"There was a silver coin which had been used in the early days of the Ottoman Empire."

kullan|ıl|an = VERB STEM + PASSIVE + PARTICIPLE

O akçe Osmanlı Devleti´nin ilk zamanlarında kullanıldı. ´it was used´

akçe is the grammatical subject of this passive sentence > the participle modifying it must be of the -(Y)EN type.

I think so too but let´s see.

The most informative place for a comma in Turkish is after the grammatical subject. For two reasons I guess:

- the subject phrase may consist of several words, modifiers + head

- what follows the subject in transitive sentences is most probably the object which  -  if indefinite  -  has no marking either.

Exactly. And we can go even further: not every language feels the urge to convey the same amount of information about the state of affairs described. There are gaps between the blankets. A simple example is grammatical gender.

As a learner I cannot really answer your questions, Lillita, we need a native view for that. I will just share some of my thoughts and some things I have learned from literature (mostly Göksel - Kerslake 2010 ).

I think the correct native-like use of tenses is one of the most difficult things in Turkish. That is because tenses in any language are not only tenses but are also connected to the aspectual and modal views the speaker wants to express.

It is difficult to talk about Turkish tenses without referring to the notion of aspect at the same time. Compare the following sentences to understand the terminology:

She was singing (1) when I entered (2).

The neighbour´s dog used to wake my up every morning by barking. (3)

John is singing. (4)

(1) IMPERFECTIVE, not completed action

(2) PERFECTIVE, completed action

(3) HABITUAL

(4) PROGRESSIVE, action in progress

The Turkish equivalents are roughly as follows:

(1) -(I)YOR, -MAKTA, -(I)R, -(Y)DI (when attached to nominals)

(2) -DI, -MIŞ

(3) -(I)YOR, -MAKTA, -(I)R (in the past), olur/oluyor (in nominal sentences)

(4) -(I)YOR, -MAKTA

For habitual action, both -(I)YOR and -(I)R do the job at least in the past tense. The distribution between them is difficult for a learner to grasp.

The only meaning that -(I)R cannot convey is the progressive aspect. In my opinion, all your examples 1-5 represent progressive aspect and -(I)R cannot be used in them.

As a rule of thumb -(I)YOR partly laps together with the English BE + -ING construction (progressive action) but also has a wider use (habitual action).

If I was a native English speaker which I am not I would compare the use of would and -(IR)DI. Interesting similarities could come into light. Both can be used both for habitual action in the past and unreal (conditional) action.

I see.

"Overloaded suffix" is a good description for DIR I guess. DIR kind of opens the door for various modal meanings concerning the truth value of the proposition and the speaker´s attitudes towards it. Göksel and Kerslake call it the marker of general modality if my memory does not fail me.

The novel tells of

1) the unhappy marriage of Bihter who in order to escape from the life she was living married Adnan Bey, who was almost the age of her father,

2) her forbidden love with Adnan Bey´s nephew Behlül

3) her committing suicide because of the fear of this love being revealed.

How can you express probability or pass information in a question?

I never used midir in my life. :O

My Try:

Please come in, sit down friends,

welcome, bring pleasure with you.

I know, while I was sleeping

you entered my prison cell through the window.

You neither dropped the narrow necked vial

nor the red box. (I guess he means the items on the windowsill...)

Moonlight on your faces,

you stopped at my bedside, joined hands.

Please come in, sit down friends,

welcome, bring pleasure with you.