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-   -   Question About Türkçe (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/question-about-trke-836150/)

otherchelebi Apr 20th, 2010 12:50 PM

#2 is singular, plural should be, 'ne icelim?'

#5 and #6 should end with ...im mi (written form) (pronounced im mee)

the 'mi' is not a suffix in this case and is written separately although pronounced together. This syllable is what makes the sentence a question.

like: 'bu benim' meaning this is mine and 'bu benim mi?' meaning is this mine?

lamogood Apr 26th, 2010 12:30 PM

Thanks again for the corrections so far - they've been a big help. My latest Turkish lesson is unclear in the following ways:
1) If I am speaking to a man named Ali, do I call him "Ali Bey", Ah-lee Bay (meaning Mr. Ali)?
2) If I need to speak to a waiter at a restaurant, I say: "bakarmısınız?" bah-kahr muh-suh-nuhz (meaning "would you look?). Is the spelling correct?
3) If I don't understand somebody, I can say "efandim?" eh-fahn-deem, to mean "I beg your pardon?". Is the spelling correct there as well?
4) "At the _____ restaurant" sounds something like "_____ lokanta sın da" ( _____ loh-kahn-tah suhn dah). I can't tell if it is "sın", sen", or "sin".

As always, thanks for any help.

otherchelebi Apr 26th, 2010 12:41 PM

1. correct
2. correct, but i would call his attention first by calling him "Garson Bey" and then maybe also say "bakarmisiniz?"if no immediate response.
3. It is "Efendim" eh-fen-dim.

4. correct. It is "sın"

lamogood Apr 28th, 2010 09:08 PM

Thanks again. Only one issue in my latest Turkish lesson: "Shall we eat together?" It sounds something like "Beraber iyelim mi?" (Behr-ah-behr ee-yehl-eem mee?). It's the first word I can't understand - is "beraber" close? As always, thanks for the help.

otherchelebi Apr 28th, 2010 11:09 PM

Beraber means 'together' not close. close is 'yakin'

the course keeps on making the same mistake in spelling and pronouncing 'to eat'. It is not 'iyelim mi' but 'yiyelim mi'
and should be pronounced 'yee-yeh-lim-mee?"

lamogood Apr 29th, 2010 06:54 PM

Understood - I will make the change. The people on the CD might actually be saying "yiyelim" not "iyelim", but I can't really hear that "y" sound at the start of the word. Does this mean that "içelim" is wrong, and is actually "yiçelim"? And is it also correct to say "yiçeyim", not "içeyim"? Thanks again.

otherchelebi Apr 30th, 2010 12:32 AM

Sorry, the verb "içmek" is correct. No "y" there.

"yemek' is both a verb and a noun, meaning both 'to eat' and 'food'

lamogood May 1st, 2010 08:06 PM

Thanks once again. Could you tell me if the following is accurate?
1) "With whom?" sounds like "kiminle" kee-meen-leh .
2) "I understand" sounds like "anladım" ahn-lah-duhm .
3) "At 8:00 ?" sounds like "saat sekiz de mi ?" sah-aht seh-keez deh mee ? (also, in this case, do "sekiz" and "de" go together, as in "sekizde mi?" ?)
As always, these corrections have been very helpful.

otherchelebi May 2nd, 2010 01:22 AM

You are really trying to be an expert and will soon start competing with me as an author in turkish. :)

1. yes
2. yes
3. Yes. the "de" meaning "at' is a suffix, so written attached to the word. If the "de' is used to mean "also" it is not a suffix and it is separate.

One hint : almost all the double 'e's you use as a guide to pronunciation should be pronounced as short 'ee's. like the personal pronoun "me' rather than a long 'mee'.

lamogood May 2nd, 2010 06:04 PM

Only one issue with today's Turkish lesson:
1) When comparing two things in a statement (not a question), the speaker uses an expression that sounds like "yada", or "yıdı", or "yadı". As in: "Coffee or tea". "kahve yada çay" kahh-veh yah-dah cheye. Is yada or yıdı or yadı the right expression?

Woyzeck May 2nd, 2010 06:51 PM

"yada" means "or"

otherchelebi May 2nd, 2010 10:00 PM

Ya is a shortened version of "veya"

the 'da', after 'ya' is not a suffix, but the short word as explained on previous post and written separately. As such, you will never have 'de' or 'di' only 'da'

Ya da means 'either' or 'or else' also.

otherchelebi May 3rd, 2010 01:41 AM

sorry, you can have a "de" as well, if the final vowel of the previous word is an e,i, ü or ö .

lamogood May 3rd, 2010 07:48 PM

If I can get another round of explanation, are you saying the the English word "or" can either be expressed as the complete word "veya", or the shortened word "ya"? And that the da/de in "ya da" actually belongs to one of the things being compared? If so, is the phrase "at the restaurant or at the hotel" translated as: "lokanta ya da otel de" ? Or is it "lokanta da ya otel de". Or is "lokanta da veya otel de" best?

lamogood May 3rd, 2010 07:52 PM

From my latest Turkish lesson:
1) "That's impossible" sounds like "olmas" ohl-mahs.
2) "Is it fine ?" sounds like "olurmı ?" oh-loor-muh ?
Are either of these correct? Thanks again for the help - the lessons are getting faster, and it's sometimes difficult to keep up.

otherchelebi May 3rd, 2010 10:30 PM

Again, the 'da' or 'de' meaning 'at' is a suffix so it should be attached.

Re 'at the restaurant or at the hotel' the first and the third alternatives are correct, although the third sounds better, "lokantada veya otelde"

The 'ya' sounds better when followed by 'ya da' , as in either....or. So, "ya lokantada ya da otelde"

Next:

1. 'olmaz' is actually a slightly stressed 'No!' and not 'impossible'. Impossible is usually translated into two words. The older arabic origin is "mümkün değil" and the modern one is "olanak dışı"

2. "olur mu?" means "is it OK?" and usually follows a proposal, "lokantaya gıdelim, olur mu?" has almost the same meaning as "lokantaya gidelim mi?" , although the first version ımplıes that there is one or more choice.

lamogood May 4th, 2010 07:41 PM

Great info - I'm making the corrections on my notecards. If I can also ask:
1) "Is it 4:00?" sounds like "Saat dört mı ?" sah-aht dert muh ? but I can't really tell if the question word is mı (muh) or mu (moo). Same problem for "Is it 3:00?" which sounds like either "saat üç mı? or "saat üç mu?". I know these question words are based based on the last vowel of the previous word.
2) "At 4:00" sounds like "Saat dört te", but I can't tell if it is supposed to be written "saat dörte" or "saat dört te".
As always - thank you for the help.

otherchelebi May 5th, 2010 05:45 AM

1. it is "saat dört mü?" and "üç mü?" would be "iki mi" and "dokuz mu" and "altı mı", "on mu" , etc.

2. You will not catch me saying it any different: when it means 'at' it is a suffix and written attached to the word as all suffixes should, when it means also or too, then it is written separately. so it will 'saat dörtte', "saat onda" etc.

Woyzeck May 5th, 2010 08:40 AM

My bad on the "ya da" = "or" mix up. I am a native English speaker whose Turkish is still a little rusty. I definitely defer to otherchelebi. This thread is fun for me to read!

lamogood May 5th, 2010 08:25 PM

The pace is getting much faster in my Pimsleur Turkish lessons, and the speaker is not repeating himself nearly as much. These are the phrases I couldn't really understand:
1) "Repeat" - sounds like "tekrarleyin" teh-krarh- lay-een
2) "In that case/then" - sounds like "ozaman" oh-zah-mahn
3) "Listen" - sounds like "dinleyin" deen-lay-een
Any guidance will be appreciated. Thanks.


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