#turkish language

The Tinebaillese language is based on Turkish, yes! Bayram’s name, too, is Turkish. I have a couple Turkish beta readers who have been positively INVALUABLE to me! 🥰

But you don’t have to pop it in Google Translate. Every word and expression Bayram uses can be found in the in-game codex, along with pronunciations. ☺️

here are some of my favourite turkish idioms that speak to the slow-burn of missing, of yearning, of hearts left open like windows.

burnumda tütmek “to smoke in my nose” missing something so deeply it lingers like scent - a mother’s cooking, a lover’s voice, the sea in summer.

gözüm yollarda kaldı “my eyes remained on the road” the kind of waiting where your eyes stretch far past the horizon. hope held like breath.

içimde ukde kaldı “it remained an ache inside me” for all the unspoken things, the unfinished conversations, the goodbye you didn’t get to say.

hasret kaldım “i was left with longing” a hollowing kind of missing. not just absence, but hunger.

yüreğim dağlandı “my heart got scorched” grief and longing braided together. an ache so sharp it burns.

gönlüm sende kaldı “my heart stayed with you” when someone walks away but takes a part of you with them.

içi içine sığmamak “one’s inside doesn’t fit into oneself” when the longing swells and spills. too much feeling for one body.

Sometimes i hate English so much 🙄🙄

Like wdym "uncle" means both my mother's and father's brother?!?!

Do i have to say "my cousin, father's niece" and that doesn't even explain it entirely... i have to say "my father's brother's daughter" 😭😭

While in Turkish we have "amcamın oğlu", "amcamın kızı", "halamın oğlu", "halamın kızı", "dayımın oğlu", "dayımın kızı", "teyzemin oğlu", "teyzemin kızı".

What do they call turkeys (as in the birds) in Turkish?

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[ID: Cartoonish drawing of a grey-brown sea lion underwater. /end ID]

[ID: Nine Turkish worksheet thumbnails arranged around a heart. My icon, a woman wearing a white hijab, is in the corner, next to a box with my ko-fi link: ko-fi.com/ameera_ameera. /end ID]

Did you know I started sharing free Turkish resources this August? I have created 10 worksheet bundles so far. Each starts with an explanation of a grammatical concept, followed by several pages of exercises. Each exercise also comes with a solution, of course, so you can check and correct your answers at home.

I have decided to create and share these resources for free to make learning Turkish more accessible to everyone. The internet lacks good free resources, and common apps like Duolingo or Busuu have weak Turkish courses.