Learn about Turkish compound words
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: How are compound words formed in Turkish? |
| Dilek: And why is it useful to know? |
| Michael: At TurkishClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Sasha and her friend are studying together: Sasha points at a picture, and asks, |
| "What is this?" |
| Sasha Lee: Bu nedir? |
| Dialogue |
| Sasha Lee: Bu nedir? |
| Kerim Kandirali: Bu, bülbül yuvasıdır. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Sasha Lee: Bu nedir? |
| Michael: "What is this?" |
| Kerim Kandirali: Bu, bülbül yuvasıdır. |
| Michael: "It's the nightingale's nest." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, you will be learning about compound words in Turkish. Compound words are words that have been formed by putting two or more full words together. Being familiar with compound words in any language is essential as these words play a crucial role in expressing meaning. In English grammar, you can accomplish this without modifying either of the words involved. In Turkish, the rules for forming compound words are a bit different. |
| [Recall] |
| Michael: To learn how compound words are formed in Turkish, let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Sasha asks "What is this?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Dilek as Sasha Lee: Bu nedir? |
| Michael: And do you remember how Sasha's friend says "It's the nightingale's nest?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Dilek as Kerim Kandirali: Bu, bülbül yuvasıdır. |
| Michael: In Turkish, compound nouns are formed by combining two words, just like how it is done in English. However, in Turkish, the second word is modified. In this case, we have the compound noun "nightingale nest." First, we take the word "nightingale," or |
| Dilek: bülbül |
| Michael: Again, we don't make any changes to the first word. Next, we take the second word, which is "nest," or |
| Dilek: yuva |
| Michael: To connect the two words and form a compound noun, we simply add a third-person singular possessive suffix to the end of the second word. In this case, the suffix is |
| Dilek: -si |
| Michael: which gives us the compound noun |
| Dilek: bülbül yuvası |
| Michael: To say "It's the nightingale's nest," we simply add an auxiliary suffix to the end of the second word, which in this case is |
| Dilek: -dir |
| Michael: which is equivalent to the verb "is." And that's how you get, |
| Dilek: Bu, bülbül yuvasıdır. |
| Michael: "It's the nightingale's nest," |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: So far, you've learned about compound words in Turkish. These are formed when two or more words are combined. To connect the words, we modify the second word by adding the necessary third-person possessive suffix. In our dialogue, we used the suffix, |
| Dilek: -si |
| Michael: However, if the second word ends in a consonant, we can drop the "s," such as in the compound word, |
| Dilek: uçak bileti |
| Michael: or "plane ticket." The same rule applies for the compound word, |
| Dilek: okul otobüsü |
| Michael: or "school bus." Here, we apply the rule for vowel harmony and used the suffix, |
| Dilek: -sü |
| Michael: But, since the Turkish word for "bus" ends in a consonant, we can drop the "s." Now, if you're wondering if we could form compound nouns with more than two words, the answer is yes. Let's take a look at this example: |
| Dilek: okul otobüsü şoförü |
| Michael: Here, we have the word "school bus driver." As you notice, we applied the same rule in forming a compound word in Turkish as with "school bus"—only this time, we added a third word. When adding more words, the rules remain, that is, the first word is not modified, but only the word or words added to it. In this case, only the words "bus" and "driver" receive a suffix. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: The rules for forming compound words in Turkish change when the last word ends in the letters, |
| Dilek: ç, k, p or t |
| Michael: In such cases, each of the letters are replaced before the suffix is added. Let's take a look at some examples to better understand. First, we have the word |
| Dilek: İtfaiye aracı |
| Michael: or "fire truck." In this case, we changed the last letter of the Turkish word for "truck," or |
| Dilek: araç |
| Michael: to a soft "c" sound before adding the appropriate suffix. Here's another example: |
| Dilek: deniz kabuğu |
| Michael: "Sea shell." Here, we changed the final consonant of the Turkish word for shell, which is |
| Dilek: kabuk |
| Michael: to the letter, |
| Dilek: ğ |
| Michael: Next, we have the word, |
| Dilek: ev sahibi |
| Michael: or "homeowner." This time, the final consonant, in the word meaning "owner" |
| Dilek: sahip |
| Michael: which is "p" has been replaced by "b." And, finally, if the final consonant is "t," it is replaced by "d," such as in the word, |
| Dilek: duvar kâğıdı |
| Michael: or "wallpaper," where the word |
| Dilek: kâğıt |
| Michael: or "paper" becomes |
| Dilek: kâğıd |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Just as it is in the English language, in Turkish, many compound nouns have evolved to become a single word unit. The word "rainbow" or |
| Dilek: gökkuşağı |
| Michael: is one example. Here, we have the words, |
| Dilek: gök |
| Michael: or "sky," compounded with the word |
| Dilek: kuşak |
| Michael: or "sash," giving us the compound word "sky sash," or more properly, "rainbow." Another word would be |
| Dilek: dilbilgisi |
| Michael: or "linguistics." It's the combination of the words, |
| Dilek: dil |
| Michael: "language," and |
| Dilek: bilgi |
| Michael: or "knowledge." |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Dilek: Hoşçakalın! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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