Breakdown of O bir mırlıyor, bir tıslıyor mu?
o
that / he / she / it
mi
question particle (mı/mi/mu/mü)
bir
one moment ... the next (alternating)
mırlamak
to purr
tıslamak
to hiss
Questions & Answers about O bir mırlıyor, bir tıslıyor mu?
How does the bir ... bir ... structure work here if bir usually means 'one' or 'a'?
In this context, bir ... bir ... is a correlative conjunction meaning 'one moment... the next...' or 'sometimes... sometimes...'. It links two alternating actions. Here, it contrasts the alternating behaviors of purring (mırlıyor) and hissing (tıslıyor).
Why is the question particle mu only at the very end of the sentence instead of after each verb?
Even though there are two verbs linked by the bir ... bir ... structure, they function together as a single compound idea. In Turkish, you only need one question particle at the very end of the sentence to turn the entire alternating statement into a single yes/no question.
Are the verbs mırlıyor and tıslıyor based on animal sounds?
Yes! Turkish heavily uses onomatopoeia (words that imitate sounds). Mır is the sound of a cat purring, and tıs is the sound of hissing. Adding the verb-forming suffix -la gives us mırlamak and tıslamak. Notice as a quick B1 refresher that the vowel a narrows to ı before the present continuous suffix -ıyor.
The translation says 'he', but could o also mean 'it' here since we are talking about an animal?
Absolutely. Turkish third-person pronouns do not have grammatical gender, so o can mean he, she, or it. While English speakers often use 'it' for animals, Turkish uses the universal o, which you can translate based on how you view the pet.
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