Breakdown of Bakan bu söylenti hakkında ne söyledi?
bu
this
ne
what
söylemek
to say, to sing
hakkında
about, concerning
Questions & Answers about Bakan bu söylenti hakkında ne söyledi?
Why is it bu söylenti hakkında and not bu söylentinin hakkında?
The postposition hakkında (about) connects directly to standard nouns without needing a genitive ending like -nin. You only use the genitive with personal or demonstrative pronouns standing alone, like benim hakkımda (about me) or bunun hakkında (about this). Since bu acts as an adjective here for the bare noun söylenti, the noun takes no ending.
Could we use ile ilgili or -e dair in this sentence instead of hakkında?
Yes! You could say bu söylentiyle ilgili or bu söylentiye dair. All three mean roughly the same thing here. Hakkında is the most common and direct word for about, while ile ilgili translates closer to related to or concerning, and -e dair sounds a bit more formal, like regarding.
Why is the question word ne right before the verb instead of at the beginning of the sentence?
In Turkish, the most important piece of information always goes immediately before the verb. Since this is a question asking what the minister said, the question word ne (what) takes that emphasized spot right before söyledi.
Are söylenti (rumor) and söyledi (said) related words?