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In Turkish, a natural and colorful way to express variety, abundance, or manner is by simply repeating a word. This lexical reduplication is called **ikileme**.

### Expressing Variety and Abundance

Repeating a descriptive or quantitative noun before another noun turns it into an adjective of abundance or variety. For instance, repeating *renk* (color) makes *renk renk* (colorful / in many colors), and *çeşit* (kind) makes *çeşit çeşit* (all sorts of).

Similarly, repeating grouping words like *demet* (bunch) or *yığın* (pile) means "bunches of" or "piles of".

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### Describing the Manner of Actions

Repeated words also act as adverbs to describe *how* an action is performed. For example, repeating *yavaş* (slow) creates *yavaş yavaş* (slowly).

You can also use grouping words right before a verb to describe the physical manner of an action, like bringing items "by the sackful" (*çuval çuval*) or leaving them "in piles" (*yığın yığın*).

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### The Scent of the Market: Buram Buram

Some reduplications are fixed expressions. To describe a strong, pleasant, wafting scent—like fresh spices—Turkish uses the special phrase *buram buram*. It almost exclusively pairs with the verb *kokmak* (to smell) to mean a scent is radiating strongly through the air.

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Word reduplication for manner

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (bu, şu, o)

Basic question words (kim, ne)

Plural nouns (-lar, -ler)

I am and you are (-(y)ım, -sın)

We, you, and they are (-(y)ız, -sınız)

Negative statements (değil)

Yes and no questions (mı, mi, mu, mü)

Questions with 'to be' (mısın, mıyım)

Numbers 1 to 10 (bir, iki, üç)

Numbers 11 to 20 (on bir, on iki)

Numbers by tens to 100 (otuz, kırk...)

Counting objects (tane)

The locative case (-da, -de)

Consonant assimilation (-ta, -te)

Asking where (nerede)

There is / there are (var)

There is not / there are not (yok)

Asking how many (kaç)

Infinitive verbs (-mak, -mek)

Informal commands (git, gel)

Negative commands (-ma, -me)

Polite and plural commands (-In, -InIz)

Basic word order

Present continuous for consonant roots (-iyor)

Present continuous for vowel roots (-iyor)

Present continuous personal suffixes (-iyorum)

Negative present continuous (-miyor)

Present continuous questions (-iyor mu)

Future plans with present continuous

The dative case (-(y)a, -(y)e)

Consonant mutation (k, t, p, ç to ğ, d, b, c)

From or out of (-dan / -den)

Directional question words (nereye, nereden)

First and second person possessives (-(i)m, -(i)n)

Third person possessive (-(s)i)

Plural possessives (-imiz, -iniz, -leri)

The genitive case (-(n)in)

Definite noun compounds (-nin ... -si)

Indefinite noun compounds (bare noun + -(s)i)

Possessive buffer letter (n)

Spatial postpositions (içinde, üstünde)

The definite direct object (-(y)ı, -(y)i)

Object question words (kimi, neyi)

Adjectives modifying nouns

Manner and choice questions (nasıl, hangi)

Basic degree modifiers (çok, biraz)

Comparisons (daha, en)

Days of the week

Months of the year

The time question word (ne zaman)

Telling time (saat, buçuk)

Asking the time (saat kaç, saat kaçta)

Basic conjunctions (ve, ama, veya)

Causality conjunction (çünkü)

Means and accompaniment (ile, -(y)lA)

Purpose and beneficiaries (için)

Expressing desire (-mak istemek)

The past copula (-(y)DI)

The direct past tense (-DI)

Past tense personal suffixes (-DIm, -DIn)

Past tense negative (-mAdI)

Past tense questions (-DI mI)

Ordinal numbers (-(I)ncI)

Greetings and politeness

Saying 'too' (de, da)

Conversation fillers (şey, yani, hadi)

Conversational essentials

Reflexive pronouns (kendim, kendin)

Reciprocal pronouns (birbiri)

Indefinite pronouns for people (herkes, kimse)

Indefinite pronouns for things and places (her şey, hiçbir şey)

Conjunctions of consequence (bu yüzden, bu nedenle)

Correlative conjunctions (hem... hem, ne... ne)

Verbs taking the dative case (-e / -a)

Verbs taking the ablative case (-den / -dan)

Time origin (beri)

Time duration (-DIr)

Comparisons of similarity (gibi)

Comparisons of equality (kadar)

Perspectives (göre)

Verbal nouns (-mA / -mE)

Verbal nouns as objects (-mAyI / -mEyI)

Verbal nouns with the dative (-mAyA / -mEyA)

General necessity (lazım / gerek)

Personal necessity (-mAm lazım)

Third-person commands (-sIn / -sInlAr)

First person singular optative (-(y)AyIm)

Question	Answer
herbalist / spice seller	aktar
spice	baharat
There are colorful, various spices at the herbalist.	Aktarda renk renk, çeşit çeşit baharat var.
sack	çuval
pile	yığın
The spices are standing in piles in the sacks.	Baharatlar çuvallarda yığın yığın duruyor.
cinnamon	tarçın
waft (used in reduplication for strong smells)	buram
This cinnamon smells strongly without being opened.	Bu tarçın açılmadan buram buram kokuyor.
bunch	demet
mint	nane
Let me buy bunches of fresh mint from the herbalist.	Aktardan demet demet taze nane alayım.
Turkish delight	lokum
We slowly ate boxes of Turkish delight.	Yavaş yavaş kutu kutu lokum yedik.
cumin	kimyon
Was he putting handfuls of cumin and cinnamon into the soup?	Çorbaya avuç avuç kimyon ve tarçın koyuyor muydu?
He might not buy all kinds of Turkish delight without asking you.	Sana sormadan çeşit çeşit lokum almayabilir.
They brought the cumin in sacks and left it in piles.	Kimyonu çuval çuval getirdiler ve yığın yığın bıraktılar.
The herbalist arranged the bunches of flowers in rows.	Aktar, demet demet çiçekleri sıra sıra dizdi.
Was the kitchen smelling strongly of spices?	Mutfak buram buram baharat kokuyor muydu?
The cinnamon smelled strongly throughout the market.	Pazar boyunca tarçın buram buram koktu.
We walked slowly towards the cumin sacks.	Kimyon çuvallarına doğru yavaş yavaş yürüdük.
Let me look at those piles of mint.	Şu yığın yığın nanelere bakayım.
Are there colorful spices, bunches of mint, and boxes of Turkish delight?	Renk renk baharat, demet demet nane ve kutu kutu lokum var mı?