Cami bahçesinde kuş cıvıltılarını dinlemek çok rahatlatıcı.

Breakdown of Cami bahçesinde kuş cıvıltılarını dinlemek çok rahatlatıcı.

çok
very
dinlemek
to listen
rahatlatıcı
relaxing
kuş
the bird
-de
in
cıvıltı
the chirping
cami
the mosque
bahçe
the courtyard
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Questions & Answers about Cami bahçesinde kuş cıvıltılarını dinlemek çok rahatlatıcı.

Why does cami bahçesinde have two suffixes (-si and -nde) on bahçe, and what do they indicate?

In Turkish you express “in the mosque’s courtyard” by first showing possession (the courtyard belongs to the mosque) and then location (in). Morphologically:
bahçe = garden/courtyard
bahçe + ‑si = bahçesi (“its courtyard,” 3rd-person possessive)
bahçesi + ‑nde = bahçesinde (“in its courtyard,” locative case; n is a buffer for ease of pronunciation)
Combine with cami (“mosque”) → cami bahçesinde = “in the mosque courtyard.”

What do the suffixes -lar and -ını (in kuş cıvıltılarını) mean, and why are they used together?

-lar = plural marker (“chirpings,” more than one chirp)
-ını = accusative case for a definite object (“to the chirpings” or “the chirpings” as a specific thing you listen to). Because kuş cıvıltıları ends in a vowel, we insert a buffer n before kuş cıvıltılarını.
Altogether: kuş cıvıltılarını = “the bird chirpings” (plural, definite direct object).

Why is dinlemek in the infinitive (-mek) form instead of a conjugated verb?
Turkish uses the infinitive form (verb stem + -mek/-mak) as a noun. Here kuş cıvıltılarını dinlemek literally means “to listen to the bird chirpings” and functions as the subject of the sentence—just like “Reading in the park is peaceful” in English.
What’s the difference between dinlemek and duymak, and why is dinlemek used here?

duymak = “to hear” (passively perceive sound)
dinlemek = “to listen” (actively pay attention to sound)
Since the sentence implies intentionally enjoying the birds’ chirping, dinlemek (“to listen to”) is the correct choice.

How is rahatlatıcı formed, and what does it mean?
  1. rahatlamak = “to relax” (oneself)
  2. rahatlatmak = “to make someone relax” (causative)
  3. Add the adjectival/agent suffix -ıcı/-ici/-ucu/-ücürahatlatıcı
    So rahatlatıcı literally means “something that makes (you) relax,” i.e. “relaxing” or “soothing.”
Why is there no explicit “to be” copula (e.g. -dır) after rahatlatıcı?

In Turkish, when an adjective or adjectival noun follows its subject, the copula -dır/-tir is often omitted in everyday speech and writing. The link “is” is understood:
(Kuş cıvıltılarını dinlemek) çok rahatlatıcı.
= “(Listening to the bird chirpings) is very relaxing.”
You can add -dır for formality or emphasis: rahatlatıcıdır.

Is the placement of cami bahçesinde at the beginning fixed, and why is it there?
Turkish generally follows Subject-Object-Verb, but adverbials of place/time (like cami bahçesinde) often come before the subject or nominalized verb to set the scene. It’s natural to say cami bahçesinde first to emphasize where the relaxing activity happens.