Çocuk şeytandan korktu.

The child was afraid of the devil.

Breakdown of Çocuk şeytandan korktu.

• çocuk: the child
• korkmak: to fear
• şeytan: a devil

Questions & Answers about Çocuk şeytandan korktu.

Why is şeytan written as şeytandan here?

Because the verb korkmak (to be afraid / to fear) normally takes the ablative case in Turkish, usually marked by -dan / -den / -tan / -ten.

So:

• şeytan = devil
• şeytandan = literally from the devil

But with korkmak, that -dan ending is the normal way to express being afraid of someone/something.

So Turkish says something closer to:

• Çocuk şeytandan korktu.
• literally: The child feared from the devil
• natural English: The child was afraid of the devil.

Why is it -dan and not some other form like -den, -tan, or -ten?

This is due to two regular Turkish sound rules:

1. Vowel harmony decides between a/e
2. Consonant harmony decides between d/t

In şeytan:

• the last vowel is a, so the suffix uses a rather than e
• the word ends in n, which is a voiced consonant, so the suffix starts with d, not t

So:

• şeytan + dan = şeytandan

Other nouns would take different forms, for example:

• evden = from the house
• ağaçtan = from the tree
• köpekten = from the dog

Why is çocuk not marked with a case ending?