In Turkish, you can easily derive a verb from a noun or an adjective to describe how someone perceives, regards, or treats something using the suffix -(I)msEmEk (or its variant -sEmEk).
The Perception Suffix
By adding -(I)msE (or just -sE) to a word, you create a verb meaning "to perceive as" or "to treat like" the root concept.
- garip (strange) + -se = garipsemek (to find strange)
- önem (importance) + -se = önemsemek (to care about)
Note that a final consonant sometimes drops when the suffix is added:
- küçük (small) + -ümse = küçümsemek (to belittle)
| He cares a lot about other cultures. | O, diğer kültürleri çok önemser. |
| At first, I found their traditions strange. | İlk başta onların geleneklerini garipsedim. |
| Never belittle different people. | Farklı insanları asla küçümseme. |
Embracing and Internalizing
This suffix can attach to pronouns or words relating to the "self" to describe adopting something into your own identity.
- ben (I/me) + -imse = benimsemek (to embrace / to make one's own)
- öz (core/self) + -ümse = özümsemek (to internalize)
| I embraced the culture of my new country. | Yeni ülkemin kültürünü benimsedim. |
| Internalizing a culture takes time. | Bir kültürü özümsemek zaman alır. |
Underestimating vs. Taking Lightly
When describing someone minimizing a situation, your choice of verb depends on what is being minimized.
- Use azımsamak (from az, meaning "little") when underestimating a quantity, number, or share.
- Use hafifsemek (from hafif, meaning "light") when taking a problem, danger, or situation lightly.
| Do not underestimate the share of women in success. | Kadınların başarıdaki payını azımsama. |
| Please do not take this serious problem lightly. | Lütfen bu ciddi sorunu hafifsemeyin. |
Culture, Diversity, and Tolerance
When discussing how people perceive others, you will use vocabulary related to culture and mindset (zihniyet). Key concepts include önyargı (prejudice) and hoşgörü (tolerance / open-mindedness), as well as verbs like dışlamak (to exclude).
| We have to show tolerance instead of prejudice. | Önyargı yerine hoşgörü göstermek zorundayız. |
| They excluded them because they were different. | Onları farklı diye dışladılar. |
Combine these nouns with your perception verbs to describe complex cultural attitudes:
| He didn't use to find the diversity adopted by society strange. | Toplumun benimsediği çeşitliliği garipsemiyordu. |
