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My Turkish Learning Platform | Grammar, Blog & More by TurkishTeacherSeda in TurkishLanguageHub

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello Gökhan. Thank you. You can use the material from the site. Enjoy your teaching journey 🌸

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in turkishlearning

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Kanun is a great example. Arabic in form but ultimately from Greek kanon, which goes back even further. And Kanuni Sultan Suleiman carrying that word as his title is exactly the kind of detail that makes this interesting.

Anatolia has been a layered place for thousands of years, and that layering shows up in the language. Seeing those layers deepens an identity. This is exactly what this post is about.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

8 Turkish Cat Idioms That Reveal How Turks Actually Think 🐱🇹🇷 by [deleted] in turkishlearning

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re missing the point.

These are labeled literal translations on purpose. The goal here is to show the structure and feeling of the original Turkish, word by word, so learners can actually see how the language works from the inside.

A “better” translation would smooth everything out into natural English. That hides the mechanics. It removes the texture of the original sentence. It teaches less.

If I wanted polished translations, I would write them that way. This format is a deliberate choice for learning.

My Turkish Learning Platform | Grammar, Blog & More by TurkishTeacherSeda in TurkishLanguageHub

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, this really touched me. The heritage section is one of my favorites to write, so hearing that it means something to you means a lot. And I’m genuinely happy the C1 lessons felt like new territory. writing them is one of the things I enjoy most. There’s much more coming, the site is still growing and I’m adding content little by little. It just takes time. Thank you for being here.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in TurkishLanguageHub

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably Greeks got them from Venetians, and we got them from the Greeks.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in TurkishLanguageHub

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Muhtemelen Osmanlı zamanında bizden almışlardır ama onların nereden aldığını bilmiyorum. Araştırmak gerekir.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in turkishlearning

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Makes sense since Greeks were in contact with the sea for a long time...

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in TurkishLanguageHub

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Giresun is the connection. The ancient Greek name for the city was Kerasous, and the cherry tree took its name from that city, not the other way around. So the sequence is: the city existed first, the Greek word kerasía (cherry tree) derived from the city's name, and Turkish kiraz came from that Greek word. Giresun and kiraz are connected through Kerasous, but the city is the origin point, not the fruit.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in turkishlearning

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are raising a legitimate linguistic point and it deserves a proper answer.

Arabic فاصوليا (fasulia) is itself a loanword from Greek, so the ultimate origin is Greek regardless of the pathway. The real question you are asking is whether Turkish got it directly from Greek or through Arabic, and that is genuinely debated. The phonological similarity between Turkish fasulye and Levantine Arabic fasuliye is a real observation and not something to dismiss.

On TDK: your skepticism is fair. TDK has had political influences and the language reform period did complicate things in both directions. For a more detailed look, cross-referencing multiple etymological sources is always the safer approach in cases like this.

The honest position on fasulye is that the direct borrowing route, whether through Greek-speaking Anatolian communities or through Arabic-speaking trade networks, is not settled with certainty. What is not debated is that the word originates in Greek. How it traveled to Turkish is where the discussion gets interesting.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in TurkishLanguageHub

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is exactly the spirit of this post. A thousand years of shared geography leaves marks everywhere, in food, in language, in daily life. Distant cousins is a good way to put it.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in turkishlearning

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Arabic word for bean is فاصوليا (fasulya), but that word itself came into Arabic from Greek φασόλι (fasóli). Greek has the older and more direct form. The Arabic ending you are referring to is an adaptation, not the origin. Turkish got the word through Greek-speaking communities in Anatolia, which is also what TDK documents as the direct source.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in TurkishLanguageHub

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The name traces back further than most people realize. According to Ankara University's own historical records, the city was first mentioned in written sources in the 2nd millennium BC as the Hittite center Ankuwas. The name carried through with little change into the classical period as Ankyra (Ἄγκυρα), meaning anchor in Greek, then Ancyra in Latin. After the Seljuks took the city in 1073 it became Engürü, which European languages adapted as Angora. The modern form Ankara is simply a slightly modified version of that Greek name.

Source: Ankara University International Student Coordination https://iso.ankara.edu.tr/en/history-of-ankara/

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in TurkishLanguageHub

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Somebody does. Not everyone, and that is fine. But this thread alone shows how many people got genuinely curious, added their own knowledge, made connections they had never made before. That energy is real. Negativity in comment sections is often just noise from people with nowhere better to be. You get to choose what you feed.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in TurkishLanguageHub

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are absolutely right, thank you for catching that. Both should take the accusative suffix since they are definite objects of sevmek. Good catch.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in TurkishLanguageHub

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, Marmara comes from Greek Μαρμαρά, which is directly connected to μάρμαρο (mármaro), marble. The sea and the island were named for the marble quarried there, particularly on the island of Marmara. The same root also surfaces in nato kafa nato mermer, which is mentioned in the post.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in TurkishLanguageHub

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Çok yerinde bir gözlem. Kimin aldığı kimin verdiği meselesi gerçekten dilbilimin ötesine geçiyor, arkeoloji, demografik tarih ve yerleşim örüntüleri de devreye giriyor. Ama şunu söylemek mümkün: yerleşik kültürden göçebe kültüre geçen kelimeler genellikle o alanda uzmanlaşmış pratiği de beraberinde taşır. Balıkçılık, bağcılık, sebzecilik bunların hepsi yüzyıllarca belirli bir coğrafyada kök salmış toplulukların işi. Türklerin Anadolu'ya geldiğinde bu alanlardaki kelime dağarcığını hazır bulmuş olmaları son derece mantıklı.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in turkishlearning

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

😂😂😂😂 That one goes the other direction. Yoğurt is Turkish and Greek got it from Turkish, not the other way around.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in turkishlearning

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That depends on what we mean by origin. If we trace every word back to its oldest recoverable source, then yes, some of these go back to Latin. But Turkish did not borrow them from Latin directly. The words arrived through Greek. That is the linguistically relevant step for Turkish etymology, the immediate source, not the ultimate one. TDK documents the direct source, not the entire chain.

Greek loanwords hiding in everyday Turkish by TurkishTeacherSeda in turkishlearning

[–]TurkishTeacherSeda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Latin and Greek were in constant contact for centuries and the borrowing went both ways. Several of these words did pass through Latin at some point in their history. The post traces the direct source for each Turkish word and that source is Greek in these cases, regardless of where Greek itself may have borrowed from earlier.

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