Learn Turkish: Mantığımın kalbime hükmetmesi çok zor. - It is very difficult for my logic to rule my heart.

When the noun hüküm (judgment/rule) combines with the auxiliary verb etmek, it drops its second vowel, becoming hükm-. This is called vowel elision. In Turkish, when an auxiliary verb compound undergoes a sound change (like losing a vowel or doubling a consonant), the two words must be written together as one solid word.

Why does mantığım (my logic) take the genitive suffix -ın to become mantığımın?

This forms a possessive relationship with the verbal noun hükmetmesi. Literally, the sentence translates to 'My logic's ruling (to) my heart is very difficult.' In Turkish, the subject of a verbal noun takes the genitive case (mantığımın), and the verbal noun takes the corresponding possessive suffix (-si).

Why is 'my heart' in the dative case (kalbime) instead of the accusative case, since it's the direct object of 'rule' in English?

In Turkish, the verb hükmetmek (to rule/govern) requires the dative case. The action is thought of as being directed towards or over something, rather than acting directly upon it. Therefore, kalbim (my heart) gets the dative suffix -e.

The word for heart is kalp, which has a back vowel (a). Why does it take front vowel suffixes to become kalbime instead of kalbıma?