Introduction
Turkish is the national language of Turkey, and is also spoken by minority groups in Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus,
and other countries. It is the most important member of the Turkic group of languages which form a branch of
the Altaic family. There are about 70 million speakers.
Turkish was originally written in the Arabic script which, though poorly suited to the language, had been in use
since the conversion of the Turks to Islam. In 1928 President Ataturk decreed the introduction of a slightly
modified version of the Roman alphabet, consisting of twenty-one consonants and eight vowels. In Turkish, the
letters q, w, and x are absent, while the letter c is pronounced like the English j (e.g., cep-pocket), j like the
French j (jale-dew), ç is pronounced ch (çiçek-flower).
The English words "caviar", "yogurt", and "shish kebab" are of Turkish origin. The word "tulip" comes from a
Turkish word for turban, because its flower was thought to resemble a turban. The word "meander" comes from
the ancient name of the Menderes River of western Turkey, which was noted for its winding course.
Turkish is spoken/used in the following countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus (Republic of), Greece, Macedonia, and
Turkey.
Language Family
Family: Altaic
Subgroup: Turkic
Branch: Southwestern (Oghuz)
(from www.worldlanguage.com)
PART ONE - THE BASICS
Lesson 1: To Be
Welcome to the Turkish course here at UniLang. We want to help you learn foreign languages and we hope this
little course can help you. These courses in part one are intended for absolute beginners who need a little
assistance with starting to learn some basics. This is not a complete course. When we've showed you the most
important basics we'll let go you and then you can explore our grammar reference all by yourself.
We'll start by teaching you how to introduce yourself in Turkish. Take a look at the following Turkish sentence
and it's English translation. All Turkish text will be written in blue and the English translation in green.
"Ben Ahmet'im."
"I am Ahmet"
Turkish sentence structure is different from English's. "ben" means "I", but we can't see an equivalent word of
"am" in Turkish. Instead of it, we see a suffix "-im" after Ahmet. "-im" is the conjugational suffix of verb "to be"
for the first, singular person "ben". When you introduce yourself with your name, it's optional to use this suffix.
You can say only "Ben Ahmet".
(Ben) Ahmet'im. I am Ahmet.
(Sen) Ahmet'sin. You are Ahmet.
(O) Ahmet'dir. He is Ahmet.
(O) Ayşe'dir. She is Ayşe.
(O) (bir) kedidir. It is a cat.
(Biz) Ahmet ve Ayşe'yiz. We are Ahmet and Ayşe.
(Siz) Ahmet ve Ayşe'siniz. You are Ahmet and Ayşe.
(Onlar) Ahmet ve Ayşe'dirler. They are Ahmet and Ayşe.
NOTES:
• Turkish has no gender.
• kedi = the cat
• bir = a/an, one
• There is no article in Turkish like the/der,die,das/ el, la...
• Don't forget apostrophes between proper nouns and suffixes.
• Suffix "-im" changes according to vowel harmony.
Ben Ahmet'im Ben Hasan'ım Ben Gül'üm Ben Uğur'um
Ben -(y)im -(y)ım -(y)um -(y)üm
Sen -sin -sın -sun -sün
O -dir -dır -dur -dür
Biz -(y)iz -(y)ız -(y)uz -(y)üz
Siz -siniz -sınız -sunuz -sünüz
Onlar -dirler -dırlar -dürler -durlar
VOCABULARY
We'll ask you to study a number of words in each lesson.
BABA FATHER
ANNE, ANA MOTHER
BÜYÜKANNE, NİNE GRANDMOTHER
BÜYÜKBABA, DEDE GRANDFATHER
DOKTOR THE DOCTOR
KEDİ THE CAT
BİR A/AN, ONE
VE AND
Sonra görü$ürüz=See you later =D
Peki. Güle, güle. = Alright. Bye, bye.
(I could use "güle, güle", only because Tayyaba was the one leaving. If I was leaving, I would have just said, "Hoşçakal", short for Hoşça kalin = good-bye.)
Last edited by Grace Seeker; 12-03-2006 at 01:25 AM.
Reason: found Turkish characters to use
canim = my beloved (though not only used in romantic situations, two best friends -- dostlar -- might use "can" on occassion)
Real Turkish speakers, please correct me. I don't want to teach improperly.
yes you are right. "canim" means my love, my sweet. couples , lovers (asiklar) can say this his/her partner. but two best friend (dostlar) should not say, if they are not gays or lesbians
also mothers say "canim" her kids. and fathers, uncles can say this to kids.
"canim benim" has same meaning but more lovely . i say "canim benim" my girlfriend.
-------------
i love you = seni seviyorum
you= sen
i love= seviyorum.
so there is a letter " i " has a meaning direction of the verb, what about is the verb. for example:
annemi seviyorum
i like my mother
annem= my mother
annem - i = what about the verb (like-love), who/what is effected of verb
yes you are right. "canim" means my love, my sweet. couples , lovers (asiklar) can say this his/her partner. but two best friend (dostlar) should not say, if they are not gays or lesbians
also mothers say "canim" her kids. and fathers, uncles can say this to kids.
"canim benim" has same meaning but more lovely . i say "canim benim" my girlfriend.
Well, there are two reasons that I thought that you could say "canim" between good friends.
1) My dictionary gives the definition for "can" = "soul", "life", etc., but not "lover" so that when you refer to a person as "canim" you would be saying that they are "my soul", "my life" and thus a very important person in one's life, but not necessarily one's lover, so not restricted to romantic relationships. This same dictionary give the definition of "can dostu" = "dear friend".
2) But the primary reason is that my Turkish-speaking daughter would refer to her family and best girlfriends as "canim", though she gave no hint that she was lesbian. Or are you suggesting that she was trying to tell me something? Maybe it is like so many things, girls are allowed by culture to be more expressive of their feelings than men are? I don't know, what do you think? I know I have some female friends that are like sisters to me that I am comfortable referencing as "canim", while I would not do so with even my very best male friends. (Oh, and btw, some on here have thought that I was a sister. I am not. I am a brother. That might make a difference how your read that last paragraph.)
Well, there are two reasons that I thought that you could say "canim" between good friends.
1) My dictionary gives the definition for "can" = "soul", "life", etc., but not "lover" so that when you refer to a person as "canim" you would be saying that they are "my soul", "my life" and thus a very important person in one's life, but not necessarily one's lover, so not restricted to romantic relationships. This same dictionary give the definition of "can dostu" = "dear friend".
2) But the primary reason is that my Turkish-speaking daughter would refer to her family and best girlfriends as "canim", though she gave no hint that she was lesbian. Or are you suggesting that she was trying to tell me something? Maybe it is like so many things, girls are allowed by culture to be more expressive of their feelings than men are? I don't know, what do you think? I know I have some female friends that are like sisters to me that I am comfortable referencing as "canim", while I would not do so with even my very best male friends. (Oh, and btw, some on here have thought that I was a sister. I am not. I am a brother. That might make a difference how your read that last paragraph.)
yes, yes yes.. i have made a mistake a huge mistake. i am a man, a male, so i thougt differently. okey i should clear it:
For male person : if male person is older than the other person, older can say "canim", it does not matter if younger boy or girl is. i am a teacher and sometimes i say "canim" to my students. if i were a father, i could say "canim" my son or daughter , it does not matter what his/her age is.
For female person:Female person can say "canim" her girlfriend , so you are right. Also she can say "canim " her mother, her sister, her brother, her father and her boyfriend.
Did i explain clearly? "canim" has same meaning "my sweet."
So your daughter is normal, dont be afraid. .
just i only tried to make a joke , but now i have seen it is not a good joke. so i am sorry.ffended:
just i only tried to make a joke , but now i have seen it is not a good joke. so i am sorry.ffended:
Problemi yok.
Your joke was fine. I wasn't offended, and was also trying to interject humor when I asked if maybe my daughter was trying to tell me something -- that's why I put the smiley there.
So, we are good. And thank-you for your very thorough explanation.
actually turkish is spoken in the whole middle asia after turkey,,(in kazakhistan,uzbekhistan,azerbaijan,kirghisisthan,t urkmanistan etc..) but we can not understand eachother so easily..the dialects are really different..
but we understand azeris totaly,and turkmans half,,but not kazhaks and kirghis...and they understand eachother completely....strange right
beside,,before mustafa kemal,we used to use persian alphabet,not arabic.be cause arabic doesnt has''ç''(ch)ü and p letters..
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أم ذي عينين كبيرين 
صفية و عمر 
.
ffended:
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