Bu asılsız söylentiyi kim uydurdu?

Who made up this unfounded rumor?

Breakdown of Bu asılsız söylentiyi kim uydurdu?

• bu: this
• kim: who
• söylenti: a rumor (unverified report in circulation)
• asılsız: unfounded; baseless

Questions & Answers about Bu asılsız söylentiyi kim uydurdu?

Why is söylenti written as söylentiyi here?

Because it is the direct object of the verb, and in Turkish a specific/definite direct object usually takes the accusative case.

• Base noun: söylenti = rumor
• Accusative form: söylentiyi = the rumor / this rumor (as the object)

So:

• Bu asılsız söylenti = this unfounded rumor
• Bu asılsız söylentiyi = this unfounded rumor (as the thing someone made up)

The -yi part is the accusative ending. It appears as -ı, -i, -u, -ü depending on vowel harmony, and sometimes a buffer consonant y is added after a vowel-final noun.

Here:

• söylenti ends in a vowel
• accusative is -i
• buffer y is inserted
• so: söylenti + y + i = söylentiyi

What does bu mean here, and why is there no word for the?

Bu means this.

Turkish does not have articles like English a/an/the. Instead, definiteness is often understood from context, demonstratives like bu, or case marking.

So:

• bu = this
• bu söylenti = this rumor
• bu söylentiyi = this rumor (as a specific object)

English needs the or this, but Turkish handles this differently.

What does asılsız mean, and how is it built?