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Idiomatic Doublets
Doubles Troubles
I'll have an assonant hendiadys to go, please --
and hold the mayo...

İkelemeler
"Things consisting of two"

"Things consisting of two..."

A convenient Turkish term for two-word phrases like these is ikilemeler (coined by Mehmet Hengirmen) -- which translates roughly as 'things consisting of two'. And the naturally poetic Turk reckons that they add beauty, drama, and efficacy to his and her every day speech.

In languages like English, German, and French, such doublet 'phrases' are usually reserved for stage, screen, and radio entertainments. Ah mean, you don't find too many Londoners using assonant hendiadyses
down th' pub, now do ye' mate...

But Turks use ikilemeler all the time --
and they've been doing it for centuries.

The oldest known examples of written Turkish are on the Orhun obelisks dating from the late 7th Century -- and, you guessed it, even there you find the use of ikilemeler. So historically, Turkish has been predisposed to poetry, harmony and dramatic expression --
for quite a long while.

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