Learn Hardcore Turkish: Küçük kız salıncakta sallanıyor. - The little girl is swinging on the swing.

kız küçük is a full sentence meaning “The girl is small.”
Here, küçük would be used like a predicate (part of the verb phrase), not as an adjective in front of a noun.

Compare:

Küçük kız salıncakta sallanıyor. – The little girl is swinging on the swing.
Kız küçük. – The girl is small. (a describing sentence)

Why is there no word for “the” in the Turkish sentence?

Turkish has no separate word for “the”. Definiteness is usually understood from context, word order, and case endings.

kız can mean “a girl” or “the girl” depending on context.
In this sentence, küçük kız is naturally understood as “the little girl”, because we are talking about a specific girl we can picture.

What does the -ta in salıncakta mean, and why is it -ta instead of -da?

-ta / -te / -da / -de are all forms of the locative case, meaning “in / on / at”.

The choice depends on:

Vowel harmony (a / ı / o / u → a; e / i / ö / ü → e)
Consonant type (voiceless vs voiced)

For salıncak:

Last vowel: a → use a in the suffix (so -ta / -da rather than -te / -de).
Last consonant: k, which is voiceless → choose the voiceless version -t-.

So: salıncak + ta → salıncakta = “on the swing”.

How is sallanıyor formed, and what tense is it?

sallanıyor is in the present continuous tense, 3rd person singular.

Formation:

Verb stem: sallan- (from sallanmak – to swing / to sway)
Tense marker: -ıyor (present continuous, but written with vowel harmony: -ıyor / -iyor / -uyor / -üyor)
Person ending: (nothing extra) for he/she/it in the 3rd person singular

So:

sallan- + ıyor → sallanıyor = he/she/it is swinging / is swaying

Why is there no word for “she”? Why isn’t it O küçük kız salıncakta sallanıyor?

Turkish usually drops subject pronouns when they can be understood from the verb ending or from context.

sallanıyorum – I am swinging
sallanıyorsun – you are swinging
sallanıyor – he/she/it is swinging

Since sallanıyor is clearly 3rd person singular, we don’t need o (he / she / it) unless we want to stress or contrast it:

O küçük kız salıncakta sallanıyor. – That little girl is swinging (emphasis on that one).

Is sallanıyor reflexive, passive, or just an intransitive verb?

sallanmak is usually an intransitive verb: something swings / sways / rocks.

Küçük kız salıncakta sallanıyor. – The little girl is swinging (herself) on the swing.

You can also see a relation to the transitive sallamak – to shake / to swing (something):

Babası salıncağı sallıyor. – Her father is swinging the swing.

So roughly:

sallamak – to swing/shake something (transitive)
sallanmak – to swing/sway (intransitive, the thing itself moves)

Could the sentence also mean “The little girl swings on the swing (habitually)”? Or is it only “is swinging right now”?

Turkish present continuous (-yor) can express:

Right now:
- Küçük kız salıncakta sallanıyor. – The little girl is swinging (right now).
Near future arrangements:
- Yarın Ankara’ya gidiyorum. – I’m going to Ankara tomorrow.

For general habits, Turkish more often uses the aorist (simple present) -r / -ar / -er:

Küçük kız salıncakta sallanır. – The little girl (normally / generally) swings on the swing.

So in isolation, your sentence most naturally means “is swinging (now)”, not a general habit.

Can I change the word order? For example, is Küçük kız sallanıyor salıncakta also correct?

Yes, Turkish word order is flexible, but there is a default order:

Default: Subject – (time/place) – Object – Verb

So:

Küçük kız salıncakta sallanıyor. – very natural, neutral.

You could say:

Küçük kız sallanıyor salıncakta. – emphasizes where she is swinging.
Salıncakta küçük kız sallanıyor. – emphasizes who is on the swing.

All are grammatically possible, but beginners should stick to the standard order: Subject + Place + Verb.

How do I pronounce the ı in kız and the ç in küçük?

Pronunciation tips:

ı (dotless i) in kız:
- A sound that doesn’t exist in English.
- It’s like a very short, relaxed vowel between “uh” and “er”: lips relaxed, tongue in the middle.
- Not like English “ee” or dotted i.
ç in küçük:
- Pronounced like “ch” in “church”.
- So küçük sounds roughly like “kyu-CHUK” (with a front ü vowel).

Also:

Final k in salıncak is a plain k sound (not like English “jack”, even though it’s written with -cak).

What is the difference between salıncakta sallanıyor and salıncakta sallıyor?

sallanıyor – intransitive: is swinging / is swaying (the subject is moving itself)
sallıyor – transitive: is swinging (something) or is shaking (something)

Examples:

Küçük kız salıncakta sallanıyor.
The little girl is swinging (on the swing).
Küçük kız salıncağı sallıyor.
The little girl is swinging the swing (making it move, possibly with someone else on it).

So in your sentence, sallanıyor is correct because the girl herself is moving.

How would I say “The little girls are swinging on the swing” in Turkish?

You need to pluralize the subject and adjust the verb:

küçük kız → küçük kızlar (little girls)
Verb for they: add -lar to the 3rd person verb if you want to make plurality explicit (often done with human subjects).

So:

Küçük kızlar salıncakta sallanıyor. – very common, plural understood from kızlar.
Küçük kızlar salıncakta sallanıyorlar. – also correct; emphasizes that the verb is plural.

Both are used; the version without -lar on the verb is often more natural in everyday speech.