Formation of nouns from adjectives - the suffix -lik
This suffix is vowel harmonized forms are -lik -lık -luk -lük. The suffix -lik is very heavily used in Turkish. It has four main uses in Turkish as follows;
1. Formation of Abstract and Collective Nouns
The main use of the suffix -lik is to form Abstract Nouns from Adjectives. güzel - beautiful - becomes - güzellik - beauty mutlu - happy - becomes - mutluluk - happiness iyi - good - becomes - iyilik - goodness çocuk - child - becomes - çocukluk - childhood zor - difficult becomes zorluk - difficulty, complication It should be noted that the English Abstract nouns end in -ness, -tion, -ity, etc (generally)
Of course these abstract nouns can be further suffixed in Turkish according to their function in meaning: mutluluğum - [mutluluğ-um] - my happiness Hepimiz, çocukluğumuzu mutluluk içinde geçirdik. O zamanlarda mutluluğum sonsuzdu. - All of us passed our childhood in happiness. At that time my happiness was endless - [Hep-imiz, çocuk-luğ-umuz-u mut-lu-luk iç-i-nde geç-ir-dik. O zaman-lar-da mutlu-luğ-um son-suz-du.]
Thanks to Murat Açık for corrections to the sections above and below - JG, December 2012
Formation of Collective Nouns genç - young becomes gençlik - youth yaşlı - old becomes yaşlılık - age insan - person/human becomes insanlık - human-kind kişi - person/individual becomes kişilik - personality/identity Bakan - Minister becomes Bakanlık - Ministry balık - fish becomes balıkçı - fisherman becomes Balıkçılık - Fishing Club, Group, Association This last example shows that noun suffixes can be chained to produce further extended meanings.
Thanks to Kadir Demirel for suggestions in this section - JG - Nov. 2006
2. Forming nouns of Usage
When adding -lik to concrete nouns or verb stems it forms nouns and adjectives meaning - suitable for.. intended for... place of... tuz - salt - becomes - tuzluk - salt cellar biber - pepper - becomes - biberlik - pepper shaker göz - eye - becomes - gözlük - spectacles kira - hire - becomes - kiralık - for hire yağmur - raın - becomes - yağmurluk - raincoat, mackintosh, oilskin
3. Forming Nouns of Location
Bakan - Minister - becomes - Bakanlık - Ministry çamaşır - linen, laundry items - becomes - çamaşırlık - a laundry orman - forest - becomes - ormanlık - forest place In this example of - forest - we can see that Turkish uses -lik to make a Substantive Noun of Location, as in the following example: O tepenin arkasında büyük bir ormanlık bulunur - There is a large forest (to be found) behind that hill. Here the word - ormanlık - is used as a general Substantive Noun of Location. We may go on to talk about this particular - orman - itself: O ormanda çok yabani hayvan varmış. - It seems there are many wild animals in that forest.
Many place names - (have a look at a Turkish map) - often end in the suffix -lik. One that springs to mind is Ayvalık - Place of the Quince - [ayva], there is also a place near Çeşme called Değirmenlik - Place of the Mill - [değirmen]
It is difficult to translate this suffix directly into English, we can only say - "Quince" or "Quinceville" and "Milltown" or "Millhill" or whatever. Arising from the above we can also form nouns of "Place of" as follows elmalık - apple orchard - from - elma - apple sebzelik - vegetable garden, stall - from - sebze - vegetable çiçeklik - flower garden, stall - from - çiçek - flower kitaplık - book case - from - kitap - book
4. The Suffix -lik with Numbers:
A number is normally used as an adjective thus the number 10 (as an adjective) - on yumurta - ten eggs. Turkish changes numbers and numeric expressions into nouns by the addition of the -lik suffix thus the number 10 - on - becomes - onluk - the amount of ten. This is like saying Lend me a "tenner" in English, where the number 10 has become a noun of the amount ten. The suffix -lik is often added to counted nouns to produce a complex counted noun. Let us take our example of on yumurta -ten eggs. If we say I want a ten egg box. in English we understand that our requirement is "A box that will contain the amount of ten eggs."
Let us look at some possibilities in Turkish: on yumurta bir kutu - ten eggs one box - this example has no meaning in Turkish - it is just two items - "ten eggs" and "one box". Turkish will use a counted noun - on yumurtalık - ten eggs-amount - thus - I want a ten egg box - becomes: On yumurtalık bir kutu istiyorum - [Lit: I want a ten egg-amount box.] If we want to say - I want a box of ten eggs - the Turkish uses the -li - furnished with, containing - suffix: On yumurtalı bir kutu istiyorum - I want a box containing ten eggs. İki kişilik çadır var mı? - [Lit: Is there a tent of two person-amount?] - in English - Is there a double tent? Evet var. Kaç günlük ? - [Lit: Yes, there is. How many day-amount?] - in English - Yes there is. For how many days?
An "eggy" question
Here is an "eggy" question from one of our Turkish friends, showing the diference in Turkish logic: Shouldn´t that be? - "I want a ten egged box" - Cafer Bey by Email
My answer: To your suggestion: "I want a ten egged box". I´m sorry I can not agree, I feel it should be "I want a ten egg box", as I have written. If we say it your way, it makes the box itself "modified" as in "I want a black coloured box" or "I want a silk lined box". But a "ten egg box" describes a box that can contain up to "ten eggs" ; that is how it is understood. Let us not forget that supermarkets in England sell their eggs in "egg boxes" not in "egged boxes" To understand the difference "I want a three key box" - a box to put three keys into, and "I want a three keyed box" - a box which need three keys to open it.
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