Turkish Adjectives
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Identify this Famous Turk... Click for enlargement! In Turkey - Türkiye'de In Turkey - Türkiye'de Ads by HepsiBurada Free updates for life! Jim and Peri's Commercial-free CD/Broadband Editions for Turkish Learning -- with triple ebook bonus! Learn Turkish with this Essential Suffixes Printed Book

Bypass Turkish Government Censorship Ask about our free Speed Trial account -- for in-country Türkiye Click the image to learn how to protect your Internet freedom for less than $8 a month! Turkish Language Adjective Heaven or hell? Part 1 Bring in the Nouns-helpers... Now with Sound ! In Turkey - Türkiye'de Tüm diğer müzik fırsatları için tıklayın ! Turkish Adjectives Ordinary uses of Adjectives The other morning, we were careening down the road toward the Aegean coastal resort town of Kuşadası in a beat-up dolmuş -- thinking about Turkish adjectives. That may sound a little strange to you, but you have to realize that the alternative to thinking about Turkish adjectives was thinking about the danger we were in -- as we careened down the road in a beat-up dolmuş!!! It was not a happy choice of thoughts... Click following to learn what Driving in Turkey is really like... Anyway...a particularly nasty bump in the road bounced us such that our head came to rest on the shoulder of a fellow passenger, two seats over and one row back. And we couldn't help noticing the opening paragraph of the novel she was trying to read... "As I awoke, my bloated head throbbed painfully from the cheap red wine of the awful night before. It was a dank steamy morning; the sopping wet bedsheets clung to my aching body and as I removed the edge of the spit-stained pillow from my sputtering mouth, I tasted dirty duck-feather. A subdued light peeked through the swamp-green curtains. And when I reached out my shaking hand to stroke my boyfriend's shapely butt, I felt a rough furry texture that emitted a muffled 'oink'. Something was wrong..." Are those red words the adjectives, Marvin? Don't bother me, Mabel. I'm concentrating on the literature. As you look at that English-language paragraph now, you probably notice that the adjectives perform ordinary 'modification' of ordinary nouns, and help to give the nouns a little more life. Well, you can use Turkish adjectives in the same ordinary way. For example, Hızlı kahverengi köpek yavaş budala postacıyı ısırdı. (The quick brown pooch bit the slow foolish mailman.) But, as in English, Turkish adjectives may be used in more interesting ways... Language-learning pages: How To Learn Basic Turkish -- A Practical Philosophy for beginners (Found in the 'Introduction to The Whole Earth Catalog of Turkish Movies'.) Why Off-color language is important too... Adjectives used in comparative situations Expressing inequality and equality... When there is general inequality between (among) compared items, use '-den/dan daha' (more) or '-den/dan daha az' (less) together with the ordinary adjective... Bradley, Brunhilde'den daha çalışkandır -- Bradley is more industrious than Brunhilde. Bradley, Brunhilde'den daha az çalışkandır -- Bradley is less industrious than Brunhilde. Bradley, Brunhilde ve Benjamin'den daha çalışkandır -- Bradley is more industrious than [both] Brunhilde and Benjamin. Please, tell me about the Other uses of the suffix '-den/dan'... If one of the compared items is definitely superior (or inferior) to the other(s), you'll normally use 'en' together with the adjective... Bradley en şişman öğrencidir -- Bradley is the fattest (most fat) student. Brunhilde en gülünç öğrencidir -- Brunhilde is the funniest (most comical) student. En güzel ve en güvenli araba edseldir -- The best looking and safest car is the Edsel. burp ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤° Here's a little chart that demonstrates the 'unequal' comparative use of Turkish adjectives: Ordinary use One item better/worse than the other(s) One item clearly superior/inferior to other(s) akıllı insan (an intelligent person) -den daha akıllı insandır (...is a more intelligent person than...) en akıllı insandır (...is the most intelligent person) büyük ev (a big house) -den daha büyük evdir (...is a bigger house than...) en büyük evdir (...is the biggest house) güzel gün (a pretty day) -den daha az güzel gündü (...was a less pretty day than...) en kötü gündü (...was the worst day) When there is equality between (among) compared items, you may use 'gibi' or 'kadar' together with the ordinary adjective form... Bradley, Brunhilde gibi çalışkandır -- Bradley, like Brunhilde, is industrious. Bradley, Brunhilde kadar çalışkandır -- Bradley is as industrious as Brunhilde. Bradley, Brunhilde ve Benjamin gibi çalışkandır -- Bradley, like Brunhilde and Benjamin, is industrious. Intensive Adjectives Now, one of the more interesting Turkish adjectival constructions arises when you add a prefix to 'intensify' the meaning of an adjective. You'll recall that we've had plenty of occasion to add suffixes to Turkish words, but this is the first (and almost only) occasion when it's acceptable (not to mention, correct and proper) to add a prefix... Intensifying prefixes ending in m, p, r, s Prefixes ending in 'm'... Ordinary adjective Intensified Example English meaning başka (other) bambaşka bambaşka kadın a completely different woman beyaz (white) bembeyaz (3k) bembeyaz araba an entirely white car boş (empty) bomboş bomboş kafa an absolutely empty head buruşuk (puckered, wrinkled) bumburuşuk bumburuşuk deri extremely wrinkled skin buz (ice) bumbuz Thanks JJG 1/02 bumbuz terleme an icy-cold sweat(ing) dik (perpendicular) dimdik (3k) dimdik asker a precisely erect soldier düz (flat) dümdüz dümdüz yüzey a perfectly flat surface hınç (hard/ill feeling) hıncahınç hıncahınç spor arenası a jam-packed sports arena sıcak (hot) sımsıcak sımsıcak kahve extremely hot coffee sıkı (tight) sımsıkı sımsıkı etek a very tight skirt sıkı (tight) sımsıkı Yavrum, sımsıkı sarıl bana! Hold me real tight, honey! [Oops, here's a prefixed word that's used as an intensified adverb...Well, we did say almost -- now didn't we...?] siyah (black) simsiyah simsiyah bulutlar deep black [storm] clouds takır (rattling sound) tamtakır tamtakır fıçı a completely empty barrel yeşil (green) yemyeşil yemyeşil çayır an absolutely green meadow bok (excrement) bombok bombok alet an utterly useless tool [although the root word, bok, is considered off-color, the use of bombok is quite common in everyday conversation] Sentence sample... 'Deli' Googenheim bambaşka bir karakter. 'Crazy' Googenheim was quite a different character. Huh? No one remembers Frank Fontaine's famous alter-ego, on The Jackie Gleason Show in the early 1960's? Jeez... Prefixes ending in 'p'... acı (spicy hot) apacı apacı tamale an outrageously hot tamale açık (open) apaçık apaçık ihanet an openly obvious infidelity açık (clear) apaçık apaçık sinyal a very clear signal ayrı (separate) apayrı Thanks JJG 3/00 apayrı yatak odaları completely separate bedrooms aydın (bright) apaydın apaydın ana baba a perfectly enlightened parent canlı (living, lively) capcanlı Thanks JJG 3/00 capcanlı parti a very lively party dağınık (scattered) dapdağınık dapdağınık yatak an entirely messy bed dar (narrow) dapdar dapdar oda an extremely narrow room dolu (full) dopdolu dopdolu su deposu an absolutely full water tank hızlı (fast) hıphızlı hıphızlı sürat motoru an really fast speedboat ince (thin) ipince ipince dilim a razor-thin slice kara (black) kapkara kapkara gece a pitch black night karanlık (dark) kapkaranlık kapkaranlık gelecek a completely dark outlook kırmızı (red) kıpkırmızı kıpkırmızı yüz a bright red face kızıl (red) kıpkızıl kıpkızıl gül a crimson red rose kuru (dry) kupkuru kupkuru toprak parched dry earth sarı (yellow, pale) sapsarı sapsarı gecelik a stark pale nightgown taze (fresh) taptaze taptaze hüner an absolutely fresh talent uzun (long) upuzun upuzun burun an amply long nose yeni (new) yepyeni yepyeni gün a brand new day ıslak (wet) ıpıslak ıpıslak saç sopping wet hair Sentence sample... Sharon Stone ıpıslak tişörtte çok iyi görünüyor. Sharon Stone looks great in a sopping wet tee shirt. What? Nobody except us has fantasies? Oh sure. Right... Prefixes ending in 'r' temiz (clean) tertemiz tertemiz hal a spotlessly clean state of affairs çabuk (quick) çarçabuk çarçabuk yemek a very quick meal Sentence sample... Michael Schumacher tertemiz bir araba kullanıyor. Michael Schumacher drives a mighty clean car. Anybody? European Formula One racing? hellooo... Prefixes ending in 's' belli (obvious) besbelli besbelli yalan a very obvious lie bütün (entire) büsbütün Şirketimiz büsbütün faaliyete geçti. Our company is fully and completely operational. [Aha, here's another prefixed word that's used as an intensified adverb...] cavlak (bald) cascavlak cascavlak baş a wholly hairless head doğru (true) dosdoğru dosdoğru cevap an entirely correct answer katı (hard) kaskatı kaskatı engel a rock hard barrier koca (large) koskoca koskoca yılan an really big snake kocaman (huge) koskocaman (3k) koskocaman bina an enormous building mavi (blue) masmavi masmavi gökyüzü a completely blue sky pembe (pink) pespembe pespembe flamingo yes, it's the same word... a shocking pink flamingo mor (purple) mosmor mosmor patlıcan a deep purple eggplant/aubergine tamam (complete) tastamam tastamam fiyasko an absolutely perfect failure yuvarlak (round) yusyuvarlak yusyuvarlak göz a completely round eye Sentence sample... Genghis Khan kaskatı bir adamdı. Genghis Khan was a very stern fellow. And he was cruel to animal-rights activists, too... Examples of intensified adjectives with irregular prefixes are: acayıp (strange) acelacayıp Thanks JJG 3/00 acelacayıp kız a very strange gal acele (hurry) alelacele Thanks JJG 3/00 alelacele yazmış very hastily written [Yet another prefixed word that's used as an intensified adverb...] çıplak (naked) çırılçıplak çırılçıplak saldırganlık totally naked aggression çevre (surroundings) çepeçevre çepeçevre ateş an all encompassing fire gündüz (daytime) güpegündüz Güpegündüz hırsızlık yaptı. He did the robbery in broad daylight. karışık (mixed) karmakarışık karmakarışık durum a completely fouled up situation parça (piece) paramparça paramparça vazo a totally shattered vase perişan (very upset) permeperişan permeperişan bir hale an extremely upsetting situation renk (color) rengarenk rengarenk çiçekler multi-colored flowers sağlam (healthy) sapasağlam (3k) [Also see illustrative cartoon below...] sapasağlam yaşlı adam a perfectly healthy old timer yalnız (alone) yapayalnız yapayalnız hayat life all alone zengin (rich) zevzengin Note: Before we get a deluge of 'cards and letters' complaining that this is not an officially sanctioned Turkish word, let us simply point you to our source: Baha'î (1926). In that original work by Veled Çelebi Izbuduk you will find this usage in a Nasreddin Hoca story on page 104 -- or click to see it here. zevzengin bir dil a very rich language A sign of the times... Uyarı: Plajda çırılçıplak dans etmek yasaktır -- pazar günleri. Warning: No totally nude dancing on the beach -- on Sundays. Monday thru Friday was fully booked so we got lumped together with a group from Milwaukee on Saturday. Perfectly healthy, for the moment... Passer-by to beggar: You're a perfectly healthy guy. If you'd try working instead of begging... oh nevermind [neyse]...it really doesn't matter...[boş ver] Thanks to: Karikatürler - 2 by Selçuk Erdem Parentez Yayıları Istanbul (1999/2000) Do you think you can now construct your own intensified adjectives -- based on the examples above? Do you see any rules for the intensive prefixes ending in m, p, r, s? Well, we only see one incontrovertible one... The intensifying prefix will always begin with the same two letters as the adjective you want to intensify. Brilliant, what...? Nothing gets by us...! By the way, G.L Lewis (usually a friend of Turkish language strugglers everywhere) makes one other pretty obscure observation about these prefixes. He says... Adjective Prefixes ending in 'p' are 'usually' constructed with back vowels (a, ı, u, o) rather than front vowels (e, i, ö, ü). (That's a real winner, innit? Sooorry, G.L. We still love you...) G.L.'s 'rule' rightly predicts, for example, that you use the prefix 'tap' with the adjective 'taze' to make the intensified adjective 'taptaze' (extremely fresh). But then, the 'rule' doesn't hold for 'yep' in 'yepyeni' (brand new)... And that's about it, in the way of so-called rules for these prefixes. Looks like we're back to the need for rote memorization again... <sigh> Next: Turkish Adjective Heaven - Part 2 Language-learning pages: How To Learn Basic Turkish -- A Practical Philosophy for beginners (Found in the 'Introduction to The Whole Earth Catalog of Turkish Movies'.) Why Off-color language is important too... Translating Turkish, the basics Translating Turkish, advanced Essential Turkish Vocabulary Turkish Verbs Essential Idioms, Index Essential Suffixes, Index Sentence Structure, Standard Sentence Structure Variations Turkish Pronunciation Turkish Accenting Turkish Numbers Revealed Other Turkish Language Difficulties Unrelated fun: Frequently asked questions about Turkey and the Turkish language llustrated Nargile Users Guide -- and Encyclopedia Our Honda Generator -- A Member of the Family Habibullah and The Great Cannon Caper Turkish Tongue Twisters Turkish Belly Dancers Turkish Tango, Dance the Romance Turkish Terms Of Endearment Turkish Personal Names Politically Incorrect Turkish Humor Why Off-Color Turkish is important too Gossipy Turkish Who's Who Turkish Kinsey Report #6 - Turkish Turn-Ons Turkish Kinsey Report #1 - Turkey opens up about its seks Turkish Kinsey Report #2 - Did they hear it through the grapevine? Turkish Kinsey Report #3 - Was it good for you? Turkish Kinsey Report #4 - The first time, by age group... Turkish Kinsey Report #5 - Who's gotta have it? He? Or she? Hülya Avşar -- in a league of her own Translating Danielle Steele Post a comment...» Thanks to Mehmet Hengirmen for some of the ideas that appear on this page... In Turkey - Türkiye'de In Turkey - Türkiye'de Ads by HepsiBurada International Ads by Clicksor

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