Would I be correct that "I am hugging Floss" would be:
Floss kucaklaşıyorum ???

If I wanted to refer to a hug as a noun can I just add the verbal noun suffix to the verb stem?
Poppy, kucaklaşma istiyorum
Poppy, I want a hug

Would kucaklaşmak or sarılmak be better here???

and sarılmak is very near kucaklamak but takes -e

Floss'a sarılıyorum.


Floss'a sarılmak istiyorum.


But I think kucaklamak is better, it shows more passionate and it is a more protecting act.

Thanks for the explanation......

So would "Poppy, I want a hug" be
Poppy, kucaklama istiyorum
That would seem to translate more as "Poppy, I want hugging"

Is there a different noun for hug???

Why Floss'a and Floss'u??? When to use which?! Im all confused now

Floss'a is dative (-e/-a suffix)

Floss'u is accusative (-i/-ı/-u/-ü)

Ofcourse Thanks.

Just a pity that you also need to know what case comes with what verb It's the same with Latin and German, and it's HARSH!

Yes.. sözlüğümde değil..

I think we dont say "bana kucak ver". If you want to hug somebody you could say:
Let me hug you.
"Gel de sana bir sarılayım"

If you want to be hugged you could say:
"Bana sarılsana."
This last statement would be a girls thing as Turkish men would never say something like that.

Actually the whole concept of hugging is a bit unusual and not so common.

I thought hugging amongst men was very common in turkey whereas it is seen as gay in Holland/UK?

Erdinç, thanks for your explanation. Such a list would indeed come in handy. It's true, when you want to learn a language, you must try to see through the perspective of that language and not your own. I think the best way to do this, is to be in the country though..and hear the way of speaking and get used to speaking yourself too.

sarılsana, yapsana, gitsene etc.

I don't know now how to express it in english, but it shows an urge.
Like: come on, hug me.

So what is kucak used for???

Is it for describing "a hug" that is external to the people involved in the conversation?

Something like:
"kucağı gördim"
the hug I saw

Easy is different, indeed

As long as we can find an excuse for our language-mistakes, we won't have to feel complétely idiot.. so I'll accept your excuse

Maybe as in.. 'come here' ?

Yes, my sözlük says 'embrace' too But it doesn't give the word 'hug' .. maybe that just doesn't exist the way we have it? In Dutch we say it like the english do.

Anyways i should go to bed now..any suggestions for a sweet (!!) sms to aşkım??

Both hugging and talking about hugging is not common among Turkish men.

When two Turkish men are greeting or when they are saying good-bye to each other they might touch cheek to cheek, (first with one side and then with the other side [I never do this by the way]) and afterwards they might hug and lap to each others shoulder. But again, this is not a proper hug. I mean you dont huge a man like you would hug a woman. Assuming a woman is crying or is very upset you hug her and she lets her head down on your shoulder and you hold her with her arms while cuddling and saying "it's OK sweety" or something like that, isn't it?
Anyway, when the men are huging it is just like pretending to hug you dont get too close I think. I'm not sure actually. I don't huge much. Maybe somebody more experienced than me could enlighten us.

But surely even in Turkey, men and women hug and people hug their dogs.......

What would be the noun that describes "the" hug given by a man to a woman or "the hug" given by a person to his/her dog?

And the noun form for this verb is not used too much.
You can say kucaklaşma, or sarılma, sarılış as a noun.
But then it's more like "hugging"

Is "sarılmam" conprised of:

sarıl-ma-m
verb stem - verbal noun suffix - first person singular

this is a very interesting thread so far.. keep it going guys...


and bod, hugging dogs??? :S o dear.. whatever next.. kissing your goldfish?? haha

sorry, thats rather grim... im gonna heave now.. iyyh.. i hate fish...

ahh dont!! its lucky that i havent eaten today,, im sure i would ahve physically thrown up there... :S
o dear...

sağaltım is really a term for intellectuals. It has been a long time since I have heard this word.

maybe bod has an intellectual dog haha

i havent got a dog so ihav nothing to say here

Yes Bod you are right. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I wasnt clear enough. What I wanted to say is that the word sağaltım, sağaltmak, sağaltma or any other version of it wont be understood by the majority of Turks. On the other hand I think most Turkish intellectuals will recognise this word.

There are many of this kind words which are not very well known by the public. There can be very different reasons why a word isn't well known. Maybe it is old fashioned and not used anymore, maybe it is replaced with another word, maybe it is a term of a specific field, maybe it belongs to a certain accent etc.

This word sağaltım is not an ordinary less common word. It is one of the words some intellectuals like to use. I don't want to discuss know why Turkish intellectuals like to use uncommon words that are not known by the majority but the point is that they do.

So there are a few words that have a special meaning. They mean the person wants to stress that she/he belongs to a certain community etc. It is a kind of fashion to express your identity.

I will give one more and more known example:

yadsımak : to deny

Yadsımak, is not so common for the men on the street, though it is better known than sağaltım. Actually the word is used more frequently in written language. Many Turks who read books on literature in an average level will understand that word.
Some people like to use less common words. Maybe in their cultural environment people they are in contact with do use also an advanced vocabulary. So if you use an advanced vocabulary what is wrong with using a less common word. Obviously nothing is wrong. There are usually small details in meaning that intellectuals can recognise in a word but the men on the street cant.

Yadsımak has a strong influence on the listener. If somebody uses this word you are sure of one of these two things: (1.) Maybe the person is within an intellectual environment where this word is used commonly, maybe the person is reading lots of books and it is an ordinary word for him/her, maybe the person understand the ways to build better sounding and more melodical sentences in speech
Or, (2.) maybe the person is a wannabe , or maybe the person wants to impress somebody with unusual style of speech

Erdinç, I am sure thisis not only true of Turkish........

The reason I chose the word I did is because I looked it up in the dictionary - there was no intention of trying to appear intellectual However, the fact that it is a perfectly valid Turkish word would mean that I would use it again assuming I remember it!!!

There are a number of English words that I regularly use that the majority of native speakers would not understand. Examples would include: obverse, recalcitrant, obnoxious and labile. The correct use of unusual words is something that differentiates those who have a command of language from those who do not - perhaps this is exactly why I ask lots of advanced, and sometimes complex, questions about Turkish grammar!