Breakdown of Flüt sesi gecenin sessizliğini böldü.
Questions & Answers about Flüt sesi gecenin sessizliğini böldü.
Turkish is an S–O–V language. In this sentence:
• Subject (S): Flüt sesi (“the flute sound”)
• Object (O): gecenin sessizliğini (“the night’s silence,” definite direct object)
• Verb (V): böldü (“broke”)
Here Flüt sesi is an attributive compound meaning “flute sound.” In such compounds the first noun (Flüt) remains bare, and the second noun (ses) takes the 3rd person singular possessive suffix -i to show “sound of a flute.”
You could also use the full genitive-possessive construction—Flütün sesi—if you want to be extra explicit (“the flute’s sound”).
This -i is the 3rd person singular possessive suffix, marking “its sound.”
By Turkish vowel harmony, after the stem vowel e (in ses) you choose -i (not -ı, -u, or -ü), giving sesi.
Break it down:
- gecenin = gece (night) + buffer n
- genitive -in → “of the night.”
- sessizliğini = sessizlik (silence) + possessive -i (3rd person) + accusative -ni → “its silence” as a definite object.
– The possessive -i shows “silence of the night.”
– The accusative -ni marks it as a specific direct object of böldü.
In Turkish, a definite or specific direct object must be marked with the accusative suffix -ı/-i/-u/-ü (here realized as -ni because it follows the possessive -i). Since we mean “the night’s silence” (not just “a silence”), it gets the suffix.
Turkish has two harmony dimensions:
• “Four‐way” harmony for -I suffixes (i, ı, u, ü): pick the vowel closest in front/back and rounded/unrounded to the stem’s last vowel.
• “Four‐way” harmony for -In suffixes (in, ın, un, ün) follows the same rule.
Examples in our sentence:
• ses (e → front unrounded) + -i = sesi
• gece (e → front unrounded) + buffer n + -in = gecenin
• sessizlik (i → front unrounded) + -i (poss.) + -n (acc.) = sessizliğini
Different suffixes use different buffer consonants when attaching to a vowel-final stem. The genitive suffix -nI always uses n as a buffer:
• gece + n + in = gecenin
By contrast, the accusative -yI uses y:
• araba + y + ı = arabayı
Yes. sessizliği bozmak (“to disturb/disrupt the silence”) is very common. bölmek literally means “to split” or “to cut through,” giving a more poetic image: “the flute sound cut through the night’s silence.”
Absolutely. The fully marked version is Flütün sesi gecenin sessizliğini böldü. Here you have:
• Flüt-ün (genitive: of the flute)
• ses-i (possessive: its sound)
• gece-nin (genitive: of the night)
• sessizlik-i-ni (possessive + accusative on “silence”)