Breakdown of Uzak çölü aşan kervan sabrın ve dayanıklılığın simgesidir.
olmak
to be
ve
and
simge
the symbol
dayanıklılık
the endurance
sabır
the patience
uzak
distant
çöl
the desert
aşmak
to cross
kervan
the caravan
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Questions & Answers about Uzak çölü aşan kervan sabrın ve dayanıklılığın simgesidir.
What type of phrase is uzak çölü aşan kervan, and how is it formed?
uzak çölü aşan kervan is a participial (relative) clause modifying kervan (“caravan”). It’s built with:
- uzak (“distant”) as an attributive adjective for çöl (“desert”).
- çöl taking the accusative suffix -ü because it’s a definite direct object of aşmak (“to cross”).
- The present‐participle suffix -an on aş- (yielding aşan “crossing”).
Put together, it literally means “the caravan that is crossing the distant desert.”
Why is çöl marked with the accusative suffix -ü (i.e. çölü)?
In Turkish, a definite direct object takes the accusative case. Here çöl is the object of aşmak (“to cross”) and is definite (“that desert”), so we add -ü (with 4-way vowel harmony) to get çölü.
What does the suffix -an in aşan do?
The suffix -an (one form of the present‐participle marker) turns the verb aşmak into an adjective-like form aşan, meaning “crossing.” This participle then directly modifies the noun kervan.
Why do sabrın and dayanıklılığın both end in -ın?
They are in a “genitive + noun + copula” structure:
• sabr-ın = “of patience”
• dayanıklılık-ın = “of endurance”
The genitive suffix -ın (again following vowel harmony) marks “patience” and “endurance” as the possessors/related concepts of simge (“symbol”).
What does the suffix -dir in simgedir signify?
-dir is the formal third-person singular copula, equivalent to “it is.” In written or formal Turkish you often see -dir, -dır, -dür, -tır, etc., to affirm a statement. In speech it can be dropped (just simge), but in writing it ensures clarity and formality.
Can you give a literal, word-by-word breakdown of the sentence?
• uzak = distant
• çöl-ü = desert-ACC
• aş-an = crossing (PPL)
• kervan = caravan
• sabır-ın = patience-GEN
• ve = and
• dayanıklılık-ın = endurance-GEN
• simge-dir = symbol-is
=> “The caravan crossing the distant desert is a symbol of patience and endurance.”
Why does Turkish place the participial clause before the noun, while English uses a relative clause after it?
Turkish is a head-final language: modifiers (adjectives, participles, relative clauses) precede the nouns they describe. English is head-initial, so relative clauses come after the noun. Hence uzak çölü aşan modifies kervan from the left.