Pasajın zeminindeki mozaik desenler antik döneme ait izler taşıyor.

The mosaic patterns on the passage floor bear traces from the ancient era.

Breakdown of Pasajın zeminindeki mozaik desenler antik döneme ait izler taşıyor.

• taşımak: to carry
• -de: in
• -e: to
• iz: the trace
• -ın: of
• -ki: relative marker
• desen: the pattern
• zemin: the floor
• pasaj: the passage
• mozaik: mosaic
• antik: ancient
• dönem: the era
• ait: belonging

Questions & Answers about Pasajın zeminindeki mozaik desenler antik döneme ait izler taşıyor.

How is “pasajın zeminindeki” formed, and what does it mean?

Breakdown of pasajın zeminindeki:

• pasaj + -ın (genitive “of the”) → pasajın = “of the passage”
• zemin
  • -i (3rd-person possessive, linking back to pasajın) + -nde (locative “in/on”) + -ki (relative adjective marker)
    → zeminindeki = “which is on its floor”

So pasajın zeminindeki literally means “on the floor of the passage,” and it functions as an adjective modifying mozaik desenler.

What does the structure “X’e ait Y” mean in “antik döneme ait izler”?

In Turkish, X’e ait Y means “Y belonging to X.” It’s built from:

1. X in the dative case (suffix -e/-a),
2. the adjective ait (“belonging”),
3. and Y (the possessed noun).

Thus antik döneme ait izler is literally “traces belonging to the ancient period,” i.e. “traces from the ancient period.”

Why is the verb “taşıyor” used here, and does it translate as “are carrying” or “carry”?

The verb taşımak means “to carry.”

• The -ıyor suffix marks the present continuous tense.
• In Turkish, the present continuous can also express general truths or descriptive states, not just an action in progress.

So taşıyor here is best understood as “carries” (or “contains”), describing a standing characteristic: “(the patterns) carry traces.” You could also use the aorist taşır, but taşıyor emphasizes the observable state of currently having those traces.

Why doesn’t “taşıyor” have a plural ending even though “desenler” is plural?

Turkish verbs in the 3rd person do not distinguish singular vs. plural by default—they have a zero ending for both. You may optionally add -lar/-ler (taşıyorlar) to stress plurality, but in standard usage speakers nearly always omit it. Hence desenler taşıyor is correct for “the patterns carry.”

What does “mozaik desenler” mean, and how do these two nouns work together?

• Mozaik = “mosaic” (loanword from French)
• desenler = “patterns” (plural of desen)

In Turkish, a noun placed directly before another noun acts like an adjective without any extra suffix. Thus mozaik desenler = “mosaic patterns.”

(Note: mozaikli desenler would mean “patterns that have mosaic on them,” a slightly different nuance.)

What kind of place is a “pasaj” in Turkish?

Pasaj is borrowed from French passage and refers to a covered arcade or shopping gallery—a pedestrian corridor lined with shops, often featuring a glass roof.