Word repetitions in the Turkish language
© aNadventures
As I recently called my grandmother who lives in Colombia, I found myself speaking Spanish in a way that felt strangely unnatural: Sí sí, claro claro, bueno bueno…
It took me a moment to realize what was happening. I was speaking Spanish and yet embedding it into a Turkish structure.
Upon reflecting on it, I have noticed that repetitions are quite common in the Turkish way of expressing oneself.
Here are some examples:
Repetitions as a means of emphasis
A: Bizimle gelmek ister misin?
(Would you like to come with us?)
B: Olur olur.
(Alright (x2) [strongly agreeing].)
A: Neredesin?
(Where are you?)
B: Geldim geldim.
(I’m coming (x2) [literally: I came].)
Repetitions as adverbs
A: Yavaş yavaş çocuklar!
(Be careful, kids! [literally: slowly slowly])
Z: Problemlerimizi tane tane çözeriz.
(We’ll solve our problems one after the other.)
Repetitions to indicate time
A: Kim arıyor acaba gece gece?
(Who might be calling this late at night? [literally: night night])
What’s characteristic of YOUR language or any other language you are learning? What are the funniest language mixes you have ever come up with?
you left out one of my favorites- çok çok haha! Another thing I find amusing about Turkish (the language I’m also learning) is their desire to rhyme. For example: ara sıra , ıvır zıvır, abur cubur…it is too funny coming from an english background- where we don’t do that so much
True! I love the rhymes as well, falan filan. 😉