to understand when you hear a person warning you, |
| Feyza: Dikkat araba geliyor! |
| Gabriella: "Watch out! A car is coming!" |
| Feyza: You'll also see this written on traffic signs. |
| Gabriella: Let’s say you are traveling in the cliffs of the Mediterranean on a foggy day, you can expect to see... |
| Feyza: Dikkat! Heyelan tehlikesi. |
| Gabriella: "Attention! Danger of an avalanche." What’s our final word Feyza? |
| Feyza: Boş bulunmak. |
| Gabriella: An expression meaning "to be taken aback." But what does it literally mean Feyza? |
| Feyza: Let’s start by analysing its components. Boş is an adjective meaning "empty," and bulunmak is a verb meaning "to exist" or "to appear." |
| Gabriella: Or "to be in a place." |
| Feyza: Correct. So altogether, it means "to appear empty." |
| Gabriella: But in English, it translates as "to be taken unaware" |
| Feyza: Exactly. And just like the implication of its English meaning, Turkish people say this when they are spaced out… |
| Gabriella: And suddenly taken aback by a sound, or movement, or something right? |
| Feyza: That’s right. And that’s why it's usually followed by an apologetic expression like "pardon" or affedersiniz. |
| Gabriella: Great! Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you’ll learn to talk about animate and inanimate things in Turkish. |
| Feyza: To begin with, we’ll summarize one rule that we’ve been talking about for a while in this series. |
| Gabriella: When using third person singular and plural, there is no difference when talking about inanimate or animate objects in Turkish. |
| Feyza: This characteristic of Turkish makes the study of personal pronouns relatively easy, as compared to other languages. |
| Gabriella: In short, it means animals, plants, objects and people are all described as…. |
| Feyza: o in third person singular, and onlar in third person plural. |
| Gabriella: Let’s give some examples. |
| Feyza: O, yakışıklı bir adamdır. |
| Gabriella: "He's a handsome man." |
| Feyza: O şirin ve tüylüdür. |
| Gabriella: "It is cute and fluffy." That's for talking about an animal. And next... |
| Feyza: O çok eski. |
| Gabriella: "It’s very old." Here we could be talking about furniture. |
| Feyza: As you can see, there's also lack of gender when talking about inanimate and animate objects. |
| Gabriella: Yes, that makes everything easier, but how do you define and distinguish between "he," "she," and "it." Doesn’t the meaning get quite ambiguous? |
| Feyza: That’s a good question. The context itself usually tells us who the personal pronoun is. |
| Gabriella: Can you give an example? |
| Feyza: Onun elbisesi çok güzel. |
| Gabriella: "Her dress is beautiful." I see, the object gives a clue about the gender in this case. |
| Feyza: Yes, and there's almost always a way to tell. |
| Gabriella: I'm still a little confused. I mean, if you're talking about the career of a person, for example. How can you say whether the person you're talking about is a man or a woman? |
| Feyza: We usually start the dialogue by giving that person’s name and continue it with third person singular o. |
| Gabriella: So that way, you already know the gender of the person from the beginning. |
| Feyza: Yes. |
| Gabriella: But what if somebody misses the beginning of your conversation and joins in at a later point. How will he or she understand the gender of the person you’re talking about? |
| Feyza: Frankly speaking, it won’t be easy for the other person to understand, unless we reveal the gender by using an adjective or a noun or something. |
| Gabriella: How is that possible? |
| Feyza: For example, when you're talking about a woman and you want to specify her gender to the person who missed the beginning of the conversation, you begin your next sentence by saying, O kadın... |
| Gabriella: Meaning, "The woman" or "That woman." But isn’t that impolite? |
| Feyza: You have a point. We only use this expression when we're talking about a person who is anonymous to us. Usually we say their name if we want to reveal the identity of the person we're talking about. |
| Gabriella: So it’s very easy to shift one’s ground in a conversation, and pretend like you're talking about an anonymous person while in reality you're not. |
| Feyza: (laughs) I’ve never thought of it like that. Let’s say, it's easier to change the subject in a conversation in Turkish. |
Outro |
|---|
| Gabriella: Ok listeners, we’ve come to the end of another very interesting lesson. Thank you very much for listening! |
| Feyza: And as always, don’t forget to study the lesson notes! |
| Gabriella: Bye everyone! |
| Feyza: Hoşçakalın! |
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