Breakdown of Bu küçük tahtayı bıçakla böyle yontuyorum.
bu
this
küçük
small
ile
with / by / and (linking nouns)
bıçak
knife
Questions & Answers about Bu küçük tahtayı bıçakla böyle yontuyorum.
Why use böyle here instead of şöyle or öyle?
Böyle means "like this" or "in this way," pointing to an action the speaker is demonstrating right now. If they were saying "do it like that (as I'm about to show you)," they might use şöyle. If they were referring to an action done in the past or far away, they would use öyle.
Why does tahta take the -yı ending to become tahtayı?
Because the small board is the specific direct object receiving the action of the verb. Since the sentence uses bu (this) to point out a specific board, we must add the accusative case suffix -ı. The y is a buffer letter to separate the two vowels (tahta-y-ı).
What does the -la at the end of bıçakla mean?
It is the shortened form of ile, which means "with" or "by means of." When attached to a word, it becomes a suffix and follows vowel harmony. Since the last vowel in bıçak (knife) is a back vowel, it takes -la to mean "with a knife."
Could I put böyle earlier in the sentence?
Yes, but placing it right before the verb puts the main emphasis on it. In Turkish, the word immediately preceding the verb is what the speaker wants to highlight. By saying ...böyle yontuyorum, the emphasis is strongly on how the whittling is being done (I am whittling it like this).