In the text below I cannot understand the make-up of 'anlıyamamış'! Please can someone explain -- or shall I just learn it by heart? [not a good thing]

'Elleriyle işaretler yapmışlar: garsona süt kelimesine anlatmak istemişler ... fakat genç garson anlıyamamış'.

If I was relating, I would have used 'anlayamazmiş' from 'anlamamak'!!? The word seems to be made up of 'anlı-(y)-a-ma-mış' >> what construction is this? & ayrica, does it mean 'they were not able to explain' or 'he was not able to understand' ??

I have tried to stuggle with this construction, very hard.

Thanks.

Tazx1

This is the sentence after correction:

"Elleriyle işaretler yapmışlar, garsona süt kelimesini anlatmak istemişler... Fakat genç garson anlayamamış."

"kelimesine" >>--> "kelimesini"
"anlıyamamış" >>--> "anlayamamış"

Now you can understand

"anlayamamış" mean is "waiter was not understand"
"anlayamazmış" meas is "waiter couldn't understand"

so anlayamış is tru word for this sentence


for say "they were not able to explain"
genç garsona anlatamamışlar

Thank you limon, Hilliar & Faruk Bey,

To limon >> Limon you seem to have got mixed up between 'anlayamamış' & ?'anlayamazmış' ... please check! Or have I misunderstood you.

To Hilliar >> I am sure the book is correct but I wanted to understand the difference between 'Anlı-y-amamış' and 'anla-y-amazmış'. Besides the book says 'anlı-y-amamış' and two of you write 'anla-y-amamış' [I take it that 'anlı-y-amamış' and 'anla-y-amamış' are one and same?]

Anlatir misiniz lutfen?

Tazx1

You are reading the Yusuf Mardin book, I think. I remember the story about milk and a bull-fight tickets.

Turkish, like English, changes with time and usage. Languages are dynamic.

Yusuf Mardin uses the old form, where if a verb stem (git, anla etc) ends in a vowel, you drop the vowel and replace it with -i- or -ı- depending on vowel harmony.

Now this isn't usually done, except for the present tense (-iyor)

So we normally now write anlıyorum, but anlamıyorum

Anlıyamamış is just an old way of writing anlayamamış.

Anlıyamamış with "ı" can only be the pronounciation. But in written language, you can't use it unless you are writing a story and giving a dialog with the accent to say that people say something like that as a countryside speech or something like that. True usage is anlayamamış with "a"

Thank you marionin and caliptrix.

You are right, it is from the story you mention from Yusuf Mardin's book.

Thanks for the explanation and help to each and everyone.

Tazx1