Welcome
Login:   Pass:     Register - Forgot Password - Resend Activation

Turkish Class Forums / Language

Language

Add reply to this discussion
Why did şehir become city in Turkish?
1.       sufler
358 posts
 04 Feb 2014 Tue 11:06 pm

Merhaba.

I´ve been thinking on it for a long time. Perhaps someone knows an etymological explanation for this. Why the word "şehir" was adapted into Turkish as "a city" considering it probably comes from Arabic شهر [shahr] which means "a month" (as far as I know Arabic)?



Edited (2/4/2014) by sufler
Edited (2/4/2014) by sufler
Edited (2/4/2014) by sufler

2.       gokuyum
5050 posts
 04 Feb 2014 Tue 11:27 pm

 

Quoting sufler

Merhaba.

I´ve been thinking on it for a long time. Perhaps someone knows an etymological explanation for this. Why the word "şehir" was adapted into Turkish as "a city" considering it probably comes from Arabic شهر [shahr] which means "a month" (as far as I know Arabic)?

 

Because it is a Farsi word. Şahr means city or land in Farsi language. Arabic one is a different word.

http://www.nisanyansozluk.com/?k=%C5%9Fehir&x=-1220&y=-238



Edited (2/4/2014) by gokuyum

sufler liked this message
3.       sufler
358 posts
 05 Feb 2014 Wed 01:45 am

Well, I didn´t know that!

And is the word in the other meanings (2. and 3. in the link you gave) also used in Turkish? Most of Turkish-English dictionaries give only city-related translations.

4.       cemmerven
13 posts
 05 Feb 2014 Wed 07:21 pm

As a side note, you can use "kent" instead of "şehir" in every context where şehir is legitimate

5.       cemmerven
13 posts
 05 Feb 2014 Wed 07:31 pm

Probably it´s historical reasons, dated back to Ottoman era, where even the turks didn´t speak turkish. Influenced heavily with other neighbouring regions tongues probably "şehir" is the only wide-known and available word for it.

 



Edited (2/5/2014) by cemmerven

6.       gokuyum
5050 posts
 05 Feb 2014 Wed 08:34 pm

 

Quoting cemmerven

Probably it´s historical reasons, dated back to Ottoman era, where even the turks didn´t speak turkish. Influenced heavily with other neighbouring regions tongues probably "şehir" is the only wide-known and available word for it.

 

 

Turks always spoke Turkish cemmervan. Maybe some elite minority was talking Ottoman language, Farsi or Arabic among themselves. But in daily life they were speaking Turkish too.

7.       gokuyum
5050 posts
 05 Feb 2014 Wed 08:41 pm

 

Quoting sufler

Well, I didn´t know that!

And is the word in the other meanings (2. and 3. in the link you gave) also used in Turkish? Most of Turkish-English dictionaries give only city-related translations.

1. Şehir means city in Turkish. It doesnt mean country or state any more.

2. We dont use şehir this way. We say meşhur. They have the same root.

3. Şehir means appearing, appearing of the new moon in Arabic. I guess that is why month means şehir in Arabic. We dont use Arabic word "şehir". We have a Turkish word for that as you know. It is "ay". It is the Turkish word for moon and month.



Edited (2/5/2014) by gokuyum
Edited (2/5/2014) by gokuyum
Edited (2/5/2014) by gokuyum

sufler liked this message
8.       sufler
358 posts
 06 Feb 2014 Thu 12:05 am

 

Quoting gokuyum

 

1. Şehir means city in Turkish. It doesnt mean country or state any more.

2. We dont use şehir this way. We say meşhur. They have the same root.

3. Şehir means appearing, appearing of the new moon in Arabic. I guess that is why month means şehir in Arabic. We dont use Arabic word "şehir". We have a Turkish word for that as you know. It is "ay". It is the Turkish word for moon and month.

 

Oh yeah, that´s exactly what I thought.

That´s why I was surprised these two meanings were listed in Turkish etymological dictionary if they are not used in Turkish at all.

9.       gokuyum
5050 posts
 06 Feb 2014 Thu 02:20 am

 

Quoting sufler

 

 

Oh yeah, that´s exactly what I thought.

That´s why I was surprised these two meanings were listed in Turkish etymological dictionary if they are not used in Turkish.

1) I havent seen şehir used in the meaning of famous. But maybe it was used in Ottoman language.That is why it is in the dictionary.

2)You can still witness the use of "şehir" in the meaning of "month". It is very rare. Only example I know is this: In Ramadans you can see a sentence on the top of mosques saying "Hoşgeldin Ya Şehr-i Ramazan(Welcome o month of Ramadan)". 

 



Edited (2/6/2014) by gokuyum

sufler and Henry liked this message
Add reply to this discussion




Turkish Dictionary
Turkish Chat
Open mini chat
New in Forums
Why yer gördüm but yeri geziyorum
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much, makes perfect sense!
Etmeyi vs etmek
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much!
Görülmez vs görünmiyor
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much, very well explained!
Içeri and içeriye
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much for the detailed ...
Present continous tense
HaydiDeer: Got it, thank you!
Hic vs herhangi, degil vs yok
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much!
Rize Artvin Airport Transfer - Rize Tours
rizetours: Dear Guest; In order to make your Black Sea trip more enjoyable, our c...
What does \"kabul ettiğini\" mean?
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much for the detailed ...
Kimse vs biri (anyone)
HaydiDeer: Thank you!
Random Pictures of Turkey
Most commented