Breakdown of Hayvan içgüdüyle kendi kendine iyileşiyor.
hayvan
animal
ile
with / by / and (linking nouns)
iyileşmek
to recover
kendi kendine
by itself / by oneself (also: kendi kendime, kendi kendimize)
içgüdü
instinct
Questions & Answers about Hayvan içgüdüyle kendi kendine iyileşiyor.
Why does the second kendi in kendi kendine take the dative suffix -e?
The phrase kendi kendine literally translates to 'itself to itself'. When we double the reflexive pronoun kendi and add the dative case (-e or -a) to the second one, it creates an adverb meaning 'on its own' or 'by itself'. Here, it emphasizes that the animal heals spontaneously and independently.
Could I just say kendi instead of the reduplicated kendi kendine?
No, if you just used kendi, it would act as a pronoun or an adjective, usually meaning 'its own' (like kendi yarası - its own wound). To describe how an action is performed without outside interference, you must use the adverbial reduplication kendi kendine.
How is the word içgüdüyle formed?
It comes from the noun içgüdü (instinct) combined with the instrumental case suffix -(y)le, which is the attached form of the word ile (with/by). Because içgüdü ends in a vowel, the buffer letter y is required before adding -le.
How does the verb iyileşiyor work mechanically?
It is built from the adjective iyi (good). The suffix -leş turns adjectives or nouns into verbs meaning 'to become that thing'. So, iyileşmek means 'to become good', 'to get better', or 'to heal'. It is an intransitive verb, meaning the animal is getting better naturally, rather than healing something else.
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