Isn't This Enough Already?

Fener, Istanbul (Source: Daniel Pontillo)

Lesson 22 | -dik Participle Noun

So we've gone through 21 lesson and 21 songs, and in those songs, you've picked up numerous grammar points and fundamental aspects of the Turkish language. If you've been learning and memorizing these songs and their lyrics, you probably already know much of what you need to get the gist of any kind of song lyrics. If not, here's a good song to do some review on.

The singer is Sezen Aksu. We've already introduced her in Lesson 7. This song is another of her earlier works, and it's one she wrote herself. It is a reflection upon the emotional mistakes we repeatedly make, and in it, she describes encountering and scolding her future/past selves about the error of their ways.

There's one grammatical feature in the song that I'd like to point out in particular. In the last lesson, we saw how the -dik particle can be used to derive words from verbs that resemble adjectives in form and perform the task of relative clauses that start with "which" or "that" in English. Here, we find that same ending used to make nouns that stand on their own and refer to a completed action. I've put the examples from the song in bold below so you can see what I mean.

Also, as this is a song we're dealing with mainly for review, all of the grammar points we've covered are highlighted with blue link buttons that will take you to the relevant lesson to review if you're not sure.

Vocabulary



(-e) rastlamak - to meet, encounter, run into
ders almak - to learn a lesson
başına gelmek - to happen (to someone), literally to come to one's head
bitmek - to finish, to end, to conclude
yetmek - to be enough
yetmez mi - isn't it enough?
(-e) inanmak - to believe
inanamadım - I could not believe

tenha - empty, desolate, secluded place
pek çok - quite a few
eski - old
perişan - miserable, wretched, in a bad condition
keşke - if only

Sezen Aksu - Kendi Kendime

Ben bana bir gün rastlasam bir tenhada
If someday I run into myself in a void/secluded place
Çok ama pek çok sözüm var benim bana
I have many things, really quite a few things, to say to myself

Bak dostum / ders almazsın hiç başına gelenlerden
Look friend, you don't learn your lesson at all from the things that happen to you
Yeni bir sevda başlar daha eskisi bitmeden
A new love begins before the old one has ended
Yetmez mi yıllardır aşktan aşka koşup durduğun
Isn't it enough of this running from love to love for years?
Artık yetmez mi perişan olduğun
Aren't you miserable enough already?

Notice that we could translate this line as "isn't it enough already, your being (olduğun) miserable".

Ben bana güldüm, geçtim gittim yoluma
I smiled at me, I passed, and went on my way

Yıllar sonra bir gün rastladım ben kendime
Years later one day, I ran into myself
Ah keşke görmez olaydım (olmasaydım) inanamadım gözlerime
If only I hadn't seen (myself). I couldn't believe my eyes

Ah dostum ders almadın hiç başına gelenlerden
Oh friend, you didn't learn your lesson at all from the things that happen to you
Yeni bir sevda başladı bak eskisi bitmeden
Look a new love has begun before the old one has ended
Yetmez mi yıllardır aşktan aşka koşup durduğun
Isn't it enough of this running from love to love for years?
Artık yetmez mi perişan olduğun
Aren't you miserable enough already?

Ben beni bir daha görmedim o günden sonra
I haven't seen myself again since that day

I think it's time to a review of some of the vocabulary we've covered so far in Unit 2 before moving to the final lessons of our unit and Lesson 23: You Must Return.

Listening | Sezen Aksu - Zor Yıllar

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Acılardan bir türkü düşünce yüreğime
Yetmiyor sevda sözleri yaralanmış ömrüme
Sığınaklar aramak kederli şarkılarda
Biraz daha yitip gitmek yıpranan dostluklarda

Yaralayan sözler sözler gibi
Silinmeyen izler izler gibi
Birbirini gözler gözler gibi
Zor, zor yıllar

Uykusuz gecelerde sarıveren kaygılar
Kuşkuyla gözlediğin o ölüm dolu sokaklar
Eksildi ömrümüzden umut dolu o yıllar
Siz miydiniz, bizler miydik yorgun düşen kuşaklar

Yaralayan sözler sözler gibi
Silinmeyen izler izler gibi
Birbirini gözler gözler gibi
Zor, zor yıllar...

Söz : Zülfi Livaneli
Beste : Ferhat Livaneli
Düzenleme : Atilla Özdemiroğlu
1989

Lyrics Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKIdnQPh3G0

Listening | Sezen Aksu - İzmir'in Kızı

İzmir’in kızları bir elinde de cımbızları
Dişidir, anadır, efedir gidinin tatlı huysuzları
Çıktılarmıydı ipek çoraplarla kordon boyuna
Savaşta da, aşkta da esaslıdır kadın duruşları
Hiçbir topuk tıkırtısı bu kadar
Davetkar çalamaz
Bir göz vuruşuyla yerle bir eder
Böyle bir şey olamaz

Körfezin yakamozu, yıldızı,
Keskin tuzu tadında
Parfümü meltem
Yasemenler açar balkonunda

İzmir’in kızları
Korku yok kitabında
Çal bre bir harman dalı,
Delikanlı makamında

İzmir’in kızları
Ayıptır söylemesi laf aramızda
Sevişe sevişe de ölür,
Dövüşe dövüşe de icabında
Baba sen de ne biçim takardın
Kısacık eteklerime benim
Merdiven altında
Dizimden belime kıvırıverirdim

Balkona çıkar makber okurdum
Köprü inlerdi
Öyle sert sert bakardın ki
Ay! zor yetişirdim

Baba sen anasına bakıp da
Kızını almayacaktın
Küfürlerine anneannemin
Öyle gülmeyecektin

Daha görür görmez
Cigarasını tellerdirdiğini
Şehriban Hanım’ın
Su yeşili gözlerine dalmayacaktın

İzmir’in kızları çırasını yakar adamın

Lyrics Source: http://www.sezenaksu.net/sezenaksu/muzik/sarki-sozu-sozleri/izmirin-kizlari.html

As If

Sezen Aksu on ablum cover of Serçe

Lesson 7 | gibi/sanki Descriptions

So far we've covered the past and present tense in this exploration of Turkish song lyrics, and before we move on to other verb tenses, it will be helpful to add some vocabulary regarding description that will continue to come up subsequent lessons. We've already seen the word "gibi" meaning "like" as in Yaşar Kurt's statement in lesson one that he encountered "something like death (ölüm gibi bir şey)" on the backstreets of Beyoğlu. This lesson focuses on a song that employs a number of different adverbs that help enrich and add variety to descriptions.

Our singer is Sezen Aksu. She was one of the pioneers of the genre of modern pop in Turkish music, and since that time, has been one of the most visible figures in that scene not only as a performer but also as a writer for big names such as Tarkan. As such, she has naturally served as a critic of various forms of gender discrimination against women as well as Turkey's LGBT community. We'll be hearing from her again in subsequent units.

This song comes from her first LP entitled "Allahaısmarladık" released in 1977. It describes a love that has taken form of a burning passion, "flaming (alev alev)" as she says. For the purposes of this lesson, we will focus on the adverbs she uses to describe that love.

The first we encounter is "ne kadar." This means "how much (literally what amount)" and is the question word we would use to ask the price of something in the market. However, in this context it is not a question but rather a statement of a large amount. "Ne kadar güzel", for example, means "how beautiful". "Ne kadar" can be paired with most adjectives when "çok (very)" just doesn't seem to cut it.

The next word we have is "tıpkı". For those who need the etymology of this word, see our lesson on tıpkı itself. For now, we will learn the construction of "tıpkı X gibi" meaning "just like X". Sezen Aksu says that her lover's hand are so warm that they are "just like fire (tıpkı ateş gibi)". This can be used when one needs to express extreme likeness in a way that "gibi" does not fully capture.

Another item like "gibi" that we will highlight in this lesson is "sanki" meaning "as if". This descriptor is also used for simile as in "gibi", but is especially helpful when expressing a simile that is more than a single noun. For example, "sanki" is necessary to make the sentence "It is as if my heart is a fluttering bird" / "Yüreğim çırpınan bir kuş sanki".

We should also highlight the word "öyle", which is the sibling of "böyle" and "şöyle", all of which carry the meaning of "thus", "such", and "so" with different levels of proximity to the speaker (if that doesn't make sense, don't try to make sense of it at this moment). Used together with the particle ki, which will be discussed later, it brings the meaning of "so much" or "so much that". Thus, She says "öyle mutluyum ki" to "I am so happy".

Finally, I will point to the word "en", which is put before an adjective to give the mean of "the most x". Here, as in really the entire song, she is exaggerating, so when she says "en tatlı sesin" meaning "your most sweet voice", it just means your voice is very very oh so sweet.

Vocabulary

Practice this vocabulary list on Quizlet



ne kadar - so (much), also how much
gibi - like, as
tıpkı - the same
tıpkı ... gibi - just like
sanki - as if
öyle - like that, so, thus
öyle mutluyum ki - I am so happy that...

yanmak - to burn
fısıldamak - to whisper

el - hand
sıcak - hot, warm
ateş - fire
alev - flame
alev alev - flaming
bakış - glance, look
yumuşak - soft
güneş - sun
köşe - corner
her köşesi - every corner of it
yürek - heart
kuş - bird
beste - melody, tune
çöl - desert
yalnız - alone, lonely

Sezen Aksu - Alev Alev


Click the play button above to listen to the song

Ellerin ne kadar sıcak / tıpkı ateş gibi
Your hands are so warm / just like a fire
Bakışların ne kadar yumuşak / tıpkı doğan güneş gibi
Your glances are so soft / just like a rising sun

[Alev alev yanıyor / sevginle kalbimin her köşesi]
Every corner of my heart is flaming hot with your love

If we wanted to render this into a more regular Turkish word order, it would be "Kalbimin her köşesi sevginle alev alev yanıyor."

Yüreğim çırpınan bir kuş sanki
As if my heart is a fluttering bird
Sanki bir aşk bestesi / Fısıldıyor kulağıma
As if a love song... is whispering in my ear

Gözlerin ne kadar güzel / Bak gözlerimin içine
Your eyes are so beautiful / Look into my eyes
O en, en tatlı sesinle / bana güzel bir şey söyle
With that oh so sweet voice of yours / 
Say something nice to me

Alev alev yanıyor / sevginle kalbimin her köşesi
Yüreğim çırpınan bir kuş sanki
Sanki bir aşk bestesi / fısıldıyor kulağıma

Öyle, öyle mutluyum ki / ah delicesine
I'm so happy, ah, wildly so
Bir çölde yapayalnız kaybolmuş / koşuyorum sesine
Lost all alone in a desert / I'm running towards your voice

"Yapayalnız" is a emphasized form of the adjective "yalnız". We won't be able to deal with this type of adjective systematically until later lessons, but means means "completely lonely" or "all alone."

Overwhelmed by hyperbole yet. I hope not. Our next Lesson 8: I Will Die focuses on the future tense. Try practicing the words from this lesson with the Scatter game below before moving on.