Learn Hardcore Turkish: Gelen mesaj için telefonda zil çalınca heyecanlandım. - I was excited when the bell rang on the phone for the incoming message.

gelen is a participle formed from the verb gelmek (“to come”) using the suffix -en. It means “that came” or “incoming.” So gelen mesaj literally is “the message that came,” i.e. “the incoming message.”

Why is there no article (“a” or “the”) before mesaj?

Turkish does not use definite or indefinite articles like “the” or “a.” Nouns stand alone, and definiteness is either inferred from context or marked by other means (e.g. context, word order).

What role does için play in mesaj için?

için means “for” or “because of.” Here mesaj için conveys “because of the message” or “for that message.” It introduces the reason or purpose.

Why is mesaj not in a case like genitive or dative when used with için?

When you use için to express cause or purpose, you attach it directly to the bare noun (with no additional case suffix). The only time you’d see a suffix is if the noun itself has a possessor, e.g. gelen mesajın (“of the incoming message”) + için → gelen mesajın için (“for the incoming message’s sake”).

What does telefonda mean and why is it in that form?

telefonda is telefon + the locative suffix -da, giving “on/at the phone.” It tells us where the ringing happened.

What is the function of -ınca in çalınca?

The suffix -(y)ınca attaches to a verb stem to mean “when” or “as soon as.”
• çal- (“to ring”) + -ınca → çalınca = “when (it) rang” or “as soon as it rang.”

Why does the sentence end with heyecanlandım instead of something like heyecan yaptım?

The verb heyecanlanmak (“to get excited”) is an intransitive verb formed from the noun heyecan (“excitement”) plus the verb-forming suffix -lan. You don’t “do excitement” (heyecan yapmak is rare); you “become excited” (heyecanlanmak).

Why isn’t there a subject pronoun like ben before heyecanlandım?

Turkish is a pro-drop language: the subject is encoded in the verb ending. Here -dım marks first-person singular past tense, so ben (“I”) is understood and usually omitted.

Could the parts of this sentence be reordered, or is this the only way to say it?

Turkish word order is relatively flexible, but a common order for such sentences is:
1) Modifier/subordinate clause (Gelen mesaj için)
2) Locative/time phrase (telefonda)
3) Main verb with temporal suffix (zil çalınca)
4) Main clause (heyecanlandım)
You could say, for example:
• Telefonda gelen mesajın zili çalınca heyecanlandım.
but it shifts focus to “the ring of the incoming message” rather than “the message for which the phone rang.”