Learn Turkish: Kalkıp o lafı söyleyemezsin; haddini bil! - You cannot go and make that remark; know your place!

Kalkıp o lafı söyleyemezsin; haddini bil!

You cannot go and make that remark; know your place!

Breakdown of Kalkıp o lafı söyleyemezsin; haddini bil!

up and / unexpectedly (converb)

Questions & Answers about Kalkıp o lafı söyleyemezsin; haddini bil!

Does kalkıp mean the person literally has to stand up before speaking?

Not necessarily! While kalkıp literally means "having stood up", in this lesson's context it acts as a converb to express audacity, unexpectedness, or doing something out of line. It is very similar to the English expression "to go and do something" (as in, "You can't just go and say that").

Can you break down the suffixes in söyleyemezsin? It looks like it has an extra -ye- in the middle.

It comes from the verb root söyle- (to say/tell). The breakdown is söyle + -y- (buffer letter) + -e- (marker of inability/impossibility) + -mez (negative aorist tense) + -sin (you). That subtle -y-e- combination is what changes "you don't say" (söylemezsin) into "you cannot say" (söyleyemezsin).

What does haddini bil literally translate to, and why is there a double "d"?

It literally means "know your limit". The root word is had (limit, boundary, or proper place). Because it is an Arabic loanword, the final consonant doubles when a vowel suffix is added. It becomes haddi (your limit) + -ni (accusative case marker, because it is the specific direct object of bil).

Why use lafı instead of sözü or kelimeyi for "remark" here?