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Turkish Language
Adjective Heaven
or hell?
Part 2
Overflowing Nouns-helpers...
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Back: Turkish Adjective Heaven - Part 1
Diminutive Adjectives
If you want to tone down an adjective so that it's meaning is less intense, then you'll revert to appending a suffix to it.
(Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted, wasn't it?)
For example, if you want to diminish the intensity of meaning expressed by the adjective pahalı (expensive), then you add the suffix -ca to make pahalıca (somewhat expensive).
Diminutive Adjectives with -ca (-ce) suffixes
| Ordinary adjective |
Diminished |
Example |
English meaning |
güzel
(pretty) |
güzelce |
güzelce bir resim |
a fairly pretty picture |
temiz
(clean) |
temizce |
temizce bir gömlek |
a rather clean shirt |
yeşil
(green) |
yeşilce |
yeşilce bir gölcük |
a greenish pond |
Sample sentences...
Meryl Streep güzelce bir kadındır.
Meryl Streep is a fairly good looking woman.
Dün gece gittiğimiz striptiz pahalıca, değil mi?
The striptease show we went to last night was somewhat expensive,
wasn't it?
Benjamin temizce şakalar söyler -- annesinin önünde!
Benjamin tells rather clean jokes -- in front of his mother!
Ekmekte yeşilce noktalar hoş değildir.
The greenish mold on the bread is unappetizing.
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Diminutive Adjectives
with -cik (-cık, cük, cuk) suffixes
| Ordinary adjective |
Diminished |
Example |
English meaning |
ufak
(small) |
ufacık |
ufacık bungalov |
a rather small bungalow |
bir
(one) |
biricik |
biricik firsat |
a one-of-a-kind opportunity |
küçük
(little) |
küçücük |
küçücük böcek |
a tiny insect |
yavru
(young animal, child) |
yavrucuk |
yavrucuk
(You're not seeing things. By adding the suffix -cuk, we've constructed a diminutive noun -- which stands alone.) |
a sweet little thing, a sweet little darling |
Sample sentences...
Ufacık bir kanyağı
şiddetli bir baş ağrısına tercih ederim.
I'd rather have a very small cognac than a very strong headache.
Sen benim biricik yaşlı enayimsin.
You are my one and only old fool.
(An old fool is unique.)
O küçücük çocuk at gibi yer!
That wee child eats like a horse!
Hypatianın buruncuğu en iyi özelliği.
Hypatia's cute little nose is her best feature.
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Diminutive Adjectives with
-msı (-ımsı, -imsi, -umsu) suffixes
Note: Diminutive adjective suffixes shown in this panel and the
next panel are used sparingly in Turkish.
Furthermore, they are mostly used for adjectives of
color and taste...
| Ordinary adjective |
Diminished |
Example |
English meaning |
sarı
(yellow, blond) |
sarımsı |
sarımsı yazma |
a yellowed manuscript |
ağır
(heavy) |
ağırımsı |
ağırımsı karar |
a rather heavy decision |
yeşil
(green) |
yeşilimsi |
yeşilimsi gecelik |
a greenish nightgown |
mor
(purple) |
morumsu |
morumsu çiçekler |
purplish flowers |
Sample sentences...
Sarımsı saçlı bomba şova ilk cıkışta üstün başarı sağladı.
The blondish bombshell made a big hit at the show's opening.
O ağırımsı bir yük değil, o benim kardeşim.
That's not a heavyish load, that's my brother.
Smith'ler Jones'ları kıskanmaktan yeşilimsi oldu.
The Smiths are a little green with envy of the Joneses.
Holyfield'in dövüşden dolayı hala bir morumsu gözü var.
He still has a purplish eye because of the beating he took from Holyfield.
G.L. Lewis points out an interesting variation that belongs to this categorey of diminutive adjective suffixes. He indicates that for some nouns and adjectives (ending in consonants), you may attach the shortened suffix '-si' (-sı, -sü, -su)
to form the diminutive adjective.
So, for example, you can attach the shortened suffix for,
erkek male, erkeksi mannish;
çocuk child, çocuksu childish.
That last bit of info isn't much help, Marvin...How'm I supposed to
know which words do take the 'shortened' suffix -- and which don't?
I dunno, Mabel.
Well... Maybe it doesn't matter that much..? Whaddya think?
Problee mebbe. Mebbe problee.
You've had better days, Marvin...
mebbe...
problee.
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Diminutive Adjectives with
-mtırak (-ımtırak, -imtırak, -umtırak) suffixes
Note: Diminutive adjective suffixes shown in this panel and the
former panel are used sparingly in Turkish.
Furthermore, they are mostly used for adjectives of
color and taste...
| Ordinary adjective |
Diminished |
Example |
English meaning |
ekşi
(sour, tart, acidic) |
ekşimtırak |
ekşimtırak çilek |
a sourish strawberry |
beyaz
(white) |
beyazımtırak |
beyazımtırak plastik |
a whitish plastic |
acayip
(strange, peculiar) |
acayibimtırak |
acayibimtırak öneri |
a rather strange suggestion |
buruşuk
(wrinkled, rumpled) |
buruşumtırak |
buruşumtırak giysiler |
somewhat wrinkled clothing |
Sample sentences...
O sütü içmeyin! Ekşimtırak.
Don't drink that milk! It's a bit sour.
Yaşlı adamın beyazımtırak saçı güzide görünüyor.
The old man's whitish hair looks distinguished.
Barnaby'nin olayların gülünç yönünü görme yeteneği acayibimtırak[tır].
Barnaby has a rather peculiar sense of humor.
Kevin sudan çıktığında, cildi buruşumtıraktı.
When Kevin got out of the water, his skin was a bit wrinkled.
Note:
Adjectives related to colors or tastes can take the diminutive endings either from this panel or the former panel. So, either yeşilimsi kumaş or yeşilimtırak kumaş is correct. And they both mean greenish material.
Back: Turkish Adjective Heaven - Part 1 |
Thanks to Mehmet Hengirmen
for some of the ideas that appear on this page...
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