Gözyaşı sessizce akıyor.

Tears are quietly flowing.

Breakdown of Gözyaşı sessizce akıyor.

• sessizce: quietly
• akmak: to flow
• gözyaşı: the tear

Questions & Answers about Gözyaşı sessizce akıyor.

What is the literal meaning and structure of gözyaşı?

Gözyaşı is a compound noun:

• göz = eye
• yaş = liquid, moisture, tear
• göz + yaş + ı → gözyaşı = literally eye’s liquid, i.e. tear.

The -ı at the end is historically the 3rd person possessive suffix (its liquid), but in modern Turkish gözyaşı is understood as a single word meaning tear rather than a live possessive phrase.

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Why is gözyaşı singular in Turkish when in English we usually say tears are flowing (plural)?

Turkish often uses a singular noun for things that in English are typically plural or mass:

• Gözyaşı sessizce akıyor.
  Literally: The tear is flowing silently.
  Natural English: Tears are flowing silently.

Here, gözyaşı is more like an uncountable or generic “tear” as a substance. The fact that there is more than one drop is usually understood from context.

If you want to make the plurality explicit, you can say:

• Gözyaşları sessizce akıyor.
  = The tears are flowing silently.

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What is the function and formation of sessizce?